Last week we skipped out on real life and went to the beach. Here's how we remember it...
Last year the kids loved the overpriced Jimmy Buffet place. This year Violet was not impressed. Too loud.
She eventually warmed up to it but she was terrified of large brown bottles dropping down from the sky for the remainder of the week. Perhaps this will keep her away from tequila forever.
Blue loved it, but he loves everything about the beach.
When I say "the beach" I, of course, mean the Grand Strand. I know some of you coastal elitists think that Charleston is the only dignified beach destination and you consider Myrtle Beach the "Kmart by the sea" but let me remind you that Charleston is not even a beach by definition and is in fact, a man made heap of rock and debris. It's a great and historical heap, but still not a beach.
What you really mean is that you prefer Folly Beach or the Isle of Palms. Fine, those are also great beaches but they are both a long drive from the food and fun of downtown Charleston. Just because I'm smart enough to go to a beach that is minutes (or seconds in some cases) from my food and fun, you don't have to be bitter about that.
Don't agree? You wanna argue with Blue? The boy knows his beaches.
And Violet doesn't understand the difference just yet, but she knows beauty when she sees it.
The truth is I can't be objective about it. I grew up going here and still as a rapidly aging man this photo captures how this place makes me feel. (No offense Charleston, we can still hang out)
I found the second largest sharks tooth in my collection this week. Blue found his first ever.
What do you expect me to do when I'm staring at this potential sculpture material all day? This was the little whale.
We found a cheap babysitter too. Just bury the kids in the sand (don't worry, it was above the high tide mark) and go have a quiet dinner for two! Dear DSS, I'm joking. No children were buried against their will nor were they neglected for any period of time. They actually loved this because they got to break out of the sand like the Hulk.
I did not get to be the architect for this project. It was some kind of sand fort/swimming pool. Blue insisted on drawing "plans" for it with his shovel in the sand while I did the digging.
One of the days we had a cool rain most of the day. We went out early and played in the rain and when all the sensible people got cold and went inside I stayed out and continued digging and playing in the sand. The result was this giant fish/man hybrid and some very numb and cold fingers. I was the only human on the beach for the morning. Even the lifeguard climbed in his little storage box to stay warm and dry. I felt like a moron when I finished and realized there were lots of people watching the idiot play in the rain. The sun came out in time for a photo.
This is the full moon rising over high tide. We had astronomical high tides and I discovered how tough the tidal changes are to explain to a 5 year old. Especially when the 40 year old doesn't completely understand them.
Violet demonstrated her unique approach to mini golf. She'd tee off like this and then grab the ball and run toss it in the hole.
We crashed the grand opening of the Lego place. A whole place designed to let you play with Legos. Oddly, they do not sell Legos. Poor business decision if you ask me.
Lego pirate Violet. It was past her bed time.
Lego pirate Blue. Note the ever growing void in his bottom row of teeth. We learned that the tooth fairy can find lost teeth under pillows even if you're on vacation. They just know these things.
Side note: This was the first tooth I've pulled since I was that age. It felt really strange.
The Lego place had very cool Lego sculptures.
And then there was the worst moment of any vacation. The one where everyone realizes that they have to leave and go back to real life.
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