Myrtle Beach 2013

The 1st half of our summer beach vacay is posted here.

After saying goodbye to Oak Island, we headed to North Myrtle Beach to visit Daniel's mom. There is such a vast difference between Oak Island and Myrtle Beach! In Oak Island, the next closest people on the beach were 50 feet away. In Myrtle Beach, I could almost touch the next person's towel when I was laying on mine. I much prefer Oak Island's actual beach and ocean but Myrtle Beach has more to do when it's raining or if you want a break from the beach. This summer, I've really missed "my mecca".... Hilton Head!

Last year Parker REALLY enjoyed the big slide on the beach and while he did have fun, I think it was SO crowded that he didn't get into it as much this year. Avery went down the slide once with Daniel but that was enough for her! It is FAST! And COLD (it's sprinkler water).... and Avery just preferred to eat snacks.... just like her mama!

The whole East Coast has had the RAINEST summer EVER.... well maybe not ever but definitely the rainest summer I can remember so the pools were a bit chilly. Thankfully, grandma's condo has a hot tub!

The highlight of our Myrtle Beach trip for the kids was definitely the carnival rides at Broadway at the Beach!

This is me distracting myself from puking! Usually I feel like you don't get your $ worth on carnival rides but I was more than ready for this one to be over! haha Mommy wanted to tag out on the next ride but I was the only "guardian" that could fit in the pirate ship to help hold Avery in place.

Hooray, a ride that they could do themselves!

We ended the night of fun, riding some pigs!

We had a wonderful family vacation! It was very relaxing and much needed family time! I'm hoping to sneak away to Hilton Head for a long weekend before preschool starts back! I just don't think I can go a whole summer without bike riding on those spanish moss covered trails or a little Greg Russell at Harbortown!!!

Oak Island Beach Trip

We just got back from 6 wonderful days at the beach! We spent the first half of the week with just the 4 of us in Oak Island and the 2nd part of the week in Myrtle Beach with Daniel's mom. I removed the outtakes of shut eyes and blurs which left me with 240 usuable pictures! No one can ever say I didn't document these kids lives!

 

I'm going to break these pictures up into 2 post, Oak Island and Myrtle Beach.

 

In Oak Island, we did a whole lot of resting, sleeping and swimming. If you've ever been to Oak Island, you know there isn't a whole lot of things to do BUT the beaches are beautiful and the waves are perfect for body surfing, a hobby Parker grew quite fond of.

 

We got there around dinner time on Sunday, dropped our bags off and took a scooter ride to "walk on the beach"

I don't know what I was thinking because our "walk on the beach" turned into "swimming in our clothes".... and a cold scooter ride home!

After dance party in the outdoor shower, a family tradition at the beach house, we hit the sack early, expecting rough nights. The kids don't always sleep so great outside of our house BUT we were SO wrong (in oak island, that is!).... they slept AMAZINGLY well and we were up and ready to hit the beach the next morning!

 

Avery fed the seagulls most of our snacks to lure them in and then chased them away. Cruel.... but endless entertainment.

 

Parker ran straight into the ocean, supervised by Daniel. The waves were big but broke closely to the shore, perfect for toddler body surfing. Parker's body surfing closely resembled drowning so, no worries, one of us was always with him. He had the BEST time!





 

I love spending time with this sweet boy!

And this precious girl! (who will be wearing tutu bathing suits until she's 18 if I have anything to do with it!)

 

We buried Avery in the sand... best way to keep a ginger from burning!

We spent most of the day floating over the waves just past where they break. The kids loved floating in their puddle jumpers over the waves. Getting to that place was A LOT of work!

After a fun day at the beach, the kids just couldn't make the 5 house walk home!

Thanks for a great vacay, Oak Island! Next up! Myrtle Beach!

Myrtle Beach 2010

As promised, here's a little pictorial of our annual beach trip! I've known these girls since freshman year of college (2003) and I can honestly say we WILL be friends for life. We've shared our highs and lows. We've been with each other for weddings, break ups, babies, sickness, employment and unemployment. We've weathered it all and would do it all again for weekends like this one!

Enjoying the ocean breeze, laying out by the pool.


What is it about a whole in a piece of decorated wood that draws us to put our faces in it and take pictures? I'm not sure but I do know I do it EVERY time I see these things!


I'm not sure why the shortest people slept in the beds and the tallest 3 slept together on the couch... but they did! I suppose we're a snuggly group.


This statue gets me every time we come to this condo. It's like the evolution of dolphins. When a mommy and daddy dolphin love one another, they have a magical evening and a few months later comes baby dolphin! ha ha.


7 friends and 7 years! Here's to many more years of friendship and beach trips!


Champagne toast to kick off our night!


... which ended with Beth getting this awesome henna tattoo on the strip!


You girls mean the world to me! I'm already looking forward to girl's beach weekend 2011!

Weekend Recap

Good news... Parker is alive and thriving! The annual girl's beach trip was a huge success and Daniel and Parker made due at home for the weekend! I made it the whole weekend without a single shed tear for my little man and managed to keep my phone calls to a reasonable every 4 or 5 hours.

It's super late and I'll revisit this topic tomorrow but here's a few highlights/lowlights:

*Daniel took Parker to church and dressed him all by himself (even though I set out a church outfit). Daniel's outfit of choice for Parker you ask? A Blue and white Polo romper (an outfit in itself), buttoned ALL the way to the neck (how did you breathe little man?), with... wait for it.... brown corduroy pants (uber hot!). I asked Daniel if it felt weird stuffing the legs of the romper into the extremely thick winter pants but he swears he thought it was a onesie. I'm 100% sure Parker hasn't worn a onesie in at least 8 months but hey.... I what do I know. ha ha

*Hot Dogs equate to a balanced meal.... every meal... who needs veggies when you have turkey dogs? Bless Daniel's heart, today Parker ate broccoli, carrots, fiber and blueberries in attempts to offset his massive intake of processed foods and sodium.

*Did you know being a stay at home dad ONLY means playing? It's amazing! I want that job! Apparently cleaning, straightening, laundry, dishes, etc are NOT part of a stay at home dad's tasks. How cool is that.... except if you're the stay at home mom who gets to clean it up. We had to have a little chatsky about that! I love my boys but WHEW are they messy! At least they're supportive of my girl's weekends! I guess a "close to condemnable house" is a small price to pay for a much needed girl's weekend!

*Do people actually take those old timey photos seriously? Umm... yes... the photographer does. Apparently, asking to dress in the rebel flag and lay on a bar with a shotgun is offensive to some. Kidding... we thought it was a super good idea at midnight though.

*I was meant to drive a big ass truck. I rocked the socks off that king cab silverado all weekend stuffed with 7 cuties!

*Staying at home and playing silly games with your girlfriends is WAY more fun than going out... at least it is now... which I believe means we're old. I don't care, it was fun, MONSTER TRUCKERS! (I just love you, Erin Reid)

*Nothing in the WHOLE WORLD beats seeing your child for the 1st time after being away and hearing that sweet sound "MOMM-E!!!" His face was so tasty. I made out with it. Man did I miss him!

Pictures to come... tomorrow (hopefully)! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!