Monday, July 2, 2012

Da Beach...


Saturday Night we arrived, right after dinner...

We just got back from Myrtle Beach on Satuday, perfect timing actually, the power came back on at our house about an hour before we pulled in the driveway - the storms here in the Mid-Atlantic are quite scary and they have been wrecking shop around here, Saturday Night we had an intense storm with hail, but very little rain, it is so dry here...

We packed up and headed South on 95 early last Saturday Morning but didn't pull into our house in Ocean Lakes until 4pm, it was a long drive for everyone involved, but I have to say that in general the car trips are getting easier, the portable DVD player is heaven sent these days.

The girls playing at one of the oceanfront playgrounds

We vacationed with Brad's Family for the week, the girls absolutely LOVE spending time with their cousins and since they don't see them all that often, getting to spend a week together was glorious.  And Ocean Lakes is a great environment for kiddos, you basically park your car when you arrive and get around on golf carts the entire week, its fun!

Turner Toes in the Sand

It is amazing what a year can do for children and their fear of the water - Olivia was a fish this year...of course the Puddle Jumper played a huge part in that courage, but she was great, jumping into the pool, going underwater and flopping around in the pool.  And Avery was much better as well...they both did a great job at the Ocean too, last year they were terrified of the Ocean and this year it only took a few hours to get them comfortable, it was great.  We are still a bit split on the pool situation, Olivia likes the big pool (Adult Pool) while Avery is still far more comfortable in the splash/kiddie pool, so we are still very much in man to man defense, but at least Avery could play in the kiddie pool on her own, while I hung out on the side, or even read a bit - which was an amazing shift over the last year or two when we had to be in constant contact with them both while they played to keep them safe.

Avery at the pool arcade

Ocean Lakes puts together a ton of recreation activities for the kids, but most are geared towards older kids, but the one thing the girls absolutely loved was the Fire Truck ride, which happens at 2pm everyday.  We didn't introduce them to it until Thursday and that might have been a good thing, since they insisted we go back on Friday and I can just imagine they would have asked to go everyday had we introduced them to it on Monday...

Doesn't everyone have a camo Vineyard Vines koozie?

We had good weather, the second half of the week was perfect beach weather and we managed to get some sun...not that Avery needed any, she is a brown little girl.  And we had family beach photos taken again, and while I absolutely love our photographer, I wasn't thrilled with the large group photo, which was our motive for having them done, getting the whole family together and there isn't a single shot we are happy with...and please note, I had no idea my dress was so unflattering, I wish someone would have told me, because I am less than thrilled about how I look, but at least it was the kick start I needed to get back on the diet wagon. Let's hope I can drop another 20lbs before a wedding and class reunion in late August...

Car Ride Home...Monkey made for a great pillow!

Avery had a rough week, getting out of her routine really throws her off, and just as we witnessed at Disney, she needs structure and without it, her behavior goes downhill big time.  I had several deep breath moments and then the beauty fell out of bed on Friday Night and cracked her head (just behind her ear), and I felt awful for ever being upset with her, when her body hit I was up out of bed running across the hall, I couldn't get to her fast enough...makes me sick to see them hurt or ill.

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