Myrtle Beach

My sister worked hard to plan a trip to the beach for our family and my parents too. We found a deal at a resort for trips prior to Memorial day so we all signed up. We spent three nights in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And my sister and mom swear it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t get enough of the beach and I’m glad my family had a good time.

We drove into town on Sunday after lunch with Jacob’s family in Columbia. Before eating dinner we went straight out to the beach and the kids dove in even though that is not what I had in mind and I hadn’t dressed Isaac for more than beach walking. For a kid who has never been to the beach, he was completely unafraid of the water. And I was really grateful for so many adults to take turns enjoying the waves with him and Anna.

The kids really enjoyed the water. Isaac was all about it the first beach morning. He wanted to be in the water and we would take him in, then he would want to dig or kick a ball with one of us. Anna just wanted to see how deep we would let her go. And a few times Jacob or I would carry her out a ways, past the waves. She just wanted to be wet. But she laughed pretty hard when Jacob buried her legs and gave her a sand mermaid tail. Sandcastles and shell hunting were always fun. Jacob found several sharks teeth.

The resort was nicely situated in suburbia where it was quiet. We couldn’t walk to food but we ordered in a few times and got by using our groceries. It was actually nice not feeling obligated to get dressed up to eat out. And after dinner each night we strolled the beach. Getting our feet wet, searching for critters. Jacob kept finding clams that were digging into the sand who were really fun to watch. Isaac made it his mission to catch a bird, like a storyline in a book we read at his cousin’s house just before the trip. He would be sneaky and try to catch them but those birds are quick. Anna loved making up stories with her grandmother and pretending. There was also a wonderful pirate ship play yard right between the two resort buildings and the kids made friends every night there.

On our last full day the kids took turns resting and gave me the chance to get one on one time with each of them. I took Isaac out in the afternoon while Anna was sleeping. We sat on the beach with my mom and sister. He climbed all over the beach chairs, chased birds, and just loved being at the beach. Then after dinner and our stroll, Anna and I got our bathing suits back on and floated on the lazy river. Aunty, Isaac and I had tried it out earlier while Anna was playing mini golf with Jacob. So Anna was very excited to explore it herself. We floated for two hours. She was brave and went down the slides by herself. I tried to be brave too and let her. I even got out for a bit and chatted with my sister while Anna went down round after round. We stayed until 11 pm closing, she just didn’t want it to end. I felt bad when on our way up to the room she caught her toe in a door and cut it pretty bad. But the timing of the injury couldn’t have been better since we were leaving in the morning.

Anna showed herself to be quite the big kid on the beach and in the pool. But her body also reminded me that my girl isn’t a little kid anymore: she got her first loose tooth. While eating breakfast one of her teeth looked super tilted to me. It actually freaked me out, because I’m a worry wort mom. But it wiggled and there we have it, one big kid! We all are looking forward to our home’s first visit from the tooth fairy.

My sister made a summary video all about our fun. Enjoy!