Myrtle Beach, Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go visit my brother in Myrtle Beach.  I had Fall Break, so I didn't need to teach, and LL had some vacation time he needed to use, so we decided to hit the beach.  We have never gone in October before, but we figured it would still be nice weather, fewer tourists, and a great opportunity to see Tim.

We left at 4:00am.  We were originally going to leave around 3:00am, but when we were still up loading the car and doing last minute details at 1:00am, we decided to push it back an hour. (I had to work that evening, and I generally don't get home until after 10:30pm.).

The minute we got on the road.  Pardon Collette's creepy face, she was super excited but the flash was really bright.  My sweet Trey just wished he was still in his bed. Me, too, buddy.

With longer stops to let the kids play, it ended up taking about 12 hours to get there.  The kids did great, and there were no meltdowns, thankfully.

We stayed at the property Tim works at, and he hooked us up with a suite.

We had a room with two double beds, a kitchenette, and a living room with a ocean front balcony and Murphy bed.  It was soooo nice to have someplace to go after the kids went down for naps or to bed for the night.  We couldn't have asked for a better arrangement! And the kids did great, other than Trey figuring out that he can climb out of his pack n play with minimal effort.  :)

Of course, the first thing we had to do in the morning was check out the ocean.  It was Trey's first time to see the ocean. (Collette has been to Myrtle Beach twice before, you can check out cute baby Collette HERE and HERE).

Here is a not-so-great-quality video of Trey's first time at the beach.  We forgot our video camera, so I had to use my phone.  Of course Trey was more interested in throwing sea shells in the ocean than actually getting in it!

 

With the wind, it was a little chilly on the beach, so we often decided to take advantage of the many pools at our resort. 

 

Collette made a little friend (of course) and the two of them loved playing in this outdoor pool. 

 

Trey loved splashing in the water. He's not quite as fearless as his sister in the water, which may mean a few less gray hairs for Mama!

 

One of the large indoor areas a big pool, two water slides, and a lazy river.  We spent many, many hours there.

 

Collette began swimming on her own without floaties on our vacation.  She had swim lessons when she was two, but didn't take any this past summer, so I was surprised! She was tall enough to touch the bottom of the shallow end of the pool, and so she didn't wear her floaties all of the time.  She just said "Hey, Mommy, watch this!" and began swimming under water.  By the end of our vacation, she was jumping to LL in the deep end, and then swimming back to the ladder, unassisted.  Way to go, Collette!

 

Trey liked jumping in the water, too.  But he liked having a water gun more. :)  I finally did capture him jumping into the pool:

The kids loved these outdoor play areas, too, and often had them all to themselves!

I will update again soon with more of our trip fun!