Beaching It

The day after Labor Day we went to Myrtle Beach in SC. It was so much fun. It was nice because everyone had told us that it would be an 8 hour drive. We made it in 7 without much speeding. Nice surprise. I think we must have gone a different way than other people but it is always better to drop an hour.

By the time that we got there, it was lunch time and then McKelle and Scott took a nap. Will slept with them while Cole, Sage and I explored our little timeshare neighborhood. They had a duck pond right behind our "blue house" and we chased them for awhile. Then we went to find the pool...wait I mean pools. How cool was that?! It had a baby pool (Sage's favorite. The one with the fountain in the picture), a hot tub, a regular hotel kind of swimming pool and a lazy river. That was just on the outside of the club house. You go in the club house and there was another swimming pool and a hot tub. You go to another part of the property and there was another large pool and a hot tub. I don't know if there were more pools over there or not because we just stayed in the other. We loved the lazy river. Cole was kind of swimming before we went out there (doggy paddling) and when we came back, he was doing the underwater breast stroke. It was so awesome! I am so proud of him. Also, Sage decided to become brave too and she was swimming underwater. What a breakthrough. Too bad we didn't have a few more days there and that summer is over and all the pools are closed here. Everyone loved the lazy river the most. Sage gathered all the tubes for the lazy river and stacked them up. Then whenever someone would go by, she would jump out at them and meow like an angry cat. It was kind of funny. She had a blast doing that.

Actually, we spent 90% of our time at the pools rather than the beach. Which was okay because the waves at the beach were too big to really swim in.
My kids keep asking if we can go back to the "blue house". It was a great vacation where we didn't feel like we needed a vacation from our vacation. Very relaxing and we all had a great time.





The water was very rough the whole time we were there. We just mostly waded in it. No one was in it but that was also nice because we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. The weather was warm. It would have been perfect but the wind was blowing so it made wet bodies kind of chilly. It was okay though because the water was so warm and that is more important. Sage had learned how to body surf and she would ride the wave in (sometimes not on purpose). It was hilarious watching the waves knock them over. The undertow was pretty strong though so we didn't really let the kids play very far from us. It was enticing enough to them that they want to go back. That is much better than them coming home scared of the water. Sage was disappointed not to see a dolphin.

In their own words:

"My favorite part was um, my favorite part was the waves in the salty ocean."
"I galloped away from that wave and away and then in and then away and then away again. My feet were in and galloping and splashing."
"The ocean washed me out of sight." -Cole

"The water was not safe."
"My favorite part was not building a sandcastle. My favorite part was SWIMMIN'."
"It knocked me over and Cole over." -Sage





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The way home was a little slower, we got stuck in construction. It was still fine though. It is amazing how having a t.v. in your car makes such a huge difference. Definately worth the investment. Here they are all crashed out! I love these kinds of pictures.

Birthday Girl!

Sage had earned a sleeping bag for finally stop wetting the bed at night and McKelle got one for her birthday and Cole already had one. So Will told them if it wasn't too hot, he would sleep outside with them. (I would but I didn't want to have to come in 3 times to feed Scott). It was blazing hot and they were so excited to sleep outside. I knew that Will would probably not do it so I asked them if they would rather sleep in the living room. That was all it took and Will was off the hook. So I told them that the birthday party was going to be a slumber party. That was the fun birthday activity.

On one of my friends blogs, she put Crete paper over her daughters door so she had to rip it off to get out of her room. I thought that was such a fun idea. Will took the kids to get pizza and I put the Crete paper over the lower half of the front door. I left some of the bottom off because I didn't think it would matter. Will told the kids that McKelle was the first to come into the house....she looks at the paper and crawls under it. Sage did the same thing. I was up on the stairs telling them to rip it down. Cole decided that he would rip it down, well some of it. Will ended up having to rip it down so he could get through the door. My fun stolen idea was not as appreciated at my house. (surprise surprise, my kids are party poopers). They did like the paper hanging from the ceiling though. We did the same ole thing of eat presents and cake. McKelle did try to grab the fire though instead of blow it out. That was a new twist on birthdays. Of course, they didn't want to play any party games.

McKelle, who didn't have a nap that day was so pleasant (sarcasm) come 9:30 that night. She was screaming at everyone walking around throwing everything she came in contact with (mostly balloons) and saying "no" every chance she got. (when she gets that tired, she will not go to sleep unless someone holds her down and won't let her move. If you do that, it only takes 2 minutes before she is out.) So I had to turn off the t.v. and hold her down. She screamed for about 3 seconds and was then gone. Cole and Sage were not long after. Will and I stayed in the living room with them until they were asleep...well, I did and Will came to bed a few hours later, he fell asleep faster than Cole and Sage. Scott woke up at 12 to eat. Sage woke up screaming bloody murder about 2. I went in and calmed her down. Scott woke up at 3 to eat. McKelle was walking around at 4. I got her and put her in bed with us. Scott woke up again at 5 to eat. I decided to sleep in his room in Cole's bed and at 5:30, Sage woke up screaming bloody murder again. I let Will get her. Scott got up at 7:45 for the morning and we played in the bedroom. At 8, the others finally woke up. I got up to see them. Cole was so proud that he lasted the whole night in the living room. I was glad because I got his bed.

The Hazels

So one of my good friends, Tonya, decided to get some ducklings. They raised this ducklings in one of those kids plastic pools. When they got old enough, they took it to a neighbor's pond to let them live freely. The only thing was, they still loved feeding the ducks. Every morning, they go over to the pond and when they start getting close, they yell, "ducks, Ducks!" Those ducks come swimming over and waddle up to the Hazels and eat their food. It is so funny. You can't even see the pond when they start calling but by the time you get to the pond, those ducks are up and ready. We went over one morning to enjoy one of their daily feedings. It was really fun and the ducks were so use to people that they let the kids pet them and everything. After that, we just went back to Tonya's house and played.

More Free Fun

Last weekend, the Tractor Supply Store was having some animal appreciation day or something. I got the kids in the car and went to see the what the festivities were about. There was a pony ride out front. The kids loved that. The guides would only take them around the circle one time so after we went inside and did everything, we went back to the pony rides and took another round (neither time were there other people in line so I didn't feel badly).

Inside there was a booth were they could hoola hoop, wear grass skirts and leis and color. The girl there gave a a "doggy bag" that had treats for dogs and a air freshener shaped like a bone. She told us that it smelled like new puppy. I asked her what a new puppy smelled like and she said it was really good. I then asked her if it really smelled like a new puppy. She said yes. I couldn't wait to see if I wanted my car to smell like a new puppy so I opened it up. She was right, it smelled really good! No, it did not smell like an animal new or old or bathed or anything. The girl was about 8 and she went with us everywhere. She was really cute. She is the one in the green on the pictures.

In the back of the store, they had a bunch of dogs that you could adopt and some miniature ponies that you could pet. The kids loved it. They stayed back there for about a half an hour just petting all the animals. Everyone was so nice. I don't know how the program ended up or what but I do think that if we ever do decide to get a dog, I will go to the rescue center instead of anywhere else. Unless, that cute kid at the grocery store is handing out puppies. For some reason, I just feel like that is the best place to get them. Will is against muts but I think they are the best. Either way, it will be awhile before we get a dog. To my children's shear delight, we are getting a cat in a few weeks.