Vacation!

We are on our first family vacation in years. The last vacation I took with my kids was 2 adoptions ago. We've taken some side trips here and there but no vacations. Thanks to some wonderfully generous friends at church, we are able to spend this week at North Myrtle Beach. The kids were so excited and we finally got on the road after lunch on Saturday. We had been gone only about 30 minutes when I realized that I had forgotten Kyle's insulin and the cartridges for his insulin pump, so I had to go back. We were back on the road around 2PM, and by 2:45PM, Marcie was asking how much longer. We had to make lots of stops and I got turned around once so we didn't arrive until around 10PM. We were beat. About an hour and a half before we got here, Marcie started asking what the condo would be like. I told her that I didn't know because I hadn't seen it. She said, "is it going to be like Extreme Over Make Edition when we get to go see the bedrooms? " They were so excited. When we walked in, Kyle kept saying, "Oh, my gosh!" like they do on the show. I finally got them all in bed just before 11:30, and of course, Charlie and Kyle were up by 7:10AM on Sunday. I told them to go back to bed but they were so excited. They went out on the balcony around 8, and Kyle came running into the room where I was sleeping and he just kept jumping right beside my bed. He was telling me all about what he was seeing on the beach. After breakfast, we went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and it was packed! I guess everyone else had the same idea. It was all I could do to keep all of the kids together and I had gotten really frustrated with Kyle because he was being so obstinate. I finally bought some fruit chews and gave him a package figuring his blood sugar was probably low, and he actually did behave much better after a little while. After we finished checking out, the store clerk said, "you have such well-mannered children." She clearly hadn't seen them when we were in the back of the store!

We ate lunch after we finished grocery shopping then headed out for the beach. They were so excited and ran right down to the water. Charlie thought the waves crashing on him was pretty funny and none of them minded when they got knocked down. Marcie was the bravest, venturing out in slightly deeper water with her wave board (I guess that's what you call it). I showed her how to get on it and try to ride the wave in (laying on her belly, not standing up). She got a mouthful of water and I think was surprised how salty it was. I went a little further out (water was still only up to my chest) and a wave knocked me under. I came up and didn't see Kyle anywhere. I kept looking and asked the other kids but they didn't know where he was either. I sent Charlie over to an inflatable slide that I knew Kyle had been eyeing and then the girls and I went over to the lifeguard. I was really getting worried but the lifeguard was so calm. I guess that happens a lot. He was getting the form out that I guess they have to fill out and I'm describing the bathing suit Kyle was wearing, and his pen didn't write. I thought, "oh, great" and continued to look around. Then, I saw Charlie and Kyle walking back towards me. That was scary!

After the beach, we went to the pool. Marcie started "diving" off the side while holding her nose. Actually, they were belly flops but she didn't seem to mind. After about 30 minutes of watching her, Kyle started doing the same thing without holding his nose. He and Marcie both have just about taught themselves how to swim. There is another pool at the place we are staying and it's called the "Lazy River." Everyone has to be on or in the middle of an inner tube. The pool is a huge oval with a "current" and you float on the inner tubes around the pool. We all enjoyed that, and then sat in the hot tub for a few minutes to warm up. Then, it was back over to the other pool.

We ate dinner in the condo then went about a block from here to an outdoor carnival. The ride tickets were $1.25 each, 20 for $25.00 (includes one free ride ticket) and 50 tickets for $50.00. I got 20 tickets, which didn't last long. Charlie and Marcie rode the bumper cars and they all rode the little train. Marcie wasn't tall enough for the other "ride" Charlie chose == a huge, tall slide. Marcie, Kyle and Joanna also rode a "dinosaur" ride for little kids. They wanted to do more but I was nearly out of cash. We took a walk to see what was on Main St. and then they wanted cotton candy. I had a $1.00 off coupon that was attached to the ride tickets, so I used it. The cotton candy was $7 but $6 with the coupon. It was a huge bag but still expensive.

I don't know how we will organize tomorrow but I do hope they sleep longer than they did today. I'm tired!