Myrtle Beach

The week before last, Marino and I headed down to Myrtle Beach. We had planned a trip with Jen and the kids but they have some difficult things their family is dealing with right now and couldn't make it. We missed them! But they very generously let us stay at their family's condo, which is just amazing. The resort where the condo is located is so beautiful and quiet. It's really just so peaceful there...you never even hear people talking unless you go to the pool (which is always stocked with playmates for the kids).

I don't have a ton of pictures from our trip (by my standards at least), since we spent most of our days in the water (pool and beach).

On Saturday, my friend Chandra and her daughter Hannah were able to come up from Atlanta and visit with us. Chandra and I worked together for several years in Atlanta and we hadn't seen each other since we both had babies (just a few months apart). It was great to see her and meet the adorable Hannah!

We had a rainy day on Saturday, so after swimming in the pool (in the rain), we headed over to Broadway and let the kids go crazy on the rides.

Marino riding the train with Chandra and Hannah.
Can you tell he liked this train ride?!


In this picture, he's showing me the "awesome" palm tree "with spikes on it".

Sunday was the perfect beach day. We went out early in the morning before the crowds and enjoyed the waves.
...and the sand



Marino kept telling me "the waves are kicking me!"


It was super humid (the whole time we were in SC). My camera lens kept fogging up!
Marino loved the tide pools.

Another early morning on the beach (our last day). Marino loved having so much sand to play in!
Most of our vacation it was just Marino and I and it was a good bonding experience.

He's good company!

Unfortunately, we both ended up with a cold shortly after we got there. This triggered Marino's asthma, and we ended up needing to go to the ER briefly because he was having chest retractions. I knew he just needed oral steroids, but it wasn't like I could just pop over to the pediatrician. The ER gave him a double dose of prednisone and a breathing treatment and by the middle of that night, he was breathing much easier.

Trip to Myrtle Beach

Last week, Marino and I were lucky enough to join our friends Jen and Sydney in Myrtle Beach for 5 days. We drove down by ourselves (Jen and Sydney had been there the week prior) which took a long time (10 hours because of traffic) but we survived. It was a really fun, relaxing vacation and we have a lot of great memories of Sydney and Marino playing together and Jen and I staying up late having girl talk.

Since I missed my 5 on Friday last week, I'll try and highlight some of the funny moments from the week. Sydney and Marino fought like cats and dogs but could be found hugging and holding hands 30 seconds later. It was really nice for them to have each other on this trip and they really loved playing in the sand and the ocean together (and the bouncy houses).

Exhibit A: Play Fighting

Exhibit B: Love

The place where we stayed was gorgeous and it has access to a private beach. I can't remember the last time I was on a beach with no crowds. It was great since the kids could run free and we could keep an eye on them without having to search through a crowd.

Last year, Marino was afraid of waves. This year he liked them (as long as I was holding him). Every time a wave came (I waded up to my waist, so the waves would cover us when they came), he would scream with pure delight and say "Whoa! Big splash" and then say "more ocean." I have such a great picture in my mind of he and Sydney and their big smiles when the waves came.

Another cool thing was that with each wave, little fish would come to the shallowest part of the water, so if you looked closely (and quickly), you could find lots of fish.

We had lots of time to relax on this vacation (thankfully, since I ended up being pretty sick for a lot of it). We let the kids stay up late and they both slept until 9:30am every morning, which was a treat for Jen and I. They did a good job of entertaining each other (and us).

Tuesday evening, we went over to Broadway where they have lots of shops, restaurants, and rides for the kids. This was the first time Marino went on amusement park rides and he did really well. We tried out this whale "rollercoaster", which he loved because it had a buzzer he could press. Sydney and Jen enjoyed it, too.

They also had an entire section of different bouncy houses (or "Bumpy's Houses", as Marino calls them). The kids loved it!

We also rode the carousel, which Marino enjoyed this time (the last few carousel rides he has been afraid).

This was the biggest excitement for Marino. He couldn't get enough of this bird. He actually insisted we leave the bouncy houses so he could "say hi to the birdie". He was so excited to talk to the bird, you couldn't understand a word he said; he was talking a mile a minute. The whole rest of the night he kept telling us "Mino say hi to the birdie!"
Sydney is much more brave than Marino is in the pool. Marino was pretty nervous until Jen gave him the idea to pretend to be Buzz Lightyear jumping into the pool ("To infinity...and beyond") and then he got a little more brave. Then he saw Sydney and Jen playing ring around the rosey in the pool and forget it. The 4 of us must have played that about 700 times, each time dunking Marino under which would make him just howl with laughter.

Before we left, Jen had left the house to put some things in the car. Sydney was crying for Jen and Marino said "Sydney, Mommy be right back. I sorry." When she kept crying he asked me "Where did mother of Sydney go?"

This girl is so adorable by the way. And smart. She's fully potty trained and she gets dressed (underwear and all) by herself, and puts on lotion! And, she loves to read. If you read her a book, she will "read" it back to you, making up her own story. She's such a sweetie!

Unfortunately, we did have to go back home and leave our beach vacation behind. On the way home, Sydney woke up from a nap after Marino did. When she woke, Marino turned to her and said "shhh....Sydney, go night night. Just close eyes." We had lots of laughs on the way home - Jen is very skilled in the art of entertaining toddlers in the car and she did a good job of keeping everyone happy and sane on the way home.

Jen and Sydney, thanks so much for having us! Can't wait to go back next year!!