BEACH!!

Jonathan had planned on taking a week of vacation off of work where we decided we would get our house in order.  The second floor is currently undergoing a four-room-swap and we have chaos everywhere.  The county fair is also in town and we were excited about taking the girls.  On his last day of work before vacation he called me and said, "Tomorrow, instead of taking the girls to the fair, do you want to take them to the beach?!"  When someone asks you if you want to go to the beach, the answer is absolutely always "LET'S GO!"  By that evening we had already reserved a room in a small family-owned hotel right on the beach, decided to take the dog with us, and were ready to pack.  Wednesday morning we left at 7 am, girls and puppy in tow, headed to Myrtle Beach.  Madelynn and Annabella are excellent travelers. I bring a bag full of car approved toys with us and keep them up front with me so I can rotate them without the girls getting bored during the 6-7 hour trip. They are also great sleepers, so that always takes up a good 1-2 hours on the road.  


Since we only had three days at the beach, we made every second count. Once we got into the hotel, we made sandwiches, changed and hit the beach. Our children are fearless.  Annabella ran into the ocean the second we hit the sand and Madelynn fought the waves with nothing but laughter and squeals. They made tons of sand castles, talked to everyone they saw, and had the time of their lives.  The weather was a comfortable 80 with no wind and not a drop of rain.  

Dexy loved the beach, which was pretty surprising because he usually hates to be anywhere but home.  Even though he didn't like the water, he was more than happy to lay on a beach towel and people watch.

  
Madelynn and Annabella shared a bed for the very first time.  Jonathan and I would turn off the lights and TV and wait for them to fall asleep.  Once they fell asleep, we would turn everything back on again until we were ready to go to bed.  On the first night while we were waiting for them to fall asleep, Madelynn yells, "Tell Annabella to get her stinky feet off of my face!!"  Well, the next night Madelynn got her back.

"This is for the feet!"

The thought of being 5 1/2 months pregnant and taking a dog, 3 year old and 18 month old to the beach is usually not everyone's idea of fun.  But we seriously have the BEST kids and couldn't have had more fun.   They travel and sleep so well that it didn't even faze them that we weren't at home following their normal daily schedule.  It was a GREAT trip full of sweet memories and tons of fun!  All thanks to my awesome husband who isn't afraid to suggest crazy 24 hour notice, 7 hour road trips!