Beach JOY

I have no greater JOY than to hear that 

my children are walking in the truth. 

3 John 1:4

Children are a gift from the Lord, a reward from Him. 

Psalm 127:3

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! 

He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with

 his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:5

"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend 

we don't know what to do. God,

 who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know 

and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

As for me and my house, 

we will serve the Lord. 

Joshua 24:15

Broadway at the Beach

We spent our last evening at Broadway at the Beach. It was a perfect ending to our time at Myrtle Beach. 

We found a fun lego store, all of our kids love legos. 

 They had a tower building contest that a couple decided to enter and Sawyer won! 

 We had fun looking at all the silly shops. 

We had oysters, YUM! 

 Sweet! 

 Can't take them anywhere! 

 My boy! 

 The girls wanted their photo with the "peeing stingray". Not sure why they had a statue that made it look like that is what was happening!

 Riding Rides! 

Sage chose this ride and we had no idea when we put her on it how fast it went or for how long! She said no more thank you! 

 Hula Hooping! 

Good bye vacation, till we meet again! 

Pirate Voyage!

One of our favorite things we did was the Pirate Voyage. It used to be the Dixie Stampede, but it has changed to Pirates. Still by Dolly Parton so it is all done very nice. And a nice change since we have seen the Dixie Stampede quite a bit.  Mark was thrilled to get chosen for the pre-show entertainment! ;-) Nothing to embarrassing thankfully. This show is lots of action and a few times we looked over and Sage had crawled under the table from the loud noise! Nothing better than eating a really YUMMY meal AND watching a show!!

Magical Fun!

 On one day it started to rain a bit later in the day so we headed over to Magiquest, which was LOTS of fun. We had never done anything like it, but it was perfect for our group. Each kid gets a wand and clues.

 They must travel through the kingdom collecting clues and solving a mystery. Their wand is "magic" and if you point it at certain things, it gives you the clues you are looking for. Makes things light up, sing, trunks open.

 If you ever have a chance to visit one, we would highly recommend it. All ages loved it. I think they were feeling a bit like Harry Potter. ;-)

This is such a fun area of Myrtle Beach. Broadway at the Beach. Outdoor shops, fish to feed, treats to eat, we actually went twice. 

  

EAT!

One of our dinners out we went to a Hibachi grille. We thought it would be a big treat for the kids to watch their food cooked at the table. As you can see, Sawyer was NOT impressed. 

 To much sun and a little bit tired mixed with a picky eater? Let's just say he won't be traveling to China any time soon.

 Though he did TRY a few new things, and the rest of the family ate it up!

Our cook was really fun! 

Another evening we ate at a HUGE seafood buffet. The kid's all (ok 2 of them, who don't care for seafood, shockingly NOT Sawyer) whined about it. Till they saw that it was unlike ANY buffet they had ever seen and realized that they could find just about anything they desired. I was proud of them for trying crab legs, YUM! (I forgot camera so no photos) 

We are thrilled that there is a Jersey Mikes on every corner around here! This was our favorite sub shop when we lived in Charlotte, and the kids were quickly convinced that it is now their favorite too! 

Sun!

The thing I enjoy about Myrtle Beach vs other beaches we have been to is that it is like having  Branson (for those at home) with the ocean. We LOVE sitting on the beach. But we also LOVE having options for the evenings. It is a good mix for our family. Relaxation when you want, things to do when you want.

 We have had perfect weather for out time here, and really the crowds have been low, which is always really nice.

 Just enough people for our kids to make friends. Of course.

 The biggest issue we have with the beach is that all of them truly believe they are mermaids and have NO FEAR of, well, ANYTHING. They especially love how rough the waves are. Wave pool anyone?

 We have done lots of digging

 LOTS

 We have buried and buried. (can't claim the pigtails, she is a cutie though!)

 Sage has made it her mission to collect LOTS of shells. 

And clams! She wanted to keep them all but I said no way, they were making to much noise! ;-) 

Beach=Relaxed!

I've been to lazy to download any photos, and when I finally did tonight, our Internet is out. But we are having lots of fun! Sun, sand, pirates, magical adventures, trying new foods, RELAXING!!

Vacation Day 2-Augusta with the cousins

Marks brother lives in Augusta and this is the first time we have been down to visit. It is so hard to be away from cousins, so time spent together is super special. Many of you prayed for their family when they lost their home in a fire one year ago. I know it was hard for Amy to lose so many precious things, BUT we love their house and the kids all agree they just have so much fun happening here! 

 They took us to a park where they decided they would be tree huggers.

 And rock climbers. 

 This reminded us of Johnson Shut ins, beautiful! 

 Matching cousins! 

 Getting cooled off. 

 How many people can you fit in one van? 

 They fed us well! Dessert before lunch is our favorite! 

 Cake, YUM! 

 We have major pool envy going on for sure. 

Fun in the sun! 

And on the go karts! 

 Tired out from all that FUN!  

 Hanging out

 Watching fireworks! 

Graham is about the same height as Malaine, she is on a hill! 

Good times, never enough time. But next stop is the BEACH!