Myrtle Beach 2011

Last week Matt, the boys and I went to Myrtle Beach with Matt's family. It was soooooo much fun! We stayed with his parents in a condo Saturday-Friday. Matt's sister, Tracy and husband, Brain and their family and another couple and their kids stayed in Tracy and Brian's timeshare that they go to every year. Both condos were right on the beach!

The traveling took about 10 hours to get there. The boys were not horrible but they definitely weren't angels either. We went from KC to Atlanta, had a short layover, then went from Atlanta to Charleston, SC. From there we drove 2 1/2 hours to Myrtle Beach. Luckily, Matt had the forethought to borrow a portable DVD player, so that saved us from total meltdowns on the plane and long car ride (thanks Aunt Nancy for letting us borrow it!).

We arrived late on Saturday night. Sunday morning we went to the beach. It was Ben and Sam's first time to see the ocean.

Sam loved the water. He was not scared at all of the waves and Matt had him out there "jumping waves". Look at the glee on that kids face:

Ben did not take too kindly to the water at first. Actually, he wandered around looking for something that caught his eye. Finally, he found a hole in the sand, plopped down, and stayed there, digging in the sand.

Ben in his hole with Grandma:
Notice the hats the boys are wearing. Us Bleythings and sun don't really mix well.

Sam eventually joined him:
Family photo:
More playing on the beach:

Pant shorts:
Ben:

I took this picture because I thought the back of Ben's head looked so cute:

Grandpa, me and Ben in his favorite spot:
Daddy and Sam:

Grandma and Grandpa and two boys who would rather play than pose for a pic:
Ben playing with his cousin, Katie:
The boys cousins, Jack, Cooper and Katie were a huge help with the boys! We all ate dinner together 4 of the nights and the kids tried their very best to entertain Ben and Sam. Usually, it was close to the boys bedtime so they were pretty fussy. I was so happy Ben and Sam got to spend so much time with their cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents! I wish Matt's other sister and her family could have been there so we could have all been together :)

One night Matt's parents watched all the kids so we could go out. Matt, me, Tracy, Brian, and their friends Jenny and Scott all went to an ocean-side bar. It was a great time!

Tuesday, us girls went shopping at an outlet mall. On Wednesday, everyone but Matt's mom and me (and of course Ben and Sam) went fishing in the ocean on a 40 foot boat. The first spot they took them too didn't have many fish who were biting. So, the guide took them to a spot where they caught sharks! I would have been totally freaking out because 1. The boat was really rocking back and forth a mile from shore and 2. I'm deathly afraid of sharks...of any size! When I was little I prayed for 2 years straight, every night, not to be eaten by a shark. I guess that's the trade off for my parents letting me watch R rated movies.
Here are the sharks. One of them looks pretty big (hopefully that's just the angle of the camera)!

Tracy and Brain grilled some and fried some and we ate them for dinner that night. They were sooooo good! They also grilled flank steak and made a wonderful side dish called, Ragu. If you come to dinner at my house anytime soon I will probably be making it! My favorite meal of the trip!

We also took the boys to the "lazy river" at the condo. They loved it but, man, taking them around and around gave us a good thigh workout.

Here they are in their floaties for the pool

Matt's mom made "Bleything 2011" in the sand. Here we are trying to take a family pic by it. Keyword: Trying.
Sam getting bored with the posing and Ben's just plain mad:
Ben getting sad:
Grandma and Grandpa:
It was such a wonderful trip. Thank you SO much to Matt's parents for doing so much for us and helping out with the boys so much! You guys are the best and we love you lots!

Great memories!