Myrtle Beach Vacation

We took a vacation to Myrtle Beach this year and met my sister and her family there. Her son Cason is a couple of months older than Tate and her other son Bryce is just over a year old. We had a great time and did a lot of fun stuff. People keep asking me if it was relaxing and I have to say that no, it was not! But we did have a lot of fun and enjoyed watching the kids have a great time. (Incidentally, I have no idea why my words are underlined and in blue at this point. I can't turn it off. Sorry.)

Here are the highlights of our trip.Just a cute picture of Tate and Cason riding on a cow. It was near one of my favorite ice cream shops, Maggie Moo's. I could eat there every day.
We went to an alligator farm. This humongous turtle was the only animal we touched.

Tate riding on an alligator.

Checking out the alligator's mouth.

Tate saw this trampoline contraption and immediately wanted to try it. I would've bet money that he would get strapped in and not want to jump, but he actually enjoyed it a lot once he got going.

So high!!

Riding on a truck at the mall. Really, what vacation can be complete without riding on a germ infested plastic truck? (Oh, and on a side note, I was internally puking when he decided to lay down on the floor at the airport. Ick.)

We went to an aquarium to see sharks and other sea creatures. And of course, slide down the giant fake fish.

A little example of Dave's fabulous camera work. Love this one!

We were able to visit a hotel pool nearby. Tate didn't really care for the ocean, but loved the pool. But he would only wear one arm floatie, totally defeating the purpose. It wasn't worth the fight. I soon gave up explaining the benefits of having two floaties and let him do what he wanted.

This was at a tourist-y place called Boardwalk on the Beach. I swear, the boardwalk at this place was made of some kind of heat generating material because it was at least 10 degrees hotter there than anywhere else. And it was super hot everywhere else. You can only imagine what a happy camper I was at this point. But I stuck it out for a little while and Tate got to play on a dinosaur, play in a water fountain, and play games at an arcade.
This is Tate and Bryce on a dinosaur.

Cason inspecting its teeth.

Tate playing in a water fountain. Think Vegas-style, but smaller and without music and lights. So really, just a regular water fountain.

Family photo op! I would've zoomed in on our faces, but then you could've seen the sweat literally rolling down my face!!

LOVED this motorcycle game!

Ah, the beach. Tate really did not care for the beach. The ocean was too loud for him and the waves crashing on the shore were just too fast and scary. When we got close, he would literally shake. Poor kiddo. So we played a little in the sand.

Tate, Cason, and I checking it out. Jaci, Kelly, and Bryce in the background. Somehow my sister escaped 95% of the pictures we took. I don't think it was an accident on her part!

Tate absolutely HAD TO pull a suitcase in the airport. If we had a suitcase to pull, he was going to pull it no matter what. I think some people thought we were slave drivers, but I saw several people who thought it was absolutely hilarious.

I think Tate's favorite parts of the vacation were riding on the airplane ("I go up in the cwouds, Mama!") and jumping on the bed with Cason at the rental house. All in all, we had a lot of fun and it was so nice to get away for a week. We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my sister and her family.