August included my first ever family, beach vacation, and I must say that the ocean is awesome...although, not quite as awesome as a yellow submarine, but not much can beat a yellow submarine, so we'll that slide. Mom, Dad, and I headed to Myrtle Beach at the beginning of August, and the car ride actually wasn't that bad; I mean any length ride that includes chips, movies on the iPad, lemonade, and my choice of gas station snack, zebra cakes for those inquiring minds, is a pretty good ride in my book. We did hit some serious traffic, and I think everyone was a little grumpy when we were forced to spend 2 extra hours in the car; Mom's butt was even bruised. Nonetheless,
we finally made it, and I got to see the ocean for the very first time. However, whose dumb idea was it to have me wear a skirt for my first beach exploration - geesh!? The rents are lucky that I am so patient and easygoing, - those of you who know me, let that sink in for a moment - so anyways, I was willing to wait until the following day to submerge myself. Mom and I have been preparing for my first beach visit with books from the library, and I immediately wanted to take off my shoes and wiggle my toes in the sand, just like the little boy in one of my books. We then headed to dinner at the Pier Restaurant, during which I started to crash due to our incredibly long day of travel, but we were able to make it to the pier for a short stroll. A bunch of people were fishing at night - so strange! We did get to see the SkyWheel at night though, and that was very pretty, and I pretended to make an extraordinary shark c
atch, 'cause I'm good like that. By the time we made it back "home", otherwise known as the hotel, I was barely awake but still very excited to sleep in a big bed all by myself. Don't worry, all of my bed buds were there to keep me company, and the rents caged me in. The next morning was when the real fun bega
n! We don't have a land line at home, so I kept myself thoroughly entertained by pretending to call Grandma every 5 minutes to fill her in on what we were doing. Eventually, Dad had to unplug the phones, just in case I decided to make some expensive real calls. After some balcony relaxation, we made it down to the beach to really experience the ocean. I loved jumping the waves with Daddy and building sandcastles, just like the little boy in my library book. Dad even made me a sand heart - awww! The oce
an was great, but I think that my favorite resort amenities were the "fuzzy" river, also known as a lazy river to those of you less creative than I, and the yellow submarine 
in the kiddie pool. I could not get enough! I even got to float along in the the "fuzzy" river all by myself. The vacation fun continued after a little nap with a walk to the amusement park. I proved my fearlessness and begged Dad to take me on the Hurricane and on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Mom was a little nervous, but she acquiesced, and I enjoyed my Hurricane ride immensely. I even kept my hands up the entire time we were moving forwards, but I did decide to hold on once the ride thrust me in reverse. Other amus
ement parkgoers even stopped to watch me and comment on my bravery. I did admit that the Tilt-a-Whirl was a "little bit scary", so it is probably a good thing that they wouldn't let me on the big roller coaster; although, I did try without hesitation. The kiddie rides seemed pretty boring in comparison, but I gave a few of them a try and finally gave up after the kiddie roller coaster only went around the very short track once; I feel cheated. The insane heat finally forced us to head to dinner, which wasn't bad at all because I found a new instant lo
ve for snow crab! Day three included some more sand castle building, "fuzzy" river floating, and submarine exploring, but we also added beach tent lounging to our repertoire. Thank goodness because that beach is hot! That afternoon we headed to Broadway at the Beach where I got to feed the ducks and fish, high five a bear, cautiously experience a margarita hurricane, acquire a parrot from a scary stilt walker, and enjoy a daiquiri at Jimmy Buffet's 
Margaritaville. Like every night while we were on vacation, I eventually asked to go "home and sleep in my big girl bed". The big girl bed was definitely one of the biggest highlights of this trip, and rumor has it that I will be getting a big girl bed of my own for the big 0-3. We shall see - fingers crossed, which I still don't get! To appease Mom the next morning, Dad and I got dressed up, far too early for my taste, for a 
photo shoot on the beach with photography student Antowan Gourdine. I must admit that I'm glad we did it seeing as we did get some great family pictures, as well as some beautiful brother bump 
pictures and even better pictures of just me. Playing under the pier was pretty cool too! We spent a little time at the pool after our photo shoot since we all pretty much preferred the pools to the sand. Later that day, we walked down the strip, did a little shopping for Lucas and Harper, rode on the very high SkyWheel, from which the view was amazing, and tried to check out the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum; however, the ticket lady was nice enough to warn us that the museum was probably a bit over my head, so we skipped it and headed to North Myrtle. Dad decided to attempt a super nice, white table cloth dinner w
ith me in tow, which totally stressed Mom out. I got him back for making me sit quietly for so long though; I totally ordered a $15 hot dog and then didn't even take one bite. On one of my voyages away from the table and out to the patio, Dad and I did discover a sinking sailboat, which was pretty cool, and the bartender, who just happened to be stationed en route to the patio, took a liking to me and told me all about the harbor, so that made my fine dining experience worth it. Before heading "home" to the hotel, we strolled the shops, rode on the carousel, and played a little drumbeat for those shopping in th
e Earthly Gems Store. After several days of searching, I finally found the perfect shark's teeth for Lucas and me - success! I also tried to buy Harper a beautiful bag of hand-picked gems, otherwise known as colored rocks, but Mom put the kabosh on my choking hazard idea; I thought she would like them but whatever. Unfortunately, the next morning was the end of our beach stay, and we headed home. The ride home was a little rougher despite my cookie selection; I was exhausted and had a hard time falling asleep. Mom finally had to move to the backseat to let me use her arm as a pillow. There was one moment that made the entire ride worth it though. When we were about 30 minutes from home, my current, absolute favorite song, Cee Lo Green's "Forget You", came on the radio; my head immediately popped up from a 2-hour dead sleep, and I began singing the chorus full force with my eyes still closed. "Forget You" moves me, and not
hing can stop a star from shinning! Just for the record, I also love singing to the Bruno Mars "Lazy Song" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", amongst many others. My first family beach vacation gets 2 enthusiastic thumbs-up, and we even made it home in time, albeit a few minutes late, to pick up my "best friend Opie" from the vet. Next time, I'll have to talk Mom and Dad into letting him go with us. It was one heck of a first family vaca, and all I continue to talk about is toes in the sand, the yellow submarine, the fuzzy river, and sleeping in a big girl bed. I can't wait to go back to the beach again! Getting Pumped for the Beach
*...and yes, this is my normal level of crazy energy!
Wave Jumping
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