WARNING: This is going to be a long one. So in the past few years, our family vacations have become centered around baseball. If I'm being honest, we just can't afford to do 2 vacations every summer. But, my kids never complain and don't seem to mind. They still love traveling, staying in hotels, and spending our vacation with our baseball family. Because that is what they've become. In fact, some of these boys have been playing together since they were 7 (5 years!). And their siblings...well, let's just say Bella has basically grown up on the baseball field alongside all of them. Even when we spend every day trudging back & forth to baseball games in the heat (or sometimes the cold) with wagons loaded with chairs, coolers, snacks, and seeds, they still see it as a vacation. Time spent with friends and away from home. This vacation, however, felt different. We definitely spent more down time at the hotel pool and beach, and got to do so much more. Myrtle Beach was such a blast. We arrived on Friday expecting rain. In fact, there was a 60-80% chance of rain EVERY DAY. I was worried. Somehow, some way, the weather could not have been better. Besides the very first day (which, thankfully, there were no games scheduled), we had beautiful sunny skies every day. And even better cool and breezy evenings. A few mornings, it did rain. But this only caused a slight delay in games, which actually meant we got to sleep in. The hotel (Forest Dunes) was perfect. It was right on the beach. We had a pool, hot tub, AND a lazy river. Which ended up being more like a crazy river. It rained early on that first day, but the kids didn't seem to notice and still spent the day in the pool. We grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant, Buckets. The boys loved it. They didn't even have to get dressed. Bella had ginger ale, apparently for the first time. Carter tried to convince her they were drinking real beer. Our first game was the following morning on Saturday. We won 8-4. Then it was back to the hotel. And to the beach!! The weather was great. But unfortunately, red AND blue flags were out. I learned that a red flag meant strong rip currents. You could only go in knee deep. And blue, well that meant shark sightings. Yes, apparently 3 sharks were spotted only a few hours earlier. But this was okay because Pop Pop brought a basketball goal to the beach. And there was bucket ball. And football. And that night, there was some fortnite/manhunt game on the beach that they had all made up. The basketball goal was a lot of fun. But, as it turns out, 40 something year old men should not attempt this. Josh ended up breaking a few ribs that afternoon. Not even kidding. That is our hotel in the background. That's how close we were to the beach. There were a lot of back and forths from the hotel pool to the beach, so this was extremely convenient. We celebrated a few birthdays at Hooters that evening. It has become somewhat of a tradition that started last Summer while in Atlanta. Party of 44? Believe it or not, they accommodated, and it went pretty smoothly. The boys definitely enjoyed themselves... And Bella had her very first Shirley Temple. The best part - the boys singing along to "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of their lungs in the middle of the restaurant. Sunday, we won Game 2. Cam hit a home run, so he was feeling pretty good. That afternoon, we were able to get back on the beach. No sharks today. Lauren and Caelin had finally arrived! Then, we had dinner with Honey & Pop Pop in their room. Day 3, we had 2 games. We went 2-0, run ruling both teams. Again, more gorgeous weather. And, the boys were pumped. That night, we wanted to check out Broadway at the Beach. It was a little crowded and huge. I wish now we had had more time to just take it all in. We settled on Hard Rock for dinner (it had the shortest wait time) for dinner. After dinner, we walked around for a bit. The kids rode the Ferris Wheel. By then, it was time to head back. The boys had a little too much fun with the sunglasses hut while waiting on dinner. Bella started collecting discarded balloon animals. Tuesday, we lost our first game (which meant we were done with baseball for the remainder of the trip). It was a really tough game, and the boys were so disappointed. They were crying and hugging each other because this meant our season was over, for now. And they really do love being together. But, we ended the day at Medieval Times. The boys were all smiles again and the loss was forgotten. Dinner was a huge chicken leg on a metal plate...no silverware. It was pretty entertaining. And we all got to be together one last night. Half the team went home the next day; the other half had reserved an extra night. Those that stayed did mini-golf on that last day. After that, it started to rain. We grabbed dinner again at Buckets and spent the night relaxing in the hotel. The kids hung in the pool while the adults played cards. I know everyone is going to remember this trip. Despite the loss (and Josh's broken ribs), we grew even closer this time (if that's possible). And so just a few more pics... This was just before Bella dropped her snow cone. Poor thing, I felt so bad and eventually paid for another. The older kids really bonded on this trip, too. They are all the same age and headed to high school next year. I'm so glad Kaleb was able to come along. Him and Jack got to hang the entire time, and the younger boys really enjoyed having him around. We had gone to the beach just to hang for a bit before dinner. She came out of the water with her pants soaked, and said, "Mom, is this ok?" After I told her it was ok, "because we're in Myrtle Beach", she proceeded to take advantage. And then, after several attempts, we ended up with this family picture which I think turned out pretty great.
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November 2018
AuthorMy name is Kaci. I am a working mom of 3. Wife to Josh. Mom to Jackson, Cameron & Isabella. My life is dinner, homework, baseball, basketball, grocery lists, laundry, middle school, wine, video games, and schedules. I started this blog because I love taking pictures, and I needed a place to document our life. I wanted a place to write it all down, to remember little details so easily forgotten in the mad rush that is the life of a family of 5. Through my photos and words, I endeavor to capture our story. Categories
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