Beach Trip June 2011

Well, here is a recap of our trip to the beach this year...  (this will be all words, pics are below.. I just want the play by play for down the road, so feel free to skip a long blog entry with no cute pictures!)

We were soo happy to be able to head down earlier than expected, so we hit the road Saturday during naptime, and got a good chunk of the trip over before the kids woke up! As soon as we unpacked, we headed to Broadway at the Beach to eat dinner with Josh's Uncle Scott and Aunt Tina!  We had a blast eating at Margaritaville and walking around the shops there. We stopped for a while at the playground so the kids could work off some energy before heading home to get everyone settled. After we left Broadway, Charlotte was a little antzy about seeing the ocean, so we stopped at the beach for a quick "toes in the sand" before heading to the house.

When we got back to the beach house, we discovered we'd forgotten the pack n play...so Liam upgraded to a big boy bed that night!! He has done a great job since the first time :D Big Boy!!

Then Sunday we hit the beach all morning, grabbed some of our favorite pizza at Basil's, and headed home for naps.  Then, since we weren't sure we would get any sunny weather since they were calling for thunderstorms all week, we headed to Myrtle Waves Water Park!  It was awesome and we were able to do even more than we thought we would (b/c of the kids heights). :D  After we closed the place down, we were starving, and lo and behold, right across the street was Hard Rock Cafe!

On Monday, we did the beach thing all morning, had lunch and of course naptime, and then headed to the outlet mall where we found a little something for everyone. :)  Then it was off to another MB favorite: Carolina Roadhouse!! Yum :p   After dinner we went to a little fair they have on Ocean Drive. The kids had a blast on all of the little rides...and thank goodness we caught the teacup ride one cycle before someone threw up..yuck!

Tuesday held more beach in the morning!  Each day, the water was very calm, and the kids were able to go out with us past the waves breaking and float in the gentle water..soo fun! and so proud of our big swimmers for floating by themselves!  Then we went to a pool near the beach house and had a great time floating in the lazy river :)  I have been craving Japanese a lot lately, so we headed to Nakatos for dinner :D  The kids did well most nights at the restaurants, but this one was especially fun with the fire and "volcano" of onion and such :)

Wednesday we did the beach thing all day! All morning and then again after naptime. Then we got cleaned up and headed to the Spring House Family Restaurant for some "breakfast for dinner".. the kids enjoyed a chocolate chip pancake, and once the waitress figured out Josh wanted a sausage patty and not some disgusting Italian sausage thing, dinner was great!  Then we went over to Barefoot Landing to see the tigers :)

Thursday we kicked off things with a healthy breakfast at Krispy Kreme! The highlight was running into one of Josh's friends from Summer Project!  We got to meet their kids and then Josh and Ed made plans to get together after all the kids went to bed.  So glad they were able to catch up!  After breakfast, we went to the park to play and see the ducks and turtles, then beach in the afternoon, and some Atlanta Bread for supper (and free wi-fi, so I could download my new book onto my nook to read during Josh and Ed's reunion).

Friday we hit the beach once more (and can you believe it didn't rain one time the whole week?! Hurray for incorrect weather forecasting!), then cleaned up and loaded the car.  We had Basil's one last time (for this trip) and hit the road home.  Once again, kids napped a good chunk of the way and we had another smooth trip!  We had to leave Friday because Charlotte started swim lessons at the Y Saturday morning!! Soo cute, but that is another post.

We are so so incredibly grateful to Josh's grandparents for allowing us to use their house.  It is a wonderful place and we have so many fond memories of being there.  Thanks again for another wonderful family vacation!!