Our Road Trip

We spent this past weekend in Pawley's Island, SC visiting Matt's parents. This was the kids' first time making the trip down there. Camden is really big into looking at where all the states in America are right now, so in the week leading up to our trip, he kept saying, "So right now we are on top of Nonnie and Grandpa. But soon we will be in South Carolina." When we got on the road, he must've asked us every 10 minutes, "Are we still in North Carolina?" Even though the question admittedly got old after a while, it was cute to witness his innocent curiosity and his little mind trying to make sense of the country we live in.

We didn't plan brilliantly and left on Friday evening-- so basically, when everyone else heads south for the beach. Needless to say, traffic on the way there wasn't fun. However, I am happy (and slightly shocked) to say that both Camden and Macey were excellent travelers-- I mean, borderline perfect. We got a few "Are we there yets?" from Camden but that's about it. We didn't hear a peep from Macey and she didn't sleep either! (Thank goodness for Bubble Guppies, Peppa Pig, and Mickey DVDs. She also looked through about 500 books.)

We arrived just before 9 and started getting the kids ready for bed immediately. Once again, not exactly brilliant planning on our parts. They had been cooped up in the car for 5 hours and were in a brand new environment. That's not exactly a recipe for a successful bedtime. Camden finally crashed around 9:30; Macey chattered on until about 10:15. Exhausted, I headed to bed shortly after 11, keeping my fingers crossed for a restful night and two kids who would hopefully sleep in the next morning. Well, Macey didn't seem to care much about my crossed fingers and decided that 5:45 was a perfectly acceptable wake time on Saturday morning.

Despite the late night and the early start to the day, we actually had a really great time on Saturday. We headed to the beach bright and early, came home for a pizza lunch, took an afternoon nap, ate some dinner, fed the turtles that live in my in-laws' back yard, and then headed to the pool for an evening swim before bed. It was a full, fun, (and yes, slightly exhausting) day.

Thankfully, the drive home on Sunday was much smoother traffic-wise, and both kids had a repeat performance in excellent car behavior. I'd say it was definitely a successful trip.

 

Best car riders ever. Seriously, they were perfect.

 

I love this pic for two reasons: the fact that they're both pointing excitedly to the water and Macey's ridiculously adorable Minnie Mouse cover up.

 

Macey was very skeptical of the beach at first. She then decided that she loved the sand, but only liked the ocean if she was being held.

Camden, on the other hand? He's an ocean boy through and through.

Busy, busy.

 

 

 

Bro built some sand castles with Daddy (that Macey tried desperately to smash).

 

 

 

Thanks to Grandpa for this family shot.

He doesn't nap anymore, but made an exception Saturday afternoon. The beach is exhausting!

 

Post-nap: feeding the turtles with Grandpa.

He was completely obsessed with the turtles. He fed them breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Love my boy.

Macey liked to push her "Ninnie" car around looking for puddles to splash in.

And thanks to a couple of afternoon storms, there were plenty of puddles to be found.

 

 

 The whole family feeding the turtles their dinner. Macey kept saying, "Turtles in water!"

 

 Heading back home!