Myrtle Beach

We made it to our bi-annual vaca with the whole family!

This year was Myrtle Beach and the Dunes.  Somehow we ended up getting the Penthouse.  Go us!! 

The night before, we traveled to Alpharetta, Ga to stay the night with Uncle Brian, Aunt Mel, Jason, Parker, Tobey, and Zoey before heading with them the rest of the way to South Carolina.  When we got there the kids were all outside playing in the street.  That was so cool to see.  Just like when I was a kid.  That's something my kids don't really get to do since we don't live in a regular neighborhood.

The next morning we headed out, Brian and Mel took the boys and I took the girls.  

So glad that Caleb decided to grace us with his presence.  Love that kid and I hope in future vacations he decides right away that whether to come or not is NOT an option.  He will just come!! Emily is getting taller and this year was a little boy crazy we found out.  And my sister, beautiful as ever.  (with her stinking six pack - gag!!)

The balcony was pretty scary but the best view is always at the top!

Looking down from our balcony you look at the small lazy pool.  And it really looked small from way up here!

At the lazy pool looking up, our rooms were the top right of this building.  We had 3 balconies!!

The first day there and Sahara hits the pool side to get some sun.

First time down at the beach.  You can really hear the wind blowing.

Fun in the sand.  The wind was crazy, but the water was warm.

Jumping in the waves.

Just about everyone of the kids hit the big slide.  (too scary for me!)

OOPS!  Jason looks a little nakie in this picture but he was wearing tan swim shorts.  Sorry Jas!

Parker is smart to keep his eyes closed!

Wow!  I cant believe even Tobey did this slide.

Canyon tried that slide too but never was able to get the guts to do it again.  He did love the smaller sides though.

Even Kristy did the big slide!

The beach days were off and on rain and very windy.  Canyon much preferred the pool to the beach, but he did manage to have a little fun on the beach too.

How perfect!  The kids didn't even know I was taking these photos of them. 

Back in the resort, it was pasta and chicken night.  Yummy.

14 people in the 4 bedroom suite.  But we all managed to find a place to sit.

A crazy storm came and swept through in 20 minutes (as most of the storms there did).  The news later said there was a tornado at Myrtle Beach and even during the storm, Papa got a 'take cover now' warning on his phone.  Did we take cover?  Of course not!  We watched the storm and took pictures!!

The storm swooped in from all around and you could see it swirling over our heads.

Sahara and I went on a walk to find some shells and do some metal detecting but came up empty.

We did get some good beach pictures though.

How sweet!  Sahara had a shadow the entire time.  Zoey loves her Sahara and she is such a cuddle monkey.

Our first adventure out was at Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway On The Beach.  I think the Ripley's Aquarium in Pigeon Forge was better but maybe that is because it was the first time I had ever been to one like that.  

Oh, I got a picture of Nemo and Dory together!

Canyon was so excited that he got to be part of the aquarium.  Look at that happy face!

Kristy, Emily, and Caleb played with the crabs and the sharks.

Papa and Canyon did too.

There was another area to pet the rays.

This is the crew of kids we took to the aquarium.  

Emily, Jimmy, Caleb, Canyon, Sahara, Sara, Meghan, and Levi.  

The Munari kids went shopping I think this day and exploring up the coast.

Lunch at Johnny Rockets and Aunt Kristy got into it!  They gave her a pin for participating :)

Of course we had to do a lot of shopping.  Canyon can pull off anything.  I'm sure if I bought this pink floppy hat for him he would proudly wear it!

Too bad these bottles were banks and not really filled with yummy gooey syrup!

I think all 14 of us were on the beach this time.  Some of us lived in the water while others sunbathed.

We hit a mini golf place and got dumped on.  So we went to eat and then went back to golf more after the storm.

The course was in tree houses and on different levels.  Some of the tree houses where pretty high and Canyon would love to have one of those for a hang-out room.

Sahara is all legs in this picture!

We had lunch at the Loco Gecko.  My wrap was the best ever!

In this picture everyone was on their phone (ipod for Canyon).

All 22 of us, our group and Uncle Jim, Aunt Carol, Tony, Tammi, Jimmy, Levi, Sara and Meghan, all went to Crabby Mikes for dinner.  It was an hour wait or more (I lost track of the time) to seat us all but so worth it.  CRAB - all you can eat baby!!

Brian took lots of pictures of the whole group at the beach. Thanks Brian!

Fireworks were everywhere!  For the 4th, we just had to go down to the beach and all up and down the beach people, resorts, and resturants were setting them off.  

This was a crazy storm on our drive home.  We ran in to several bad storms but they only lasted 15-20 minutes.  Our drive started at 9:30 am Eastern and we got home at 1:00 am Central. We stopped for gas and bathrooms 3 times and food twice.  The last 3 hours were the hardest but I'm glad we drove straight through.  I need a full weekend to recover before I start my class on Monday.

These clouds are what we drove into heading to Memphis.  They made the sky beautiful.

Thank you family for a wonderful but way too fast vacation!  I hate that this is an every-other-year thing.  I miss my people and wish I could see you all much more often!!  

OK, start planning...

...where to for 2015?!?!?!?!