Mommy's Beach Memories

Dear Levi,
This beach vacation was special to me in many ways. A few years ago Daddy and I took a trip to the beach when we were pregnant with you. At that time, I felt a little sad when we left because I knew it was the last trip we’d take together before our lives would change. Little did I know that this beach trip would be SO much more exciting simply because YOU were there!!!!! And likewise, on this trip when we found out you were going to be a big brother…I again felt a little sad when we left at the end of the week because I knew it was our last trip together of just the 3 of us. I know in my heart though that the next time we go, it too will be so much more exciting because we will be a family of 4! You are going to make such a great big brother!

I want to share a few of my most favorite beach memories with you. One that I will never forget is driving beside the ocean on the way to our condo. You had been in your car seat for over 5 hours that day, so I let you get out and sit on my lap so you could see the ocean! As we drove beside it, the excitement in your eyes was unexplainable! You squealed with delight and shouted at the top of your lungs, “OCEAN!!!!” “WAVES!!!” “EAGLES!!!” It was hard to contain your little body to sit in my lap…I think I eventually let you stand on my lap so you could get a better view! It was neat to see your face when you saw the beach for the first time.

You instantly took a liking to the sand. I’m pretty sure it’s because we let you throw it and dig in it and do whatever with it...unlike at home when you are limited on what you can do with dirt and rocks!

You came alive on this beach trip. Maybe it was because you had daddy’s and mine attention for the whole entire week, but you showed us things you could do that we never knew you could! You have such an energy for life and that is always evident in the way you act. For example, when we would open up the condo door….you would sprint out the door, run down the hallway to the elevator and yell at the top of your lungs, “DUNGEON!!!” “OPEN!!” “DOWN!!”

I loved watching you and daddy play on the beach. You two are the best of buds! I had taken a book with me to read on the beach, but I think I ended up reading only a few pages because I enjoyed watching the two of you play too much to do anything else! My favorite was when you guys would run through the waves and punch them! Your daddy loves you and is so devoted to you. He not only wants to be your father, but your best friend. You are very blessed to have him as your daddy!

One of my favorite memories was getting to ride the carousel with you. Although you were a bit timid at first, you talked about that carousel ride the whole ride home and the days that followed! I knew how much you enjoyed the ride at that moment in time, even if you won’t remember it when you get older. It brings such joy to my life to see the joy you have in yours.

While it does make me a little sad that you won’t remember this trip when you get older, I want you to know just how much fun we did have as a family on this trip! We will continue to go to the beach with our family and I know that as you get older, it won’t be as cool to hang out with mom and dad!

But every year is another year of great memories and I pray that God allows us to have many many more. I also hope that someday you will do the same thing with your kids! Because it’s not about the money or the material things in life that will make you happy, but the time that you spend with your family!

And when you do take your own kids to the beach...don't forget to bring along grandma and grandpa!! :)

I love you Levi!
Love, Mommy

Trip to the Pier!

On Thursday morning we thought it would be fun to walk to the Cherry Grove Pier. They always look closer than they really are, as we didn't think it would take us too long to get there! We took 2 bucks with us, because Anthony thought it would maybe cost a buck each to walk out to the end. Years ago he said it was only 25 cents, but we figured it had gone up.

So we started out around 9:30 and it took us about 25 minutes to get there...speed walking by the way! I took waters for us and Levi, but didn't even think about taking any snacks...

...half way there I realized I forgot the snacks...

Almost there!

WE MADE IT!!!! Let me just tell you that pushing a stroller in the sand is not fun! You had to make sure to keep the stroller wheels between the level of the mushy dry sand and the really wet sand...which left you only about a foot width of possible pushing sand! So once we got there, we had to walk up to the bait shop in order to walk out to the Pier. So we CARRIED the stroller with Levi in it all the way up...NOT FUN!!

By the time we got up there, we were all hot and tired. To make the story even better......we saw a sign that said, PIER TICKETS: $1.50 per person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!??!! I was so mad!!! So we discussed it and decided that we had walked all that way, that one of us was going to go out with Levi. I told Anthony to go so that I could go back down to the beach and take some pictures of them walking out. So we told the lady just one ticket and she gave us a hard time about me not going and we explained to her that we only brought 2 bucks. I think at first she thought we weren't telling the truth, but she realized it when I walked back out the door and Anthony and Levi walked out the Pier doors. About 30 seconds went by and I was back down at the beach when I heard her yelling at me to come back up! She said to me, "Honey, you can't not experience this with your 2 boys..go ahead and go on out there with them!!" I asked her if I could give her my last 50 cents, but she wouldn't take it. I was so excited and so thankful to her :)

We were the only rednecks that walked out to the Pier without any shoes or sandals. Which was really dumb because most people go out there to fish and have wires and hooks all over the place. We kept Levi in the stroller and we had to watch our every step!

It was all worth it though when we got out there...we even saw a really cool sting ray come up to the surface!

After a few minutes though, Levi reminded me once again that I had forgotten the snacks. He sat right here whining for chicken and broccoli. I knew that we would be busting our tails on the walk back!

These are the 2 photo's from the professional photographer we met. He and his family were from Memphis TN, and were kind enough to take these pictures and send them to me!

I think this may be my most favorite picture out of all the beach pictures! :)

While we were up top of the deck, a fighter jet flew past us.....literally it FLEW!! It was SO COOL and LOUD!! So after about 20-30 minutes of hanging out on the pier, we walked all the way back to our spot on the beach. My feet ached and Levi's belly was growling, so we got him some snacks, got me a chair and life was all good again! :)

Oh yea...when we got back, there was a crowd of people gathering close to the water in front of us. Anthony had gone back to the condo to get some water, so Levi and I checked it out. There was a SHARK getting washed up with the waves!!! It was about 3 feet long or so...you could totally see it's fins. I was glad this happened towards the end of our stay....I don't think I went into the water much after that!

That night we went back down to the beach and watched people fly kites. Levi called them "Umbrellas". This is a random fun thing, but that day Levi learned how to count from 1 to 10 in Spanish...his favorite is OCHO ;)

STAY TUNED...next entry: Mommy's Beach Memories

Alligator Adventure!

On Wednesday morning, we started getting Levi pumped up for the Alligator Adventure. Ever since Vacation Bible School, which was Crocodile Dock, Levi has shown interests in alligators and crocodiles, so we thought it would be a perfect fit. We hung out at the beach that day and then ordered Domino's Pizza for dinner before heading out for the night. The best part about Alligator Adventure was that if you payed for one day's admission, you got to go back another day free!!

Daddy's putting Levi's shoes on to get ready to leave! (he's wearing his Myrtle Beach shirt we got him!)

As soon as we'd open our door, Levi would sprint down the hall to the "dungeon" which is what he called the elevator.

Riding down in the dungeon! He tried so hard to push all the buttons!

I think we pulled in the parking lot around 5:20 or so....we wanted to get there before 5:30, because that's when they feed YUTAN!

The entrance to the place.

I think out of all the animals, these Galapagos Tortoises were his favorite! They were neat because you would walk right up to them and touch them. On the second day we went back, Levi walked right up to one and popped it on the head. All the people standing around us gasped, and we were so embarrassed! We picked Levi up and quickly walked away. One man said, "Wow, he has no fear does he?" I think that was his nice way of saying, "You're child is out of control lady!"

Saying goodbye to the tortoise.

Lazy Alligators...or maybe these are crocodiles...I can never tell them apart!

This is YUTAN!!! We chose to go on a Wednesday because that is the day they feed this monster! He is the largest crocodile in the United States and he is over 20 feet long. They call him the "King of the Crocs". We did make it in time to see him fed. He ate 2 dead chickens right in front of us in the matter of a few seconds. I have it on video...you can hear the bones crunch and all!

Levi looking at Yutan after he got his belly full!

Getting ready to watch the tiger show. I guess I didn't take any pictures of the Tigers, but I do have that on video as well. They ate some kind of turkey legs...bone and all!

Levi got to pet this baby alligator!

They had 2 albino crocodiles. These are the only captured albino crocdiles in the world. There was a sign that explained how a man came across the eggs many many years ago, and that if you are ever lucky enough to see one of these rare creatures, you will have luck for the rest of your life. They looked pretty creepy to me! Levi enjoyed this exhibit because the railings around the cage were just his height so he could swing on them. Can't you see that he was really into it?

Taking a break along the boardwalk. That night we also saw snakes, frogs, fish, lemur's, otters, beavers, a zebra and a donkey. Levi now knows that donkeys say HEE-HAW! He kept asking to see the whales and the sharks though. I think for his birthday we will take him to the Newport Aquairum.

We had to convince him that the alligators don't like goldfish crackers! Right after this picture, we had to change Levi's poopy pants. Nothing like changing your son's diaper with over a hundred hungry crocodiles lurking by!

WEEEEE!!!! Ride 'em cowboy!

Still trying to get a good one...

He was fascinated with the mouth.

As good as I'm problaby going to get!

So that night, we ended up leaving around 8:30 or so. We were mad because we missed the Alligator feeding...one of the main things to do when you visit the there. We were in the wrong place when it started and it only lasted about 10 min. so by the time we got to the right place, it was over. We were so bummed!!! So we made plans to come back.

So on Friday morning (it was rainy and overcast anyway) we headed back to Alligator Adventure! Levi walked around the place like he owned it. This day he really enjoyed the frogs!

And we fed the ducks and the birds then too!

And THEN we got to see the Alligator feeding!! It was definitely worth it to come back just to see it! I have some great video of it!

On the way home, Levi was saying "CHOMP CHOMP" and smacking his arms like the Florida Gator fans do.

We all had a great time at the Alligator Adventure and it was definitely worth it since we got to go back again free.

STAY TUNED...next entry: Our trip to the Pier!

Tuesday at the Beach!

After the first few days at the beach, Levi started taking a liking to the pool at our condo more so than the beach. I think he enjoyed playing in the water that didn't burn his eyes. He even got to the point that he liked going under the water in the pool and would laugh when he'd come up!

So on Tuesday, we decided to spend the morning at the beach and the rest of the day at the pool. That day we saw probably 25 or so dolphin swimming really close to the shore. Levi was actually able to see them as well! After a while when we didn't see them any longer, we decided to go out into the waves. Sure enough, about 15 minutes later they came back!!! We were SO CLOSE to them!! It was very cool and I don't know if that chance will ever happen again. After I swam back to shore, Anthony and Levi stayed out and a dolphin jumped out of the water right in front of them. No joke...Anthony says it was probably within 20 feet of them!

Another thing Levi enjoyed doing on that day was searching for "Pepe" and "Maka" (remember his goldfish that died?) in the water. We were able to see those little fish that swim up with the tide, and Levi woudl squeal with delight when he saw one and would shout out "PEPE" or "MAKA". It was precious.

So like I said, that Tuesday afternoon and evening we decided to spend most of our time in the pool.

After dinner, we took Levi to one of those surf shops to let him pick out a "souvenir" of our beach trip. We all had a great time in the store looking at all the different things. I picked him out a Myrtle Beach T-shirt (pictures of that to come later) and then we let him pick out one toy.

He found this dolphin...which I thought was really special since we had just seen the real dolphins earlier that day! It squeeks and kind of sounds like a real dolphin. He wouldn't let go of it!

That night, we took the dolphin, who he named "Nano" down to the pool for a swim.

His most favorite thing to do in the pool was to play on the steps and "slide" down the railing that you can kind of see in this picture. He'd tell Anthony, "AGAIN AGAIN". He would get brave and walk around the steps and walk right off of them into the water and Anthony would scoop him up out of the water (he was completely submerged), and he'd just laugh his head off!

He sure did love playing with "Nano" in the pool!

Every day from then on out, whenever we went to the pool, "Nano" came too!

This is my reaction later that night when we found out we were pregnant...(more about this to come later too!)

...and this was Levi's reaction...

...notice he STILL has the dolphin and it's time for bed!!

STAY TUNED...next entry: The Alligator Kingdom!