goin' coastal on ya.

Obviously, most normal people vacation during the summer. Those warm, muggy nights and sand in your shoes are the things summer is made of. However, if you've lived your entire life in the South (specifically, anywhere close to the beach), you know three unavoidable facts about summers spent near the shore:

#1. It's H-O-T.

Like sweltering, makeup melting, hair frizzing, skin frying heat.

#2. Everyone and their brother/neighbor/cousin/dog is at the beach.

Doesn't matter which one you choose. They'll be there. Meaning you'll have about 2" of personal space on the beach. Toys accidentally getting taken by neighboring umbrella peeps is not uncommon. Restaurants are crowded. Lines at water and amusement parks are insane.

Bottom line... people. Everywhere.

#3. It's expensive.

Summer rates, no matter where you go, aren't cheap.

I've been going to Myrtle Beach every year for as long as I can remember. My grandparents owned a condo down there when I was little, then my parents would get places after they had sold their share of it. And after going down there so many times, I've gotten pretty wise to how and when to go.

See, Fall here doesn't really hit us until mid-October (except we're getting a little preview this weekend, and I'm SO loving it!). And even that may be pushing it. Last year, we took Noah to a pumpkin patch in the middle of October, and we were sweating by the time we left.

That's kind of a plus about where we live, though. Because once school starts back, we still have time to enjoy a vacation... without the crowds and traffic and scorching heat. It's comfortable. The water is still warm, but it's cool enough at night to wear jeans. It really is perfect.

SO. Anyway.

This is why we've waited until now to put our bums in the sand.

We actually "won" (because everyone's a winner!) a beach vacation, but we had to go listen to a stupid time share presentation. It really wasn't too bad. Our entire vacation was dirt cheap, and we only spent 2 hours of it listening and saying "no thanks" to the very nice time share man.

We took our buddy Chase with us, so he could watch Noah while we went to this thing. It's always fun having him come along on trips. We're not really the kind of couple to make someone feel like a third wheel (I promise), so he seems to have a good time with us too. He's not the kind of friend who expects us to entertain him 24/7. Guys are good like that. Plus, he and Noah are buddies now.

Noah did really well on the trip. It's only about a 3-4 hour drive, but still, he did amazing. We only had to stop once to let him run around and stretch his legs.

The first night, we decided to eat at Hard Rock.

Noah was happy to get out of the car. Clearly, he enjoyed himself. I don't normally let my kid stand around in booths at restaurants (in fact, he never does that in general), but I knew he'd been cooped up all day. I cut him some slack, and I'm glad I did. It made for one happy little boy.

He most definitely enjoyed the beach.

Honestly, all I wanted to do was sit on the beach and read.* Just relax and not do much of anything.

The boys were happy with that idea too.

*sidenote: I read The Help, and it was soooo good. we also saw the movie when we got back, and I've never been so impressed by a film adaptation. They did a great job. If you haven't read or seen it, you need to.

 

Noah was in heaven.

He played a little football...

...and naturally, with his shadow.

And he ate plenty of sand.

There's not a lot that grosses me out, especially when it comes to my own kid.

Snot? No biggie. Puke? Eh, whatever.

However, this picture alone?

It makes me gag.

{{shudder}}

The biggest hit, though?

THE OCEAN.

We weren't sure how he'd react to it. The last time he saw it, he wasn't walking yet. So obviously, he didn't remember it. But oh my goodness, this boy was in his element.

That ol' swimming pool stuff is nothing compared to this.

 

When the waves would come at him, he'd get all giggly and run away.

Turn around. And run aaaaaalll the way back.

 

And no trip to Myrtle Beach is complete without some putt-putt.

And y'all aren't going to believe this...

but on one course (we played two), I got 5 hole in ones!!

Promise I'm not lying. AND it was the course that was featured on the Travel Channel (which means it's not super easy). You have no idea how excited I was to beat my golfer of a husband.

He's now declared that he's dragging me to a real golf course now.

We got to do a little shopping and feed some ducks.

Unfortunately, I didn't really get any pictures of Noah feeding them. I was too busy trying to make sure he didn't try to get too close to them. I don't trust birds. We have a rough history.

This really sweet Korean man stopped with his bag of popcorn. He couldn't speak English, but he was sweet to say whatever he said and hand Noah some popcorn to feed the ducks with.

I may have missed that sweet baby-feeding-a-duck moment.

But at least I still got this:

(Aaaaawww. BFFs 4*EVER!

Or it could be something else entirely. But I'm happy living in denial. Oh man, they're both going to kill me for that! haha)

We also stopped by the "Pavilion Nostalgia Park". For a little more info on the Pavilion, go here. It's no secret the Pavilion holds a special place in my heart, so I just had to have my baby ride one of the rides that I did when I was a kid. There's no telling how long these rides will last.

Anyway, I made sure he got to ride the cars. They're made for the little guys, and since he loves cars so much, I had to see what he'd do. I'd say it went over well.

We attempted the carousel, but the gigantic moving animals freaked him out a little. There was no way in hades his little rear end was going to sit on one of those things. So we ended up sitting in the grandma seat. Y'know, the chair that doesn't do anything.

It wasn't nearly as cool as the cars.

We also went to a couple other favorites for dinner: Joe's Crab Shack (you can't go to the beach without having fresh seafood) and Margaritaville.

Of course, it didn't compare to the homemade pizza that took all week to make. Seriously, every time we were about to have a night in and cook a pizza, we realized we'd forgotten something for it. Ridiculous.

Sleep-wise, Noah did pretty good. It was a two-bedroom condo, which meant he wasn't going to have his own room. So at night, he slept in his pack 'n play in the living room. For naps, he kept getting shoved in other rooms/closets/corners. The first two days, he woke up early from his naps sobbing. Pretty sure he didn't know where he was, and it scared him. Even though he had a great time, I think it all caught up to him.

(he's not really sleeping here. But he's obviously exhausted)

Anyway, we had a great time.

We hated to leave, but our little family has one more beach trip planned in October with my family.

Hope everyone else had a great week!

Happy Friday!!