First Family Vacation with a Family of Four

Lot's of new things for our family vacation this year

1. Landon was outside of my body this year as opposed to him traveling in the comfort of my uterus last year and let me tell you he required a lot more luggage this year on vacation....pack n play, bumbo chair, toys, clothes, bathing supplies, formula, bottles, baby food, blankie, paci's, swimming trunks, baby pool, sunscreen.... you get the idea. He LOVED crawling all over the sand.


2. We vacationed on the East coast instead of the panhandle.... Florida panhandle has soft white sandy beaches and turquoise water but the Atlantic has wide flat beaches great for kids to play on and long walks, an ocean that is shallow that is ideal for little ones. The panhandle is much more beautiful but the Atlantic is better suited for a family with little ones.


3. First vacation since 2006 that I haven't been pregnant or nursing so I was able to experience a Mango Mai-Tai for the first time and it was delish.


4. We had a new experience staying in a resort with two huge indoor water parks which was great for little ones. It meant less sunscreen, heated water and the convenience of taking an elevator down 8 floors and having a lazy river, water slides, kiddie pool, hot tubs, and silly submarine all for our enjoyment.


5. First time I stayed at a condo that all the rooms are decorated the same and have floral decor. For those of you that know me really well you know I am kind of a vacation snob. Meaning I want my room to have granite counter tops, nice decor that doesn't consist of blue or yellow floral beachy decor. This year I weighed the options, nice adult resort with upgraded amenities, granite counters, neutral color palette, vast ocean front view vs floral decor, yellow walls, more kid friendly resort with an angled ocean view. Obviously I chose the later and it really was nice. The decor was better than I thought, I was less disturbed by the yellow walls than I thought I would be as there where some beige accents, granite counter tops and tile floors, modern and clean amenities. The place was had so many positives that we will be going back for many more years to come mostly due to the large floor plan, kid friendly activities, and the water park.


6. No rain.... can't remember the last time I have been at the beach without rain. Not just your normal afternoon shower but there wasn't a tropical depression, stalled front, tropical storm or hurricane which we have experienced before.

We (Us plus Jeff's parents) traveled the week of September 11th the the Dunes Village Resort in Myrtle beach. The kids traveled well. We broke up the drive down into two days. After working a full day we drove to Ashville and spent the night. We got in about 1 am and stopped at a holiday inn. The rate was ridiculous so we drove down the street to a Ramada and got the room for $59 plus we all got free breakfast at IHOP with our stay. The room was clean... that's about all I can say about it but who needs more when you are staying for 6 hours. (This was another first. I have not traveled without hotel reservations and knowing where I would be spending the night.) On Saturday we took our time driving and got checked in around 5. Ate dinner at the resort restaurant with two tired kids and then went grocery shopping. The rest of the week we went to the indoor water park every morning which Hayden LOVED, went back to the room for lunch and kids naps, then headed to the beach for the late afternoon and early evening. Paul and Deanna did a lot of sight seeing, Jeff did some golf, I had a few hours of alone beach time. Jeff and I were even able to go out to dinner and take a stroll on the beach one night. We also went to the adult water park at the resort with Deanna one night and Deanna and I went to a Cirque performance which was mediocre at best. The resort also had mini golf that we played, shuffle board, ping pong, giant chess set, and kids program with activities such as magic show, face painting, arts and crafts and balloon animals. The following Saturday we headed home around 10:30 after eating at Hot Stacks local pancake house. The boys did even better on the ride home minus Hayden peeing in his car seat and us having to pull off the side of the road immediately and I mean immediately every time he said he had to potty. The boy downed a 8 oz glass of chocolate milk with breakfast and pottied twice before we left. So 45 minutes later when he said he needed to pee we told him to hold it and we headed to the nearest gas station but not 1 minute later we hear him say ugh ooh. Never good. So after changing him and cleaning the car seat we made it home in little under 12 hours.