We headed out Friday afternoon and drove about 6 hours until we were somewhere in North Carolina. The kids did awesome which made the trip very nice. We got to our hotel pretty late and all went straight to bed. Joe and I were sure the kids would sleep in the next morning but at 10 till 6 Owen was up and woke Maggie up as well. We ate some breakfast and decided to go ahead and get on the road. The kids were so excited to get to the beach, even though they had gotten up early neither one slept the whole rest of the way there! When we got there our room wasn't ready yet so we decided to head out to the beach a bit. We met up with mom and dad on our way out and Maggie and Owen were of course so excited to see them. We went out to the beach and the kids thought it was great. They both ran right in, clothes and all, and got soaked. I had left my camera in the car which I was bummed about because it was so cute. We stayed out there for a few hours until our room was ready and then headed out to eat then back to go to bed. The kids both slept until nearly 10 the next day which was great. We spent the rest of the day out on the beach and the kids had a blast. They loved going out in the ocean and Owen would say he wanted to go "jump a big one".
We ate lots of great food everynight, of course, and Maggie and Owen liked to walk out on the beach after dark. Maggie saw everyone out there with their flash lights looking for crabs which she thought was cool.
After the first night they didn't sleep in as well as I would have hoped. Owen was always up pretty early so we would spend our mornings out on the beach, then head up to the pool a bit before going up for lunch and naps.
I was so happy the kids liked the ocean as well as they did. They would both go out as far as they could touch not realizing at first that although they could touch....if a wave came it would wipe them out. They both had several wipe outs. Maggie seemed to like it and went back for more, Owen on the other hand prefered to stay where he could jump the big ones without getting clobbered.
He also loved the sand, which knowing his passion for dirt, didn't surprise me. Mom and I would crack up at him out there since he would get all wet and then roll in the sand, wihtout lifting up his head! So here he would come walking up with sand covering his entire body and face....the crazy thing was he didn't seem to even care. He is such a boy!
Dad and Joe golfed several times which they love. I can't imagine having fun golfing in 100 degree weather when I could be in the water but they continue doing it so it must be fun to them! We found a brazilian steak house there which Joe was excited about. We used to go to one alot in Germany which he loved and he was sure Dad would think it was as great as he did.....he was right. It is a place where they have a huge salad bar which has tons more than salad items on it. And then you flip a card on the table over which means your ready for the meat....which is when 10-15 different men come around one at at time with about 10 different meats on a skewer and you eat as much as you want. Mom and I just got the salad bar, but I did sneak a few bites of filet mingon off Joe's plate....and it was awesome.
As you can see, Joe and Dad enjoyed just about all the meats that came by and Dad said it was one of the best places he'd ever been so I am guessing it will be added to the list of myrtle beach restaurants we visit. Mom took Maggie to the salad bar and Maggie came back with her own plate covered in croutons, which was all she ate. She was full already since she got to have her Mimi soup everyday we were at the beach! So we made sure she was fed before we headed out each evening. Owen of course enjoyed all the great meals we had everynight.
JR, Lori, TJ, Patti, Jim, and Drexel were all at the beach that same week so we got to meet up with them a few times which was great. Our condos were about 17 blocks apart so a little too far to walk with kids in tow, but mom and I took the kids up one day to play on the beach with TJ which they loved. They all had lots of fun out in the ocean and TJ was great to help keep Owen close by!
We went to Broadway at the Beach a few nights which the kids really liked. Maggie saw a place where they were doing hair wraps and wanted one. I had gotten one years ago when I went to the beach in high school and told Joe they were only about 10 bucks.......so he told maggie okay and she picked out her yarn and beads which were...just guess.....PINK. The lady measured maggie's hair and says it will be 30 dollars. I guess times have changed and prices have gone up, so Maggie sits down and in about 5 minutes the lady has wrapped about 5 cents worth of yarn on her hair and we are free to go.
Not quite worth the 30 dollars but it should last a few months so they say. Maggie loved it and thought it looked great. She said she wished we could take one home to her friend Kylie. Maybe I could set up a booth in shelbyville doing them and make some extra cash!
There were "broadway at the beach" characters there as well, like a dinosaur and octopus walking around. A secret love of Owen's not many know about is that he LOVES characters in costume. While many kids run and hide from chuck e cheese, owen nearly knocks them down. So when he saw these characters he was so excited.
His little grin was priceless, and he never stopped smiling the whole time as he went to each one. I am guessing he will think haloween is just great.
As we were walking around we came to a restaurant (Johnny rockets) where they play oldies music and the waiters dance. Maggie heard the music and was off standing out front dancing her heart out as Maggie can do.
She gathered a bit of a crowd and got up on a chair and danced I suppose so everyone could see her moves even better. It was so darn cute I hated we didn't have a video camera with us. When the song ended everyone clapped for her which of course she loved. She must have a bit of her Aunt Amanda's blood in her as she seems to LOVE attention.
We met up one night with JR, Lori, TJ, PK, Jim, and Drexel to let the kids do this slingshot jumping thing we had seen. I was pretty sure Maggie would change her mind once they got her hooked up and it began lifting her but she ran right on, got hooked up and jumped as best she could. It was hard for her to jump since she doesn't weigh alot and had a hard time getting her feet back to the trampoline but she loved it and the guy running it even helped her flip a few times.
Owen thought this looked like a lot of fun as well and just met the weight requirment so we let him try it out and he loved it as well.
The guy would flip him and he would crack up laughing and say, "more more." TJ took his turn after Owen and showed off his trampoline moves and then of course Joe had to get in on the action. If you know Joe, you know this isn't somehting he could pass up. He impressed us all with his ability to nearly touch the ceiling and do 3 flips at once....but his time wasn't up when he told the guy he'd had enough.
I guess he is feeling his 28 years a litte more now! We headed to get icecream after that and all the kids basically drained uncle Jim's pockets for money for the kid rides there.
We only had one day of rain and that didn't last but a few hours or so, so we got to spend everyday out on the beach. It was nice having mom and dad there as well to keep up with the kids or take them out in the ocean too. I spent a great deal of time out there but took a bit of a beating as well from the waves. I didn't think that could be too great for the baby so I tried to stay away from the rough area. Maggie loved the rough waves and enjoyed her daddy taking her out and lifting her over them.
Owen liked them too as long as he didn't get pounded in the face with one.
Here is Owen trying out for the coppertone baby model. Haha
Maggie decided she wanted a hermit crab midweek so dad got her one, of course. She named it Princess hermie and wasn't at all scared to hold it, which I guess shouldn't surprise me from her.
Hermit crabs must be meant just for the beach because we got to mom and dad's house sat. night and sunday morning princess hermie was dead. I asked Joe how he knew and he lifted her up showing me her legs had fallen off!! Maggie said, "what happened" and Joe told her it had shed it's legs. Haha. Maggie didn't take it too hard and I was personally glad to not have something else to care for when we got home. Of course if we had known the life expectency was 5 days dad could have saved himself some money.
The kids enjoyed the pool while we there and they had about 5 different ones to choose from. I got them intertubes to use while we were there and they loved them and were very self sufficient in the water with them. I wish I had gotten them earlier this summer for the pool but didn't really think about it. They both love jumping in and Owen finally got the concept of bending your legs before jumping.
He had been just falling in.
I tried to get some cute pictures of the kids all dressed in their white the last day we were there but they were more interested in playing in the sand than smiling. But here were my attempts.
It is a tradition that we always eat at a place called Bovines the last night of our trip and this year JR, Lori, TJ, Jim, PK, and Drexel joined us.
It was great as usual, very worth the hour drive to murrels inlet. It was fun being with everyone at the beach too. Maggie, TJ, and Owen had a blast playing together there when we were done eating.
After leaving we headed back to Broadway to let Maggie go to Build a Bear. We had promised her she could go before we left the beach and let her get one. She went through them all but had alreayd made her mind up that she was getting the pink poodle.
She picked it out and then got it filled up where they made her do all this silly stuff and promise to take care of her build a bear. Then they told her to close her eyes and make a wish, she closed her eyes and said, "i wish I could come here every day!" We thought we had made it out with just getting the dog and a baby to go with it when she spotted the millions of clothes and accessories to go with it. She said, "oh wait, I have to get it an outfit." She came back with her arms full of clothes shoes, etc but I found a ballerina outfit that she seemed content with so we called it a night and headed home. As you can see, it was a great beach trip to be Maggie Mae! She made out alot better than Owen on the toy dept. but as long as his night ended with ice cream he was happy!
Saturday morning we headed out and ate at the pancake house before leaving town. The ride home was easy and the kids were great. We got to mom and dad's that evening and were all ready for bed. Owen didn't sleep so well at night at the beach, I think he 's a little too big for the pack n play and wasn't real comfy. So somewhere midweek he wound up in bed with us most of the time. This carried on at mom and dad's house as well as maggie being in there some too. These past two weeks have been a vivid reminder to me as to why Joe and I chose NOT to co-sleep with our kids!! To be clear, we dont't think there is anything wrong with it.....we just both like our sleep and don't get it with our kids in our bed. I was so happy to finally get home and have our kiddos back in their rooms and I think they were too, although it took a night or two to convince Owen of that. :) But he quickly remembered. haha
Joe left for Alabama Monday morning and the kids and I had fun at Mimi and Jaja's for the week. We had many of our evening walks where Maggie got to see all the neghbors she loves to talk to. We also got to see quite a bit of Emma which was great!
She has grown so much and thought Maggie and Owen were so funny. Owen would sing jingle bells for her (his new favorite song which is more like "bingle bells") and she would just crack up. Tab and I also got a night out which was fun, alhtough we didnt have much luck with shopping. We got to see Jim and PK alot too which the kids loved and by the end of the week Jim had Owen on que to say, "Jim is beautiful." I got a day to myself to get my hair cut which was great and also met up with my friend Karri and her boys and took them to McDonalds for the kids to play. It is a neat McDonalds there with a huge tree and playarea for the kids to play in. I think the 3 of them played the entire 2 hours there without coming down. It was so cute, there were a few things Owen couldn't climb up on by himself so Maggie and Nicholas would both grab a leg and help hoist him up. They said they were the wonder pets and were doing "team work." Pretty cute.
Saturday morning the kids and I headed out to Ohio to meet up with Joe at his parents house. I met him and his mom at the outlets near there house so I could do a little shopping while they took the kids back to the house. It was great to have the time to shop alone but I must say I am totally bummed about this years fall clothes. I have shopped at 2 outlets and numerous malls and havent' found anything I totally love. The kids had fun at Nana and Papa's getting in a little more swim time and just hanging out. We went to Joe's grandparents Sat. evening for awhile and visited with them although the kids were a little wild so our visit wasn't as long as we'd of liked.
I think 2 weeks is a long time to have kids away from home and off schedule and we definetly saw that during week 2! Sunday we spent the day letting the kids swim some and took them to the park to feed the ducks. We didn't head back home until about 8 that night and got stuck in horrible traffic around cincinnati so we didn't get home until nearly midnight, somehow the kids didn't fall asleep! We had a great vacation and visit with everyone but we are all so happy to be back home. We have been busy this week with Joe working late and me getting Maggie ready for preschool.
So that was our past 2 weeks.....here are some more beach pictures and I will be better to update now that we're back in our normal routine.
