The Adventures of Jackson & Jayden!: April 2011

Vacation Day 6 - Coming Home

Thursday morning it was time to leave for home. Jeff and I were up and getting ready about 4am and we left the hotel at 5, or maybe were up at 3 and left at 4... I can't remember, but it was early!

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The boys, of course, didn't want to fall back asleep right away in the car, but eventually they both did.

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Overnight we had been watching some bad storms on the weather channel in and around the area we would be driving through, but we were hoping it would all miss us (and the forcasts looked like it would).

We did drive through a bad storm cell around 6or 7:30 where it just poured and poured and poured, with lots of lightening and thunder and some small hail. We drove through some slowly on the freeway, and pulled off at a rest stop for a bit. Luckily the severe stuff didn't last too long, however it was still a littly rainy & stormy for a few hours. All around us were tornado and thunderstorm watches and warnings :( There were lots of damaging tornadoes that day and the day before south and south-west of where we were driving.

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The boys were very well behaved on the drive home. Jack played with all his toys, ate his snacks and watched the rain out the window. Jayden drank 4 bottles on the drive home and ate lots of yogurt......

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I drove for about 2 1/2 hours, mostly through Kentucky, to give Jeff a "break" in the backseat with the boys.... at least it wasn't driving! but I'm not sure how restful it was!!!!!

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We had planned on seeing how the day went and then deciding mid-afternoon if we would stop overnight around Indianapolis. We talked about it a bit, I really wanted to make it home, Jeff took a little time to decide if he could make the drive safely, and finally decided he could. So we kept going... and going.... and going.....

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Jack fell asleep about 8:15 (which was like 9:15 to him with the time change, I was surprised he held out so long!) He slept until we got home. And Jayden fell asleep after dinner at 6:40 and slept until about 9pm.

We got home at 10:04pm!!!!! I carried Jack straight to his room changed his clothes and he was in his bed and sleeping until 5:30 the next morning :)
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Jayden however, woke up in the car at 9, but he was happy for the last hour of our drive, he drank another bottle and was playing with me. So I thought he'd be all set to go back to sleep at home - Nope! He (and I) didn't sleep much that night.
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But that was ok, because the Royal Wedding coverage started at 3am, and I don't need sleep anymore anyways.....

Vacation Day 5 - South Carolina

Wednesday was our last day in South Carolina, so in anticipation for the long drive ahead we decided to stay at the hotel most of the day and just hang outside and let the boys use up lots and lots of energy! The day was warm and partly sunny.

We started the morning on the beach looking for seashells and checking out all the jelly fish that washed up on shore the night before.

After some beach playtime we walked a little ways down the beach to a water park at the Embassy Suites hotel (We could use any of the hotel pools/park along the beach). The boys had a blast.

We started out in the lazy river. We put both boys in this large tube - they didn't even need to get wet yet! and mom & dad could push them around and around and around in the nice warm water. Jack pretended he was in a sail boat and Jayden just had fun bouncing around :)

Jack enjoying a snack of fruit loops

(they were hit the whole trip - free at breakfast- with BOTH boys!).

Jack and daddy played in the water park a little bit while Jayden and I were in the baby pool (1-3 inches deep with little fountains, it was really nice, Jayden loved it). Jack and Jayden also each took turns going down the big water slide with Daddy - Jayden like it better than Jack did....

After we'd had enough sun & sand for the day, we got ready for dinner at the Golden Corral. We had gone earlier in the week as well. It was nice for the boys since we could get our food right away without waiting and there were lots and lots of options! Jack ate pretty well.

Then we took a little walk around a nearby outdoor tourist mall and got a few souvenir t-shirts at the Ron Jon Surf Shop store.

And before heading back for the night we stopped at Cold Stone for some delicious ice cream creations - since unfortunately we don't have any here at home anymore :(

I wish we did because the new oreo cream ice cream flavor was amazing!!!

After our ice cream we went back to the hotel and took a walk along the boardwalk and beach before heading in for bed (we really wanted to tire those kids out!)

Vacation Day 4 - South Carolina

On Tuesday the day started a bit cloudy, cooler and there were showers forcasted, so we decided to head out for about a 30 minute drive to some statue & flower gardens to walk around for the morning.

As soon as we got out of the car it started raining :( We stayed and walked around for about an hour - but it rained/sprinkled most of the time. We found shelter under trees and overhangs....

But the garders were very pretty.

These are some really old Oak trees.

Soon after seeing this sign...

I spotted an aligator in the pond!!! I was very excited.

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Another part of the garden had a small zoo and butterfly exhibit. I had to feed Jayden his lunch so I stayed in the car, but Daddy took Jack to see the butterflies.

After driving back to out hotel and grabbing some quick lunch in the room we headed out to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't as sunny as the previous days, but plenty warm to enjoy the beach!

Those boys just loved playing in the sand!

Later in the afternoon when we were up in the hotel getting ready to go to dinner a quick thunderstorm rolled in off the ocean. Jack and I were sitting on the balcony watching it.

We went to dinner at Cheeseburger In Paradise. We had some delicious cheeseburgers!

I got a picture of Jack in one of these chairs when we were at Margaritaville in Florida, unfortunately this one was wet from the rain, and the sky was too bright for him to look up at me.

Vacation Day 3 - South Carolina

After all the driving and one very fun, sunny, warm afternoon in the sun and sand, Jack was exhausted and slept like a rock in his very large bed/bedroom all by himself!

I tried to get Jayden to take a morning nap in his carseat so I could have some "down time" on the beach while Jack and Daddy played....... however, after walking back and forth for half an hour, or more, I lost track, to try and get him to sleep. He woke up the minute the stroller stopped moving. :( Oh well, I was hoping that trick would work again like it did for Jack in Florida. Instead I walked along the beach while Jayden slept in my arms for another half an hour. At least he got a little nap (however uncomfortable) and I got to stay out in the sun rather than sitting in the hotel room while he napped.

Jack was a little apprehensive of the waves at times, but overall he did really well. He liked to "jump" over them with mom or dad!

Jayden wanted to so bad to play with his big brother, but most of the time Jack did not want to be bothered, or to share his toys :( We could see Jayden fight for what he wanted a little bit though - he would pull on Jack or push him arm off when Jack tried to push him... at least he's starting to defend himself a bit!

We showed Jack how to get up next to the edge of the water and let the waves fill his bucket... he was so cute! Sometimes though, because of the different waves and tides he was a little short - it was funny to see him just squat there when that wave wasn't coming anywhere near his bucket! Overall Jack was really good about waiting for one of us before he ran down to the water, and staying close by while playing.

In the evening we checked out the sand/salt water pool outside our hotel. There was a normal swimming pool part and then this really shallow part with sand/salt on the bottom. Both boys loved it! Jayden and I just walked around in the sandy part, but Jack and Daddy were swimming all over :)

Monday afternoon Jeff went into a nearby Urgent Care center to get some medicine for a sinus infection. It took a little longer than expected - the boys and I ended up waiting in the car for an hour!!! But at least Jack took a much needed nap.........

...too bad I then had to stay put in the car trying to keep Jayden happy and entertained, and quiet!

Vacation Day 2 - South Carolina!

We arrived in Myrtle Beach around noon on Sunday (Easter). Since we couldn't check into out hotel quite yet we drove around looking at the town and trying to find a place to eat. We ended up at Bojangles - a fried chicken and biscuit place. It was good.

And it was nice and warm and sunny outside when we arrived!

Our Hotel - We stayed at the Royale Palms Hilton, which is a condo complex attached the the Hilton Hotel. It was very nice. We had a two bedroom room, two full bath, with a full kitchen & dining room, and living room.

Jack's bedroom.

Dining room/Kitchen

Kitchen

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Balcony

View of the pools & beach from out balcony - we were on the 23rd (of 24) floors.

After getting unpacked and bit we headed down to the beach right away since it was such a beautiful afternoon. Upper 70's and sunny. The boys had a great time in the sand and water for a few hours.

Jack loved filling his buckets with water from the ocean and then making "lasagna soup" or "cupcakes" in the sand. I "ate" a lot of sand-lasagna soup!