Myrtle Beach Trip

first time in ocean

Looking at the fish

drivin :)

pool time

First time in sand

Wow, I have a lot to update. So I am forewarning you this is going to be a long post. Exit now if you please :) Sorry if I am too long winded but all of the details are mainly for my benefit so I can look back years from now.

We loaded up the SUV and left out Friday the 30th. We drove to ATL to Adams parents house. We decided it would be a good break in the long drive and a good chance to see them. We spent that afternoon with everyone and grabbed some Mexican. I drove from their house to Thomson GA....about a 2 hour drive. I was sooo tired because we all know I go to bed before 10pm usually. Ava finally stopped watching her DVD and fell asleep. Adam got her out of the car seat and was able to put her in bed with her not waking up. We met our good Friends there, Wayne and Beth Denson....and their two boys. Ava slept all night and did great! I was worried about getting her to sleep in the hotel and keeping her in a big bed all night. We grabbed a quick bite and then drove on to Myrtle Beach. It was about 4 hours from there. We stopped once to eat. The drive was good. Ava did WONDERFUL. She either played with her toys or watched her DVD player. (I want to hug whoever invented that). We arrived to a crowded MB around 2:30.

Let me just say we chose MB because of the oil in the Gulf. Well the gulf is fine and that made us sick to hear. We unloaded and unpacked and organized. That afternoon we roamed around and ate at Joes Crab Shack. It was a fun place with ok food. We got groceries at a Walmart that I NEVER want to return to. You would have thought it was Black Friday in there. CRAZY!!!!

Ava slept great the whole time we were there!!!!!

Sunday we all woke up so pumped to go on the beach for the first time. I woke up first to a rainy site. :( We were all disappointed. We decided to go to Tanger and shop. Wouldn't you know about an hour into our shopping the sun comes out. So we finish up our lunch and shopping and head back to the Condo. We get ready and go to the beach. Ava loved it!!! She would stare at her feet kicking the sand in front of her. It was so cute. She liked the water too. We were all disappointed in the beach there. We are used to soft white sand and crystal waters in the Gulf. This beach was number one super crowded and the sand was HOT and Shelly. The water wasn't clear and as pretty. OH well it was nice being on the beach in general. We had some fun and then moved to the pool. Ava enjoyed getting in and out of the pool rather than just staying inside it. That night we ate at a place called Fillets. They said it was kid friendly but they didn't even have lids for the cups! The food was ok. I had crab cakes but they were so rich I couldn't eat much of them. After dinner they grabbed ice cream on the boardwalk. Elijah spotted an amusement park so we went in there and they rode some stuff. Ava rode the Carousel for the first time. She LOVED it. She cried when adam took her off.

Monday we woke up to SUN. We took the kids to the roof top pool area. It was super neat. It had a lazy river, kiddy pool and regular pool. We enjoyed that. Wow, a beach trip with kids is sooo different than what I am used to. Your schedule revolves our their naps! What happened to laying on the beach listening to my Ipod or reading a book? Ava took a nap and we got ready to go to Broadway on the Beach. This is a HUGE outdoor shopping center surrounding a lake. We shopped and let the kids play in the amusement area. Ava LOVES the Carousel. She rode like 3 times. :) We then ventured over the Speedway track and Elijah rode race cars while Ava played inside in the Arcade. She had a blast and won 75 tickets....with mine and Adams help of course. We had supper at TBonz and it was pretty good. We got stuck in major traffic on the way home......so we all took detours and surprised ourselves with how good we navigated our way back. We would have been sitting for hours.

Tuesday Ava woke up early and by the time we all got ready for the beach it was her nap time. So thanks to Adam I got to spend about 2 hours on the beach and at the pool with no kid. That was nice. I read some and listened to Pandora Radio. It was awesome! She came out later and played in the pool. We did some more shopping and then came back to the Condo to take some sunset pictures. Then off to a great dinner at a Crab place. I finally got me some good crab legs!!! YUMO! We enjoyed our dinner a lot that night. Then off to the condo to pack up. The kids went down and we all just enjoyed our quiet night.

Wednesday we packed up and ate at a Pancake house on the way out. From here our luck kind of turns sour. Along the ride home a rock hits our windshield and makes a large place in it. It makes me sick to my stomach. We made a pretty good trip home. Ava done great. We stopped in ATL to spend the night. Ava had a rough night and didn't sleep good. I was sick. Then the next morning our car battery goes dead at a gas station in that 90 degree humid ATL weather! I was praying someone would offer help because we were going to have to wait a while before anyone could get to us. So not long after I was praying a nice man comes along and asks if we need help. My mind goes back to on our way up here we stopped at a gas station and while I was inside a man asks Adam for some gas. Adam felt bad for the man and got his gas can and filled it to the rim. The man was so thankful! I was like yep Lord you are just repaying his good deed. So we stopped and got a new battery. We met Adams sister and two girls at OCharley's for lunch. It was nice getting time with them. Ava adores them. Then on to one of my favorite stores!!!! I got 2 new diaper bags, a wallet ( which I already broke trying to put too much stuff inside), jewelry and Ava some hair bows. WOW that made me feel better! LOL

We got home last night and it felt so good to be home. We unpacked and I started laundry.

Today I am already caught up with laundry and that feels great!!

So all in all we had a great trip and Ava loved the Beach. If Ava is happy we are happy :)