Right.
We are crazy.
And the way it worked out, we actually ended up leaving on Collette's birthday. So, we got up extra early so I could make her birthday breakfast and we could celebrate with the grandparents. Then, when Elliott got up (he slept through the birthday breakfast) he was miserable and had a fever. So, I left the big kids with Mimi (thanks, Mimi! Come for breakfast, say for babysitting! Ha!) and took sweet Elliott to the doctor. Turns out he had his first ear infection, as well as a head cold, but the doctor cleared him to go on vacation, so I ran to get his meds (the downfalls of living in the country with small towns--doctor's office is one town, pharmacy is another), then came home, packed, changed, and went to teach my night class. Class ended at 9pm, and then we left for Myrtle. Whew.
Poor Elliott was pretty miserable on the way down, but all three kids slept for most of the overnight trip, and we drove straight through the night and got to Myrtle Beach at about 10am.
And we had a glorious week.
We had an awesome suite (the only way to go with young kids! We are totally spoiled now!) right on the ocean. And since tourist season had ended, we pretty much had the beach and the pools to ourselves.
And we all had fun in the pools. (Elliott's first time swimming!)
The weather was great. Sunny and warm enough to play on the beach, but not really warm enough for any of us besides Collette to really spend much time in the water. That girl is impervious to cold! (You can see her in the water behind the boys.)
And of course seeing Uncle Tim was the highlight. :) He and Elliott got to meet for the first time, and Trey and Collette had a great time hanging out with him.
We all went to a very fun dinner theater Christmas show, Pirate's Voyage (part of Dolly Parton's empire). It seats roughly 2200 people and sells out nearly every show. And guess who was picked to be a part of the show? Yup, the Reitz kids. Collette and Trey were beyond thrilled to be asked to participate in the show. There were two dueling groups of pirates who were competing for treasure, and the incorporated members of the audience into the various competitions. Collette and Trey were asked by a cast member to chase live ducks across the stage to the finish line. The goal was to get their ducks to beat the other pirate's ducks. When the ducks crossed the line, they rang a bell. Well, the kids loved chasing the ducks and didn't have even a nanosecond of stage fright, and at the end, Trey took it upon himself to ring the bell. Repeatedly. Ha! My good little Mississippi State Bulldog!
We weren't allowed to use flash photography, and we only had our cell phones, but you can see the kids on stage by the bell.
We also went to Brookgreen Gardens, and took a fun pontoon boat ride along historic rice fields. The kids got binoculars, and we spotted birds, turtles, and the big highlight-- two alligators.
I also decided to try to get just one nice picture of our family at the beach, with the hope of being able to use it for Christmas cards.
Anyone with young children knows how elusive a "nice" picture is when you are dealing with children, particularly the 5-and-under set. Collette was quite excited. She told me "It's good we are having a photo shoot because I'm 5 now and we don't have any pictures of me being 5." Ha! So she was all in, at least for 5 minutes. Trey, we bribed with candy. :) I promise when he stands up straight that shirt isn't quite so huge on him. Lol.
We did manage to get two pretty-decent family pictures. As Murphy's Law would have it, Elliott was happy and grinning until we got onto the beach. Then he immediately decided he was hungry and tired, and we got about three frames before he started crying. Thanks to Uncle Tim for taking one for the team and trying to get a couple good pictures, anyway. :)
But then.
But then.
I persevered.
On our last day of vacation, I re-dressed the kids,
told them we were going to take just one smiling picture of them,
and they could have an entire fun-sized pack of skittles all to themselves if they cooperated,
and we went out to the beach for one last attempt.
And I got this gem:
I know I am biased, but look at those adorable, well-dressed children all smiling and looking at the camera! And added bonus: adorable baby toes.
This was the winner for our Christmas card, and I think I'm going to blow it up and frame it on my wall. Because I'm pretty sure I will never again get a picture like this. At least not for the next several years. Ha!
We were all sad when our 6 days were done and we had to drive home. It was a gorgeous, warm day when we left, so we went to the beach in the morning and soaked up the last of the sun before returning north, to the cold and rain and snow.
And it's good we had those memories of sun and sand and water, because not too far into the trip, Collette got carsick eeeeeeverywhere (Oh, the smell in the van for the next 10+ hours. Oh, the clean- up...), Trey had a potty accident, and Elliott decided he was D-O-N-E with his car seat and screamed/cried for a considerable amount of time. When we finally rolled into our drive way at approximately 2am, we were pretty sure we were crazy for attempting such a long trip with young kids.
But it was a great week. And I even have the photo to prove it. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment