Can I just say that I love, love, love a good vacation with my family? We are so lucky that Mike's Mom, Dianne, lives at the beach. We pretty much spend a week at Isle of Palms every year around Memorial Day with her. Her condo is in Wild Dunes right on the beach and with a pool.
This year we got there on Friday evening. The kids had McDonalds in the car for dinner and were way excited about their Shrek Happy Meal toys. (that may well be one of the highlights of the trip for them - collecting 3 new Shrek toys!) Mike helped us get unloaded and settled in and then he left us to go deep sea fishing for 2 days. His group was leaving at 4 am on Saturday so he left to spend the night with the friends he was going with. I got a text from him at 4:44 am on Saturday saying they had just crossed under the Ravenel Bridge. I was a bit nervous about him going 60 miles out on the ocean, but he assured me the guy who has in charge really knew what he was doing. He finally rejoined us early Monday morning having caught a ton of Mahi Mahi. He brought home several gallon bags full for us to freeze. We made Mahi nuggets one night for the kids and they really liked them. I'm not a big fish eater, but those and the grilled filets we had were delicious! This was something he had been wanting to do for quite a while, so I'm glad he got to do it. And thank goodness for Dramamine - he didn't even get seasick!
While he was out on the open seas, the kids, Dianne, and I set our sights on the pool. This was the first time we had been to a pool this year, but Sam and Abby were like fish to water. They got their floaties and hopped right in. Before long they were both jumping to me from the side and having a blast. They totally wore themselves out. Sam was even asking me if we could go home - you know he's tired when that happens!
We went to the beach for a few hours on Sunday so they could play in the waves. Abby couldn't quite decide if she wanted to stay in the water or collect sea shells. She was back and forth and squealing every time the water hit her. She was pretty funny. Sam was totally dedicated to the waves. He had his little board and spent his time "surfing" or jumping in the waves. I'm really proud of him. He is so outgoing and friendly and made a friend at the pool and the beach. I love that he can do that!
Tuesday we decided to go to the water park, Whirlin' Waters. It was an over cast day but we hoped for the best. We had been there about 10 minutes when it started raining and thundering & lightening. So we hunkered under a covered area for 1 hour when we were able to get a pass to come back. As a consolation, we took the kids to McDonalds again and Sam got the Donkey from Shrek, which he had really been wanting. We tried again Wednesday with much better luck. It was a beautiful sunny day and thankfully not crowded at all. We all had such a great time!
They had this giant tree house with several levels and things to run through with water falling every where. There was a giant bucket at the very top that constantly fills with water and then tips over dumping water out. We were very careful to avoid the dumping area. Sam loved the tree house. It had 4 different slides and he and I tried them all out. There was a toddler area for Abby with sprinklers and slides for her. She thought the slides looked like fun but chickened out when we got to them. Her favorite things were the lazy river and the wave pool "when the waves were off". Sam and Daddy enjoyed the wave pool with the waves on. Sam and Mike climbed to the top of a very tall water slide (like the huge kind at the fair). Sam got nervous at the top and decided he didn't want to slide down after all. Mike went down and then Sam got brave. He and I (who wasn't feeling so brave) climbed back up and went down. Turns out it was a lot of fun, so we went a few more times. All in all, it was a great day and so much fun to be together as a family. It's not often we get to do that and we all enjoyed it.
We returned home around 7 pm on Thursday to a freshly cleaned house. My sweet friend cleaned my house for me while we were gone as a thank you for helping out with her son. I've never had someone clean my house for me and I have to say, I could get used to this!
We're all home, refreshed, rejuvenated and nicely tanned. Our busy month has begun! I go to girls camp next week for 2 1/2 days, the week after Sam, Abby, and I are going to VBS at Shandon Baptist, and then we leave for Utah at the end of the month. Throw in 8 swimming lesson, a visit from Josh and Amanda and their girls, birthdays, and Father's Day, I think June will just fly by!
