Living That Beach Life, Our Best Life

It is no secret that I am a proud southern girl and I love going home every chance I can.  We spent two glorious weeks in North Myrtle Beach with my family and some great memories were made.  The kids and I flew out for a week and Brandon joined us for the second half of our trip to celebrate Lizzie's Birthday and vacation as a family.

Typical "traveling" pictures: not seen -- the epic meltdowns that were had by both children!

I have no words. 

What is your perfect vacation day? Adventure? Relaxation? Sleep? I'll tell you what we did pretty much every single day and it was heavenly.

I would get up early before the kids and workout.  My parents live in a neighborhood perfect for running, so I took full advantage of that.  When the babies were up we would either go straight outside to the pool or head out to the beach.  After a few hours we would grab lunch at the house and it would be nap time.  My amazing parents would usually watch Brecken and I would go sit outside at the pool.  Alone.  ALONE!!!!  I know, a miracle.  The late afternoons were always out at the pool.  We sometimes went out to dinner, but mostly cooked at home.  I told y'all, I am a lazy vacationer.  Give me sunshine, the beach, and I'll be one happy girl.

I have pictures to share below, but I will say that my intent on this trip was to be present more.  I didn't capture every moment because I was making memories with my family! I will never forget them, photographed or not.

                          

     

My kids thrived on vacation.  Lizzie and Brecken both love water! Brecken became really comfortable swimming around on his own with his puddle jumper.  As a former lifeguard/swimmer I was so proud of his progress.  Maybe the olympics will be in his future. HA! I don't have many photos of him swimming because a lot of days he would just jump in the pool.  Naked.  Yeah.

   

When Brandon joined us, we were all beyond ready to see him! We celebrated our Lizzie girl's birthday (see this post) and had more days like the ones I described above.  Out of the two weeks we spent there, there was one day of rain and we spent it out shopping at the outlet mall.  Perfect vacation, right? Well, maybe not exactly a vacation.  I am a firm believer of the word trip when it comes to travel with children.  A few of my friends came down and one of them told me, going on 'vacation' is simply taking your children to a new location to watch them.  Nailed it.  Sometimes it is nice to get a change of scenery, but it also comes with time change, new sleeping arrangements, etc.  

The last thing I have to share about our trip were the gorgeous family photos that my cousin Paige took for us.  If you live on the coast of NC/SC please look her up! (IG: psinkphotography)  She took these beauties in about 20 minutes of complete chaos and wind that seriously could have blown me over.

We are lucky to be able to travel to my childhood vacation spot each summer.  I love making memories and creating traditions with my kids.  They love going to the beach!