Beach Trip

Tanner has been dreaming about a trip to the Atlantic Ocean with the family for years. After hearing that Baydon had vacation days that needed to be used before a certain date, we decided it was the perfect time to go. Tanner let his family know what the plan was and extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to join, somewhat jokingly. But Aunt Natalie took him up on it. She flew in on Friday and was able to be at Mariah and Chet's last soccer game. We woke up bright and early the next day and headed for Morgantown. Even though it was a few hours out of the way we knew we wanted to stop off and spend Sunday there. The Daugherty's were wonderful hosts and spoiled us.  

I wanted to take our kids to one of our favorite places, Coopers Rock. They had a blast hiking under the overlook and exploring. Austin even said, "Mom, I want to move back to West Virginia." 

We also got to attend church in our old ward and it was so wonderful seeing all of our dear friends. The Fidler's, who also homeschooled and did a lot with us, came to see us even though they had moved out of the ward. I wish we would have had more time to visit with everyone and see those who weren't there but it was still special. 

While we were driving there Mariah was telling us everything she remembered about West Virginia and it wasn't very much. But it was fun to see it come back once she was there. She had one friend, Weston, who was in the other ward and she was able to see him for a minute and it was so cute to see how excited they were to see each other. We are so grateful for all the wonderful friends we made while in West Virginia. 

Monday morning we woke up bright and early and headed for Greensboro. The drive was going to be less than half of what we had done on Saturday but after two kids were car sick and threw up, it felt a lot longer. We have now learned that if Eliza says her throat hurts then we better be handing back something to puke in quick. luckily Chet is a pro at not getting throw up everywhere. And he got to ride in the middle for the rest of the drive.

We arrived in Greensboro in mostly good spirits (I was pretty grumpy but I was able to bounce back, amazing what fresh air will do for ya). Baydon's parents are always so welcoming and make us feel so special. The kids were all happy to be out of the car and with their cousins eating pizza outside. The adults were visiting when someone asked, "Where is Eliza? Where is Jack?" We began to casually look for them but as the minutes passed, panic began to set in. The Hiltons have a large house so I kept thinking they were off playing in a random room. They also live on a fairly big lot so a lot of people were searching the property and the barn. 

Once we realized they weren't there, Baydon's sister started down the street. A neighbor asked if she was looking for some children and directed her a few houses down. By this point I was following with Vivi sleeping in my arms. I walked up to the house to see two police cars, Emily holding Eliza and a policeman holding Jack. Jack was as happy as could be, but Eliza was very solemn and trying really hard to hold back the tears. The man who had called the police said he was working on his truck when he heard crying and saw Eliza and Jack standing on the corner. His wife gave them fruit snacks while they waited for the police. Brittany and I sheepishly gave the police our information and quickly walked home. 

According to Eliza, she and Jack didn't want to sit on the hard ground and were looking for somewhere to sit. And then they couldn't figure out which house was theirs and just kept wandering around until they started crying. We are so grateful that someone heard them and they were safe. And we made sure the two year olds were always supervised after that. Just another instance of "that will never happen to me" and then it does. I'm really kicking myself for all the times I have judged other parents...karma karma karma. 

That night we had a campfire and cooked hotdogs and s'mores. 

The next morning we headed out for Myrtle Beach. Chet had some fun taking pictures with Vivi. 

Obviously she was thrilled...

This one is my favorite. Chet is pretending like his sucker is a microphone and he is serenading Vivi. She has the annoyed look down. 

We finally arrived. The kids tried their hardest to be patient while we decided whether we should head straight to the beach or check in first. We decided to check in and learned that pictures can leave out a multitude of dirt and grime. Poor Porter didn't get to do much crawling and we were grateful that we had packed sleeping bags so we could take the comforters off the beds. 

Porter got to eat a lot of sand. At one point Baydon buried him from the waist down to keep him from getting away. 

Austin wouldn't get within feet of the water without his goggles. Did he ever get his head wet? No, no he did not. But he was prepared.

The next morning we woke up early (not as early as Tanner, he took a walk on the beach as the sun rose) and headed to the beach again. There were so many little clams popping up, just like in the Pixar short Piper. I was probably the most excited about it but the kids watched for a little while. The big kids spent most of their time in the water. They tried boogie boarding and just had fun getting pummeled by the waves. I went in for a while but decided I had been beaten enough after about 15 minutes. 

Eliza and Jack stayed busy playing in the sand and collecting buckets of water and shells. Tanner played a little soccer with them and they were so cute running their little hearts out. 

Vivi spent her time enjoying the shade of our beach tent and sleeping. It wasn't too hot of a day so the babies were able to stay comfortable. 

There weren't very many people at the beach in the morning, but right about the time we were eating our picnic lunch, a mass of college-age kids (yes, I feel that I am old enough to now call them that) showed up. There was a whole stretch of beach that they could have congregated to, but for some reason they decided our little spot would be the perfect place to completely surround. There must have been at least a hundred of them. We decided it was time to go when it got difficult to keep track of our children. And they were becoming more aware of the bare bum cheeks on display. Really though, those swim suit bottoms can't be comfortable. How do they sit on the sand? Tanner pointed out that at least the trend hasn't carried on to the men...which is something to be grateful for.

The best part about the place we stayed was the pool. The kids weren't even sad about leaving the beach because we headed right there. That also meant we were able to rinse off the pounds of sand we all were taking with us. 

The pool was perfect. There were maybe two other families there when we arrived and there was lots of shade to sit in. Nothing was deeper than about 3 feet so the kids were able to have a blast. 

There was a lazy river

and zero entry

and water slides and a splash zone playground thing (pretty sure thats the technical term). 

We were so vigilant at putting sunscreen on at the beach but didn't do as well once we got to the pool. Some of the kids got burnt...yet another thing that I have judged parents for, when will I ever learn? Mariah ended up with blisters on her lips and for a couple days I kept thinking she was sad but then she would remind me that it just hurt to smile. Poor thing. 

The next day we woke up and went to a Nike store so we could use our awesome discount (thanks DJ) and then went out to eat. The place was called The Grumpy Monk and if you're ever in Myrtle Beach you should go. The staff were so great and the food was delicious. I know our waiter's heart must have sank a little when he saw our crew come in, but our kids were so well behaved. 

As we were driving home Brittany called and asked us if we had passed a certain exit. I told her to wait so I could see what the next exit was, and it ended up being the one she wanted us to take so we could check out a roadside store that sold fresh strawberries, ice cream and strawberry shortcake. The timing was perfect. 

Here I am, trying to be happy even though I'm not eating dairy, surrounded by people eating ice cream. 

I love this sequence of pictures Natalie got of Eliza losing her cone. She handled it surprisingly well.

Austin had a pretty good chocolate goatee...

We stayed one more night at the Hilton's and then left bright and early Saturday morning for St. Louis to see Aunt Heather. This was the last long drive and there were moments when I swore we would never ever go on a vacation again. But we finally made it. After dropping the kids and I off at the hotel, Tanner took Natalie to Heather's place. The kids enjoyed watching some college softball while I bathed Eliza and Vivi. 

The next morning we played at a park and then met up with Heather and Natalie at an Indian restaurant. The food was good and the staff were so kind. At the end of school, Mariah and Chet had been encouraged to try something from another culture so we were happy to help them with that. Even though we eat Tikka Masala and Naan bread pretty often and that is what they ordered. Baby steps...

After lunch we headed to Laumeier Park to meet up with Brittany and Baydon. The kids had fun running from one exhibit to the next while the adults discussed their favorite (and not so favorite) works of art. 

Love the way Eliza is looking at Heather in this picture. 

We then went to Aunt Heather's apartment and ate some ice cream and played with the kittens. Brittany and Baydon's family were staying the night there with Heather and Natalie but we left around 5 for the last drive of the trip. The youngest three slept most of the way home and Mariah and Chet were nice and quiet. It was my favorite part of the drive. I felt so relaxed and free. 

Though we were exhausted and there were mountains of sandy laundry waiting for me to tackle, it was so fun to go on an adventure as a family. I'm not planning any long road trips anytime soon, but Tanner may be able to convince me eventually...