I have to share some of the rest of our adventures at the beach.  Did I already mention how much fun we had during our week away?  Hope that’s not getting annoying, but it really was so nice to get away with the fam for a few days.

We really didn’t do much in the way of spectacular activities… most everything we did were fairly simple activities made priceless just watching Haylee and Wade have such a good time.  We were cracking up at Haylee when we first got there.  She was just thrilled with the fact that there were hangers in the closet for her to hang her clothes up with.  We’re talking thrill and awe.  And hang them up she did.  She actually unpacked all her stuff in the drawers and closet on her own without even being asked.  :)  It’s the little things, right?

One night we ate at Joe’s Crab Shack, and it was scrumptious!!!  We had a loooong wait, but it seemed to go fairly quickly since we managed to snag two rocking chairs in a little corner outside.

 

Chris and I rocked while the kids enjoyed looking at the water.

 

 

 

Once we got inside we were in for another loooong wait for our food, and I hadn’t remembered how loud and crowded it is in there.  We felt like we had to shout across the table to be heard, but the food made it worth it. 

I loved seeing my two boys in their matching bibs ready for their grub.  The kiddos thought it was pretty funny that Daddy was wearing a bib.  

Crabs are good and all, but just not worth all that work to me.  You pretty much work up a sweat for a few precious pieces of meat… while wearing an attractive bib. 

I had Crispy Shrimp and the most AMAZING corn on the cob.  Mmmmmmmm Mmmmmmm!!  I think I have decided that corn on the cob is my official “preggo-food-must-have” for Baby #3.  I seriously devoured it and think I could have eaten 3 more.  I’ve had it a few times previously too with similar love…  With Haylee it was cheddar cheese cubes.  I would buy them in the bag and eat them like chips.  Nice, right?  With the Wadester it was Clausen pickles which was especially weird for me since I NEVER ate any kind of pickle prior to that.  My love of pickles actually carried over after the pregnancy too, though not with such a strong urge.  :)

After dinner we walked back to our car along the pier and stopped to feed the mob of turtles and one enormous fish.  So funny how they learn to hover in the water knowing that food may be coming… 

Another adventure of the week was heading just a few blocks over from our resort to the Ocean Drive Pavilion which was basically just your typical, overpriced carnival rides.  The tickets were cheaper the more that you bought, but for example… it took 2 tickets to ride the carousel and one ticket by itsef costs $1.25.  So folks, that means for a family of four it costs a whopping $10 if you bought the tickets individually?!  Are you kidding me?  The bigger, faster things cost 4 tickets a piece with a few middle of the road rides priced at 3 tickets.  I guess it is one of those things that you know going in it’s going to be ridiculous and just go with it.   :)  We bought a bigger package so our tickets ended up costing around 80¢ a piece… plus they didn’t charge Chris to ride “with Wade” on a couple things… 

Haylee and Chris rode the swings first while Wade and I watched.  I was banned because of Cauthen #3 and Wade, of course, was too little.  Haylee actually was too short too, but the oh-so-responsible carnival ride worker just jerked his head and said, “C’mon.”  She rode them a few years ago at the fair with B and Mom, and I was shocked then that she had ridden them, so I wasn’t  too worried.  She did fine and had a blast, but they didn’t quite agree with Chris so much.  :(  It may have had something to do with the fact that we had just come from stuffing ourselves at Applebees. 

 
After the swings, it was Wade’s turn to ride the thrilling fire trucks. He is so unlike Haylee at that age in that he just has little fear when it comes to new things.  He took off and picked out a truck, though he didn’t quite have his shades all the way on.  He didn’t seem to mind too much.  :)

Next up was the Ferris Wheel!  Whoo hoo!  I was not recommended to ride this one either, but I decided to risk it.  As we inched up little by little waiting for the other cars to load I began to get a bit panicked.  Every move that either Haylee or I made rocked the car tremendously as we got higher and higher. 

I, of course, took in the age of the equipment all around me, discerning that this lovely ride fit right in with the label all carnival rides seem to have of DANGEROUS, UNSAFE, OLD AND WORN OUT!!!    It was an interesting position to be in really with my seven year old daughter where I was quite scared and she was having the time of her life. It was much better once we actually started going, but I thought about  telling the carnival worker as we sailed by to make sure and NOT stop it with us at the top.  Maybe I should have since, yes, you guessed it.  The wheel stopped with us at the TOP!!  Yikes.  I survived, thank goodness.

 

Haylee demonstrating the way she rode ‘round and ‘round…

Waving to Daddy and Wade while we were stuck…

The next day we went back to finish off the rest of our tickets and rode the carousel, the knock off Thomas Train (Seriously, it looked just like Thomas, but actually said Thomas nowhere. Not quite sure how they managed that.), the swings again… though this time, Chris begged off and Haylee was allowed on by herself again.  The two kiddos also rode the dinosaurs/dragons and the mini rollercoaster together.  

 

Wade was just shy of being tall enough to ride the coaster by himself, but the carnival worker let him ride with Haylee. 

I was very nervous as we waited in line, watching it speed around the track, that Wade was going to freak out and end up terrified and screaming, but I had him watch it go and asked him if he wanted to ride it.  He just nodded his head excitedly and said yes!

He didn’t show much reaction while on the ride minus heavy jerking to and fro but seemed to have enjoyed it when he got off… Lucky for me there was no terrified screaming.  :)

The day before we were to head home, we made it to the beach one last time.  Here’s another Family Pic before we headed out…

  
Chris taught Haylee to ride the waves though she wiped out quite a bit as well taking a mouthful of salt water.  She wasn’t so much a fan of that. Wade got more and more accustomed to the water and waves and seemed to enjoy it much more by the end of the week…

During dinner that night, we all went around and picked our favorite thing of the week…

Haylee picked the Ocean and Pool…
Wade’s favorite was the Fire Truck ride…
Chris picked the Ocean…
and I chose the Ocean too!

I guess that tells us that choosing the Beach destination was a hit, and we should do it again next summer!  I did pick the beach as my fav, but really isn’t it soooo much work??  Getting prepped for it… getting there… applying adequate sunscreen (ick, by the way), getting de-sanded, trekking back hot, sandy, lugging your gobs of beach gear, while searing the bottoms of your feet with the fire hot sand???

I guess it wouldn’t be fun in the sun without a little sand, though, huh?