Myrtle Beach

I think our vacations for the year are over ::sigh::  BUT, we had an awesome time at Myrtle Beach with my family!  Early last Saturday morning we packed up the van my parents rented and the whole fam (sans Philip) drove 10 hours to Myrtle Beach. This was the first time we drove half the night, and it worked out so well with Ainsley! She slept most the time and traveled so well. well, on the way down there at least;) 

Philip took his oral boards in Chicago that Saturday so he flew from there to meet us at the beach. These boards were probably the hardest thing he has had to do and he was looking forward to getting them out of the way. I was anxious for him, which is still nothing compared to how I would have been if it was me:) anyway, he feels good about it and is so glad to have them over with. We will find out results in 6-8 weeks, but i'm not worried in the least:)

at The Bean 

Mom and Dad rented a beach house in an awesome little community. Everyone has golf carts and toodles around on them all day. There were 2 playgrounds on the beach, 2 pools, a cafe, a little grocery store, ice cream, and an arcade. It was perfect for us and we had such a good time. The weather wasn't great, we got the remnants of ol' Karen. But honestly having it be cloudy was perfect because we weren't trying to keep A in the shade all day and she could play in the sand and ocean without me freaking out that she is burning. 

My best friend (of 25 years) whitney met us there! she lives in FL now and so meeting us there was about a 7 hour trip for her. She has always been a part of the family anyway, so having her there made the week perfect! And ainsley loved getting to spend time with her. 

On one of the rainy days the girls went to the outlets and shopped in the morning. That afternoon we all went to the Ripley's aquarium. Ainsley loves fish and bright colors so she had a good time:)

 My Dad loves flying his kite at the beach, and Ainsley loved watching the colors whip around in the sky. She loved playing in the sand and the ocean. She loves the water in general. our little water baby. 

Matt and Philip boogie boarding

The boys found a Go Cart place where a full day pass was only $20. Needless to say they got their money's worth :) and much to everyone's surprise, Philip was the only one to get a 'no bumping or aggressive driving' warning. 

We grilled out at the house every other night and went out to eat on the other nights. On our second to last night there we went to putt putt. We did our research and found the best putt putting in Myrtle Beach. Then we found coupons! It was so much fun. 

Sadly, the boys won. Although if we had counted Ainsley's perfect score, we would have:) 

ski ball champion 

my prize! 

Like I said, we had the perfect set up at our little beach community. 

playing in the window

back of the golf cart after an ice cream run  

on the golf cart

loving it:)

It was so relaxing. And it was so sweet how everyone loved on our sweet baby girl. 

watching elmo

It is always so great to be at the beach. And even greater to be there with people you love. It was a much different vacation with a baby, but it was so fun. Ainsley is so mobile now and seeing her explore and try new things is awesome to watch. (and having 5 extra sets of hands was awesome too!)  We made some wonderful memories. As always I get sad when family vacay is over. But looking forward to next year and how different it will be then too :) 

  While we were having fun at the beach, Jackson got a pitbull girlfriend at ForPaws. I think he was sad to leave her.