Myrtle Beach and Rolling with It

We planned our annual Myrtle Beach camping trip this year with my parents with the exception of Young and myself going ahead a few day early for some alone time. We used some of Young's hotel points and got a nice room at the Marriott Beach Resort.

We learned the quickly that all the beach chairs get taken up early in the morning, so in order to relax and sleep in but still have a spot by the pool, we splurged a little one day and reserved a cabana right by the pool. They even give you cold bottled water, a chilled bowl of fruit and cool mint face towels in the heat of the afternoon...luxury!

We had a little hiccup in our beach plans...my mom got an infection on her leg and needed to go into the hospital to receive IV antibiotics, therefore, she and Dad would not be able to join us at the beach.  This all came about the day we left for the beach...we left that morning as she was leaving for a doctor's appointment.  She called that evening and informed us of the situation, assuring us she was OK and Timo and Cameron had the most fascinating day going to the hospital with them and helping check her in.  Apparently Timo exhausted all the doctors and nurses with his questions.  We quickly scrambled to extend our stay at the hotel, arrange to get Timo and Cameron and make the best of our new vacation arrangements.  Being July 4th week, we were only able to secure our hotel room three more nights, not the week we had hoped for, but we just rolled with it and had a blast!

We met my dad half way, about a two hour drive, picked up the twins and headed back to the beach.  After a quick stop at Walmart (or as quick as a Walmart trip can be) to get some snacks and beverages for the hotel, we took the kids out for a Japanese dinner where they cook in front of you.  Cameron had a little problem when the chef created fire as part of the show, but eating the yummy shrimp made up for it and they ended up loving the whole dinner. 

We planned on put-put golf afterwards but a big thunderstorm came on and they closed all the put-put courses around.  Again, we just rolled with it, went back to the hotel, bought some frozen fruit pops and watched Transformers on TV.  A pillow fight with Daddy and off to bed...ready to hit the beach tomorrow!

A few ways I know the Lord was at work and providing for us in this whole situation...#1 My mom came through just fine and recovered from the Staph infection.  #2 Young had hotel points we could use, allowing us to stay in such a nice place for vacation.  #3 They had rooms available!  We didn't have to try to find another place to stay at the very last minute.  #4 It was family resort so they cater to kids, had activities for kids and there were kids EVERYWHERE!  We didn't feel bad having our kids impose on an "adults only" resort.  #5 Our children know how to just roll with it and have fun!  They couldn't have their bikes, no roasting marshmallows/making smores, no July 4th campground parade or sleeping under the stars...all the things we had been talking about for weeks for our camping trip.  All they really cared about was having fun, no mater what we ended up doing.

Handyman

Since my parents are still settling into their new home, there was a lot of little odd jobs my dad was still trying to tie up some loose ends.  Luckily he had a few helpers!

First thing's first...Daddy waited until the kids got there to mow his grass, so that was the first task at hand!

Dad put up a new porch swing...or at least it was supposed to go on the porch.  The kids love swinging in it so much, he just left it in the yard for the kids to swing on...it became a favorite snack spot.

MVI 7552 from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Great little helpers to help put up the screen door.  So funny seeing the personalities in each of the kids.  Timo wants to help so bad but has a short attention span.  He wants instant gratification from his work, so he only help a little at each task.  Cameron has determination to complete her task, no matter how long it takes.  It took her about 10min to screw in one screw and then she was done.

We were getting ready for our beach camping trip and Dad needed to hook the camper up to pull it out.  All the kids climbed in the back of the truck to ride the short ride out to the camper...and ultimately help Grandpa direct the truck to hook up.

Grandpa is somewhat of a storm tracker (something I inherited too) and soon the children were learning how to watch the radar too.  If they heard a storm coming they would ask Grandpa to get out his computer so they could pinpoint where it was and how big of a storm it was.

 Take his training wheels off...a job Timo was ready to help with! 

Helping Granny make a big batch of lemonade for Grandpa's birthday dinner...we consumed large portions of lemonade while we were home.  Speaking of Grandpa's birthday, he got this snappy new grill and we christened it with a yummy steak birthday dinner!

Their favorite task...blowing up the swimming pool!  Timo got to use the shop vac!  The rewards of this job were worth all the hard work.

Morehead Planetaruim, Chapel Hill and Durham Bulls

The kids and I took a day off and headed over to Chapel Hill to the Morehead Planetarium.  We got in for half off with a museum membership we have here in SF so I decided to go check it out and see how the kids would do with the show.  We were going to see Astronaut. There was a great little hands on exhibit that we explored while waiting for the movie to start.

Timo and Cameron were really excited to see the show but didn't quite understand why it was being shown over their heads.  Cameron got a little nervous at the beginning, while you're in the astronaut's body during the launch.  You see the heart rate increase, blood flow faster, breathing increased...she got a little scarred with the build up, but made a great recovery and enjoyed the rest of the show.

They even enjoyed to the constellation show afterwards...learning where the big dipper, little dipper, and milky way are.

 After the show, I couldn't help but take the kids up Franklin St. to get some UNC gear.  The folks at Johnny Shirt gave the kids some face stickers, which stayed for three days!

 After our tour of Chapel Hill, we headed over to Durham for a Durham Bulls baseball game.  A conflict of interest for Timo...he loves to watch the games but can't resist the playground.

We had really good seats, right in front of where the pitchers warm up.  Timo got to talk to one of the pitchers!  The night we went was "kids run the bases" night, so all the kids got to go on the field after the game and run the bases...so exciting!!  Timo took off, loving every minute of it...see the excitement on his face. 

Cameron enjoyed herself too...she hung in there with the best of the runners.  I guess it wore her out, she fell asleep within minutes of driving home! 

Riding Bikes!

Last year we bought the kids bikes in NC and left them so they would have them to ride this year. As soon as we touched down at Granny and Grandpa's, the kids started riding the bikes. After about threes days, Cameron announced she wanted her training wheels off. Well, OK, I guess she is ready. I have to add a disclaimer here...it all happened so fast, they were playing on the back porch in their underwear because it was so hot. It was lunch time but Cameron asked if she could ride her bike a few minuets before she ate, so I agreed, knowing after lunch would be a nap. That's when she made her announcement of no training wheels to Grandpa and the rest is history.  It all happened so fast, I didn't even get very many pictures or even think about dressing them...but hey, how many kids get to learn how to ride their bikes in their underwear??

Cameron was the first...it took a few times out and down before she was up and going but she did great!

Timo was off and running on his first try! I am a firm believer in balance bikes! After he saw Cameron riding he decided he wanted his training wheels off, got on and took off! So fast, I almost didn't get a video.

There was no stopping them after that. It took a while before they were starting and stopping by themselves but in a few days they were full fledged independent bike riders!

NC Aquarium

Our second day with Leigh Anne was spent down at the NC Aquarium. She lives about 45min away from the Aquarium at Atlantic Beach so we loaded up her mini van and headed down! When I was a kid we spent a lot of our summers at Atlantic Beach, but I hadn't been back in about 10 years.  I spent many a hot summer days down at this aquarium so it was so fun to see it as an adult.  Needless to say, they have made lots of changes over the years.

There were these frog statues all around the museum...Cameron had to climb on them all!

Stomping on tadpoles and watching river otters...

I really loved all the museum crew out and about, teaching the children all sorts of thing about the animals.  They got to pet turtles, sting rays, learn about penguin's beaks and feathers, and the skeletons of all kinds of fish.

The evolution of penguins...the evolution of the Kos...

The shark tank was the coolest!  Timo could have stood there for hours, just watching the sharks swim by.

Jellyfish tank...always fun.   And us trying to blending in like the fluke does...can you see us hiding in the jelly bellies??

This was a neat hands on exhibit...you could touch to feel how the fish skin feel and hear the sounds they make.

I really loved this aquarium...almost every exhibit was iterative or had a knowledgeable crew member there to teach and answer questions.  I think we'll make this an annual visit.

We stopped for a seafood lunch...but were so late, we got there just before they closed.  Luckily we had the whole restaurant to ourselves....mmm, hush puppies and fried shrimp! It was right on the water so lot's of action to watch.  I remember go fishing on this Captain Stacey boat when I was a kid.  It was so fun to see all the spots I used to run around growing up.  I must say, not much has changed...

A sign of a good day had by all!  Leigh Anne and I had a very quiet ride back to New Bern.  We bid our farewells and the twins and I headed back to Granny and Grandpas.