My husband and I were married 5 years ago in October at Myrtle Beach. This year he surprised me with an anniversary trip for the whole family. This was Ladybug’s second time visiting the beach; although, she was so young on her first trip, which was to our family reunion at Virginia Beach that I doubt she remembers. We put the children to bed and then piled them into the Suburban for the 6.5 hour drive in the wee, early hours (think 4 AM) in order to get in some driving while they were still sleeping. Trust me when I tell you it is worth the loss of sleep in the morning to have those few hours of peace in the first part of the drive. Coffee + adult radio (no silly songs) = bliss!
We don’t tend to eat out at restaurants all that often and when we do it is typically the local Chick fil’A to make use of their indoor playground. So each and every time we stopped was exciting, especially for Ladybug. I’m fairly certain we have created a Cracker Barrel fan for life. She mostly likes the mini-rockers, the flowers, the decorations, and the checkers, but she eats well too. The restaurant that really surprised me with a robust child’s menu with healthy items was actually Bob Evans. We would have eaten there more often, but Cracker Barrel is EVERYWHERE!


When we checked into the hotel, Ladybug told the clerk she wanted to be on a high floor (I think she must have overheard her Daddy), so we ended up on the 22nd floor. Yes, ladies and the gentlemen the very top of Myrtle Beach. It was a gorgeous view. My favorite part was that we could easily spot dolphins and watch the Ospreys dive for fish. Our room was so high that we were looking down onto the flying Ospreys! Amazing 🙂
Our first day there was pretty cold, but we bundled up and braved the beach. Ladybug was a much bigger fan of the sand and playing with her sandcastle kit than the water, but the combination of playing in the sand with Daddy bringing her buckets full of ocean water to dump was the perfect combination. GramB did a great job of showing Ladybug lots of shells and coral on the beach. She had a blast!
Doodle Bug preferred eating sand – keeping the shells and various forms of trash out of his mouth was a full time job! – and chasing/crawling after his beloved older sister.
We did have on incidence of nudity on the beach. Apparently her super cute adorable one piece left someting to be desired in the comfortable department. We totally got a pick for the family book, but I can’t quite bring myself to post it online for fear of damaging her for life in her teenage hers or attracting less scruplicoius folk than yourself to my blog.

The next day we fared much better at the sea shore with a swim suit she was willing to keep on her body and a much warmer sunny day.

We also saw dolphins too, complete with tail flapping. We had a fabulous vacation and if time ever permits I’ll do my best to share some of my favorite moments from Myrtle Beach 2014!