Mini Beach Getaway

Over the weekend, we took a little family beach mini vacation to Myrtle Beach's Kingston Plantation to celebrate our sixth anniversary and Father's Day, and we all needed a little getaway to relax and be together. Eric has been working so hard and traveling so much, so we decided to take a little break from the day-to-day routine to just spend time as a family. Not to mention, he had a free weekend at the hotel there, so it was FREE! It's amazing what a little sun, sand, sleep, and family time will do for the soul.

We hit the road early Friday morning and had an enjoyable car ride. Madeline is becoming a pretty good traveler --- snacks, a pit stop, a little silliness, and Blues Clues help, of course.
We arrived just in time to enjoy some pool time before lunch. Madeline was testing out her water wings, or bracelets as she calls them, for the first time. She was very unsure of her new bracelets at first but quickly realized that these allowed her to move around in the "big pool" very well. She desires lots of freedom these days, so these helped tremendously. A random lady stopped to ask me if we were from South Carolina, and when I answered "yes", she explained that she thought so since only little girls from SC wear bows in their hair at the swimming pool. I laughed because it's probably true. (And, yes, in these photos, I put my 16 week pregnant body into a bikini...tankini shopping is on the "To Do" list for sure! I'm too small for maternity wear, so unfortunately, I look a little pudgy in my regular clothes.)

We enjoyed some lunch by the poolside, and we opted to skip nap since we were having so much fun at the pool. Eric was picking on me for "letting loose" since I was letting Madeline be off of her schedule. Even the strictest Mama can let loose every now and again. :) We dried off a bit and decided to get Madeline out of the sun, so we did a little shopping at the outlets. We were on a mission for a few specific items, so it wasn't going to be a full blown "Anne shopping trip" which means it was bearable for Daddy and Madeline.

Madeline had a first on this shopping trip --- she ate a crayon, green, to be exact. It didn't rattle my feathers too much because crayons are non-toxic these days, and she immediately told on herself. From the stroller we hear, "She (meaning I) ate crayon!" Eric peeked over the edge of the stroller, and yep, Madeline had green crayon stuck in her teeth. It was pretty funny although Daddy stepped in and had quite the "don't eat crayons or anything else that's not food" talk with her right there in the middle of the Coach shop. For the rest of the night, we heard Madeline's version about "Madeline eating a crayon and how that's bad."

Eric and I had a sleepy rascal on our hands, so she was O-U-T early. We had the evening to ourselves. We arranged to have one of the two room suites since we knew Madeline could sleep in one room while we ordered dinner and hung out in the other room. It was a quiet night but nice to just relax. I think we were both out cold by 10 PM on Friday night. My how things change...back in the early Anne and Eric days we would be out whooping it up till goodness knows what time in the wee hours of the morning. Change is good. :)

Madeline was up bright and early on Saturday morning, so we hit the beach after breakfast. I might mention that Madeline enjoyed the breakfast buffet with her Daddy while I was upstairs getting stuff together for the beach day. You just never know what Daddy will decide to feed the little one --- she enjoyed biscuits and gravy along with some French toast topped off with syrup. For dessert, Daddy offered Fruit Loops! Apparently, the meal was a huge hit! I was able to have a "Skinny Mocha" from Starbucks, so Daddy also treated me at breakfast.

We had a glorious time on the beach --- jumping waves, playing in the sand, walking around chasing the birds, flinging the sand with the shovel, and just general beach fun.

After some lunch, Madeline made it VERY clear that she needed a nap, so we headed back to the hotel for some rest. Post naptime, we enjoyed some stories, the pool, an Icee, and someone's beach wedding.
Since it was our anniversary, we ordered in some delicious food and amazing dessert to have our little candlelight celebratory dinner in our room. Again, it was nice to just relax, chat, and eat food that I didn't have to prepare for us. We laughed because we never would've thought we'd spend an anniversary so low key and actually enjoy it. We decided that it doesn't really matter what you do as long as you have each other and a good time.

On Sunday, Madeline and I wished Eric a very happy Father's Day with some new luggage for all of this traveling he's been doing for work. Eric was very pleased with his new luggage. Before we left on Sunday, we had some pool time and lunch. It was a wonderful morning since we had the pool basically to ourselves, and Madeline really was comfortable with the entire pool experience at this point. She had a ball. It's so hard to capture the pure joy on her face when she's playing at the pool and on the beach, but trust me, this child has no fear and no qualms about water. We packed up the car after lunch and hit the road. I think it took Madeline less than five minutes to fall asleep once we were dry and in the car. That is amazing.

All in all, we had a fantastic little vacation, and it seems as though we all have a kick in our step today from a refreshing weekend away.