Well, we’re back. We had a great time, and had loads of fun. Did you miss me? I know you did. We got home late last night, and were quite happy to find our kitty waiting for us at the door. We were equally pleased to find out that fish can indeed survive for three and a half days without being fed. No calls to PETA, please. They’re fine. Elijah was thrilled to see Oliver again, and even more please to sleep in his own bed.
We left here at 2:13 in the morning Friday, and had a good drive there. We made it on one tank of gas (we did, not mom’s vehicle), which pleased Chris to no end. We got great gas mileage…500 miles to our one fill up. The kids were good on the trip, and slept a good deal of the time.

Here’s Elijah, excited to be going to the ocean.

Kyra slept most of the way there.

We got there around ten o’clock, and Chris was very disappointed to learn that, due to seven foot swells on account of Hurricane Ophelia, the deep sea fishing trip he had been fantasizing about for weeks was not going to happen. I felt so bad for him, because that was the only thing he was looking forward to. He doesn’t even like the beach.
We checked into our rooms, and then we went to IHOP. When we got back, we changed, and went straight to the beach. It was FANTABULOUS! It was so awesome. Have I mentioned how much I love the ocean? It was incredible.

Kyra really enjoyed playing in the sand.

Elijah preferred to sit in the surf, and let the water wash over him.

Here’s Dad, Malachi, and Keinzie looking for shells.

Kyra and Keinzie working on burying Lucas.

My adorable niece, Makeinzie.

Kyra Joy

Here’s Elijah playing in the sand.

When we left the beach, we went over to the pool, and played for a while. They had great pools.
That evening, we went out for seafood, and the kids were zonked out by the time we got home. We stayed around the room for the rest of the night.

Here’s me and Kyra snuggled up on the balcony, watching the ocean waves.

The next morning, Chris, me, and the kids went out for breakfast, and then we all went to Barefoot Landing. We had a lot of fun there. We went to different shops, the kids made a stuffed animal at the Teddy Town store, and they played on some blow up bounce houses, obstacle courses, and giant slide. I had left my camera in the van during all of that, but we got it when we got some diapers out of the van. So, I was able to take these pictures of looking at tiger cubs that were in this area where they had full grown tigers, different sized tiger cubs, and a monkey for a fundraising type thing for endangered tigers. We didn’t spring for the $40 to have our picture made with them, though. We’re too cheap for that. We just admired them through the glass.

Elijah watching the tiger cubs. (He is in his diaper because he dumped sprite all over his shorts.)

Malachi was heartbroken that he didn’t get to go to the George Jones concert that was at the Alabama Theatre across the parking lot from where we were at. Maybe next time, Malachi.
We went home after that, and, since he was totally bummed that he didn’t get to go see George, Malachi watched our sleeping kids for us while everyone else went to the pools, and Chris and went for a romantic walk along the beach. It was dark, we were barefoot, and holding hands. It was the stuff adolescent daydreams are made of.
The next morning, which was Sunday, we went to the beach for a little bit, but didn’t stay long because the lifeguard wouldn’t let us in the water. Stupid Ophelia! We went to the pool, the hot tub, and the lazy river instead. It was fun.

The kids snuggled up with Mammy, after getting out of the water.

After that, we went to Broadway at the Beach, which was a lot of fun, too.

Kyra and Elijah on the T-Rex.

Here’s Kyra and Daddy in all their native glory.

Here’s the whole gang, except for Mom who was taking the picture.

When we got back that evening, Kyra was sleeping, and, since he wanted to watch football on tv, Chris watched Elijah while I went swimming with Malachi, Misty, Keinzie, Luke, and Seth. It was nice to go swimming without having to watch out for any little ones. When I got back, Elijah was sound asleep. That was cool.
Yesterday morning, we got up early, packed, and checked out. We stopped at some outlet malls on the way home. I got a sweater, too graphic tees, and a headband. I also got two pairs of shoes and a polo shirt for Elijah, and a corduroy skirt for Kyra. Chris got a great deal on two suits, two shirts, and two ties for $250. We left there at two thirty, and started for home. We stopped shortly after that for mom to get gas, and we did some re-arranging in who was riding where. Seth got in the explorer with Mom, Dad, and Makeinzie, and Malachi and Misty got in the van with the rest of us. Throw in three Red Bulls (my first ever included in that count), and welcome to the Party Van! We had fun. Oh, did we have fun! We started out with a game of “I took a trip to Myrtle Beach”. You know, the car game where you go through the alphabet with what you took with you. Here’s what we took:

We took a trip to Myrtle Beach and we took a…
Aardvark
Butt
Comb
Diablo
Ed
Fur
Goat
Hairbrush
Igloo
Jerry Lewis
Kangaroo
Llama
Moose
Needle
Okapi
Purse
Queer
Reverend
Stomata
Tripod
Umbrella
Virgin
Witch
Xena
Yahtzee
Zippo

Yeah. I have a good memory.
We also listened to Frosty the Snowman about ten times. Three guesses who requested that one. There was lots of good-natured pinching, smacking, biting, and fussing…mostly between the newly-weds. Luke, who was excited to be the co-captain when I moved to the middle row of seats, soon came to realize that, if Chris is in a goofy mood, co-captain is not a good thing. Chris was attacking him with one arm at various times, on a regular basis. We also found great fun in watching the expressions of drivers as we passed them and Lucas flexed his bicep at them, while grimacing. We nearly ran a couple people off the road with their unexpected laugher at us. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
After our second to last stop, things were much quieter and calm, as everyone was getting sleepy. All heck broke loose, though, when Keinzie woke up and said, “Mama, I feel not so good.” I grabbed a plastic grocery bag, dumped it’s contents, and still didn’t get it to the back in time to save poor Misty. Keinzie puked all over herself and her mama. We pulled over at the next exit, and tried to clean the seat, Keinzie’s booster seat, and Keinzie, while Misty puked behind the building. They changed clothes, we got everything and everybody cleaned up, and hit the road again, cursing the curvy mountain pass between North Carolina and Tennessee. Not long after that, Kyra said, “Mommy…” and then proceded with some gagging sounding coughing. In two seconds flat, I was unbuckled and over the seat holding a bag under her chin, Chris had turned on the lights, Malachi and Misty were both hanging over the seat behind Kyra, and Luke was holding a McDonald’s cup under her mouth. Kyra said, “I’m not sick. I’m just coughing.” False alarm. We were ready, though.
We finally got home around eleven thirty or so, and I can now say, with complete confidence, I love the beach…but I’m glad to be home.