Myrtle Beach

Sometimes, you just need a vacation.  That may make it sound like we were spontaneous and went on a trip, but we are too big of a planners to be that spontaneous :)  Knowing ourselves and the busy times that were heading our way, we planned a long weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC, for the end of October.  It was a fabulous vacation!  We didn't go with much of a plan for each day, but we had done our research so we  knew of some fun options we had nearby.  The goal was to relax, have fun together, and create some great memories.  The kids all shared a room and had a girls bed and a boys bed.  They giggled as they fell asleep each night :) 

We spent the first morning at Alligator Adventure where we were introduced to some very fun reptiles and stories about reptiles.  Sam loves all creatures that seem unlovable to everyone else, like alligators, snakes, skunks, sharks, etc, so he loved this surprise trip!

The alligator handler brought several animals around for the kids to pet and ask questions about.  I was surprised with how eager they were to touch everything!

The kids had to get a picture of these flamingos, mostly because they love to tease Grandma Z about her dislike of flamingos. :)

There were so many cool animals that we don't get to see very often and the kids loved it so much!  There were many requests of, "Mom!  Take a picture of me with _______!!!"

One of the favorite exhibits we went to see a couple times was the albino alligator exhibit.  

We went back to the stage area for a second show and the kids touched each of the animals that came by.

It's hard to see, but the next two pictures show a piece of Utan, the biggest alligator in the world.  He is 18 feet long and 2000 lbs.  

We stayed and watched the Galapagos tortoises as they rambled around.  The kids tried to coax them over so they could pet them, but no one had any luck.

The exhibit that made the kids laugh the hardest was the lemurs.  There was some screaming battle going on between this lemur family and they were SO loud!  It was sibling rivalry at it's finest...and noisiest.

We basically spent the rest of our time at the beach and the pools, building sand castles, wading, collecting shells, and body boarding.  Then we went back to the hotel for a yummy dinner, a jacuzzi bath, and movie night.