Finally Catching Up - Vacation, Part 2

This seems like forever ago now, but I want to catch up from where I left off.

We left Amelia Island after the condo was destroyed, and we headed to Brunswick, to Mick's parents' house.  It was only about an hour away, so it was nice to not have to drive a long way.  Since it was Memorial Day, everyone was out of work, so Em was excited to see Grandma and Papa, Grandma Lala, and her cousin Landon!

We went to the beach at Jekyll Island, and of course it started raining as we stepped onto the sand.  Luckily, they have a nice big covered pavilion where we sat through the storm.  Em and Landon shared some goldfish!

The sky was looking pretty angry, so we sat for a while.

We actually didn't mind the time to just relax together.

And Em enjoyed playing with the umbrella!

We left Brunswick on Tuesday morning and headed home.  We of course still had Gracie and Bella with us, which makes it a little more difficult to just check into a hotel.  We readjusted when we got home on Tuesday, and decided we'd try to make the best of what vacation we had left.  At one point, Mick was talking about going back to work, but I was determined not to!  We couldn't find a place in Hilton Head or Charleston with such short notice, so we booked an oceanfront resort in Myrtle Beach.  It's a short drive, familiar area, and we knew the weather would be nice.  I arranged for the pet sitter to take care of Gracie and Bella, and we headed out on Wednesday.

We got to the Dunes Village Resort and checked in on Wednesday afternoon and wasted no time getting on the beach. 

Em is fearless, and very adventurous.  She wanted to go straight to the water, and wasn't thrilled to get out.

She liked the splashing and jumping the waves.

And more splashing :).

We came across someone's sand castle kingdom and had to remind Em that it wasn't hers to knock over.  I'm not sure why she likes knocking things over so much, but she thinks it's hilarious.

One reason we chose this place was the indoor water park they advertised--Em loved the pool too.  There was a lazy river and a basketball goal and some other water toys.  It was a great alternative to being outside, even though the weather was perfect and we didn't spend much time there.

We headed to the beach again on Thursday, and Em finally got to build her sand castle!  Again, she really liked building it, but LOVED knocking it down,

so the building turned more into digging than anything.

We dug a hole that she was so proud of, and she sat in it to dig some more, play with her little boat, and only took a break when we lured her under the umbrella with peanut butter and crackers!

Our hotel reservation included tickets to Ripley's Aquarium, so we headed there on Friday, where Em couldn't get enough of the fishies!  There was a mermaid exhibit where she met a mermaid and saw one swim with stingrays, and a dinosaur exhibit that intimidated her at first.  She was fine after she realized they were only pretend (and continued to remind us of the pretend dinosaurs for the rest of the day!).

By far though, her favorite things were the hungry sharks!  There was a long walk-through tunnel that she loved, and kept making her "hungry shark" face.

When we saw this shark across the lobby, Mick grabbed Em and practically sprinted over to catch him.  Her new thing is wanting to give high fives, so she gave the shark a high five and was ready to go eat lunch!

When we were done at the aquarium, we decided to get ice cream.  Em thinks there's no need for any flavor besides chocolate (can't say I disagree there), and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

When we got back to the hotel, we spent some time in the pool, and gave Em her first try with her floaty.  She was very brave in it, and was excited to wear it (partially because Dora and Boots always wear life jackets "so we can be safe" when they're in the water).  She knew she was being safe and liked that.

There was also a playground and a mini golf course at our hotel, and Em followed Daddy's lead.  She was a few over par on every hole, but got so excited when she finally got the ball in.

I'll be honest--I'm only putting this picture here because it reminds me of one of myself when I was little--the scrunched up face, the curls, and as much as Em looks like her Daddy, I like a reminder once in a while that she's my girl too :).

We left about mid-morning on Saturday, and got home in time to relax some, get unpacked and get laundry done before heading back to the daily routine on Monday!  It wasn't exactly the vacation we had planned, but it was certainly an adventure, and one we won't forget.