We drove to Myrtle Beach with the help of Aunt Nancy and Uncle Will. We stopped at Chickfila and the boys did such a great job!  Nean, Matt, Mom, Nancy, Will, Me & Chris were all there to guide the little ones while they ate.  I guess anything would go smooth when you have 7 adults to 4 children – hah!

The drive was a little crazy. Nancy and Will had Crews and Harper in their car, and Chris and I had Warner and Maverick in our rental car. Nancy and I would text back and forth – ‘is your car as loud as our car?!’  Usually while one car was hollerin’, the other was sleeping.  We stopped at a Burger King about an hour before we got to MB to play on the playground.  Everyone had such a good time despite it being a 100* in the play area.  (at least it felt that way to me!)  Harps even crawled up and through once, but the second time got stuck.  We had to send a little girl up to rescue her.

Once we arrived at the beach after a 3 1/2 hour drive, we unloaded the car and got settled.  We then went down to the pool.  I was so excited as I thought everyone would love it!  WRONG again!  It was a shallow pool with sand covering the bottom.  The boys got in and freaked out!  Harper adored the water, and spent most of her time in this pool.  Maverick had fun being swirled around in his baby float, but Warner and Crews were less than thrilled and let everyone in North Myrtle Beach know it!  We ordered pizza and ate poolside – which again was a teensy bit stressful because everyone was tired and cranky from no/small naps that day.  Nancy and I looked at each other & she says ‘my pizza is lodge right here (pointing at her chest) because I’m a little stressed.’  That cracked me up as my pizza was stuck there too!  We were all tired after that and very thankful that bedtime was right around the corner!

The next day, we went to the Splash pool which was a lot of fun!  The boys still had a tough time with all the water, but we had enough adults to carry & guide them through.  It was some work, but I think everyone had fun.  There were lots of slides, sprinkler things, and a lazy river (I could have stayed there alllll day!)  After a snack and a little more play time, we ordered lunch.  There is something about sitting by the pool, eating a hamburger, and having the sun on your skin that brings me back to my childhood.   I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to leave due to thunder.  We all went inside and napped.  Nancy, Will, and I went for a walk on the beach and then came in and read. 

One evening before Nancy and Will left, we decided to attempt the beach. It was a good thing we had extra hands to help!  The boys had fun running on the beach, but once they got into the water – just up to their knees, they screamed and screamed.  It stung their eczema so bad! Poor little guys!  We ran them up to the hoses and washed them off.  I loved the sand between my toes and watching my kids play. 

The Blanton Family 2011- Crews, Mama (baby in tummy), Harper, Maverick, Daddy, Warner

The Whole Gang

It sounds like the boys had  rough time with everything they did – well, kind of – it’s just the age we are at right now.  But, they did also have fun just being with family!  One thing we could always count on them LOVING to do – RUN the hallway!!

After a few nights of fun at the condo, Chris and I went out on a date night!   It was so fun!  We went to my favorite restaurant Chesapeake House.  All I could think about was crab legs for the last few weeks!  (Just a side note:  when I was pregnant with Harper, all I could think about was crab legs, too.)  It was sooo wonderful.  I’m still thinking about those crab legs.  yum!!  After dinner, we walked around Barefoot Landing.  I was exhausted by about 9pm, so we went home.

Also included in this collage is pics of our celebration of the boys’ 2nd birthday (July 16th) and my Dad’s 61st birthday (July 10th)!  Leslie had made a cookie cake for all the boys.  The boys were so funny and would cover their ears when we sang to them. 

Our beach trip was lots of fun and lots of work.  Just like the Lake, we look forward to going to the beach with our family when we can see Harper and the boys enjoy it more.  It was sooo good to get out and visit family, though, and I am so glad we went to visit!

Thank you ALL so much for your help and hospitality! We hope we weren’t too much trouble!  We had lots of fun and look forward to coming back!

Love!