Having Fun at the Beach...

I know, I know you all are like, "Okay Amy, you had a great time on vacation. Can we see or hear about something else?" I get it...this is the last you will see of vacation. There has been other things going on, like Broderick starting school and Carys getting rid of the pacifier. I will post of those things in days to come. For now, one last vacation post.

Above: Carys and Broderick on the beach the first day. I love this picture. Carys is posing just like a girl would.
If you know my daughter, you know she likes to eat. That was no different on the beach. I made sure to pack lots of snacks and most of the time her and I would be sitting in the sand or on the blanket eating. You would think this girl would be well over average on the charts, but she is not. She doesn't get that from her mother.
The kids loved being buried in the sand. We got Broderick all the way up to his neck. He didn't sit in his hole very long. He did want me to bury him every other day.
One day Broderick met these little boys. One of them just came down and asked if Broderick wanted to play. Of course he did. There where 4 boys in this family. Broderick played for hours with the older 3. He still talks about his "friends from the beach." I think this was one of his favorite days.
The last day we tried our best to get to the beach but it was raining on and off. We went down for about 30 minutes, but there was no swimming and it was super windy. (Due to the tropical storm.) We tried our best to get family pictures that day, but the wind was making my hair blow all over the place. We did manage to get this one when we went down to swim.

So...there you have it! No more post just about vacation. I may interject a random picture here and there.

Vacation - Part Deux...eating

While on vacation we ate at some really great places. Almost every night we were outside on water which was so fun...the kids loved it. Below we are at Senior Frogs. We ate here last year and Broderick requested we go back. Lucky for him, and us, Rob and I wanted to go back as well. They have these signs. You can't really see it in the picture. They are hangs with a finger pointing down, at me. They all say different things. The waiters sit them by different people throughout the night. I was so lucky to get one. The kids thought it was really funny.

We tried a new place called River City Cafe. This place was awesome. They had all different kinds of hamburgers. I had a chili cheese burger and Rob had a Cajun burger. They brought you a bucket of peanuts and you could throw the shells on the ground, which again, the kids thought was great. If you brought your own Sharpie, which we didn't, you could write on the walls and tables. Since we didn't have a Sharpie with us, we didn't get to write anything. Now we know for next year.
We ate at a place called Creek Ratz in Murrell's Inlet. Great view, cute name, but that was about it. The food was just okay. The marsh was so pretty and peaceful.

(more pics of that later.)
Wild Wings Cafe is now a new favorite. Just mentioning it makes me want to be back there. Here is a picture of my boys sipping their drinks. Broderick's quote for the week that he said right before this picture was, "this is the life of vacation."
Our annual last meal at the beach is Oceanfront Grille. It is nothing special except that it is right on the beach. Due to the heavy winds on Friday...thanks Tropical Storm Fay...all the doors but 2 were shut. It was still a great way to cap off the week.

Vacation - Part 1

We just returned yesterday from a wonderful trip to Myrtle Beach. We went there last year to and had such a wonderful time. We didn't decide, until just a few months ago, that we were going to go back. We had already been to San Diego and NYC this year and my sister's baby was due. (You already know she had him, before we left, but we really didn't want to miss his birth.) Thankfully is all worked out and we went on another family vacation to the beach. We did so much and took so many pictures(700 to be exact) that this post is going to be done in many parts. Day one we of course went to the beach right away. Carys immediately started picking up shells and puttin them in her bucket and Broderick went running for the waves. It was kind of an overcast day, but still great.

Day two we went to Family Kingdom after dinner. Broderick talked about this place so much last year after we got home that we had to go back. It is just a little amusement park with like carnival rides. It is really neat because it is right across from the beach.
Also on day 2, my pictures are out of order here, we went to the House of Blues. This is my favorite thing we do. On Sunday morning they have a Gospel Brunch. It is so fun! There are 3 guys that sing and play instruments and we just sit at our table and eat until we can't eat any more. I could sit and listen to these guys sing all day, songs like I'll Fly Away. We all know I could sit here and eat all day too!!!
Day three - we were at the beach again. (We went to the beach everyday buy one. (The tropical Storm gave us a little trouble the last 2 days. I will post more about that later.) Carys wanted to be buried in the sand this day, with her baby. I thought she would sit here for like 2 minutes and then want up. Oh No! She sat in this hole for like 25 minutes. It was so funny! She loved being buried.
We bought Broderick a boogey board this year before we went. He did awesome!!! A couple waves really took him under, but he would just get right back up and do it again. Rob and I took turns doing it also. It was fun!

You be the judge!

So this is Kyler...

and this is Jamison.
What do you think, do they look alike?

Jamison Hamilton

I am an aunt...again!!! Yesterday at about 12:20 Jamison was born. He was 9.9lbs and 21 1/2 inches long. He is super cute. When he was born he didn't cry, at all. So the took him immediately to the Special Care Nursery and gave him oxygen. Kelly didn't get to hold him, but at aobut 2 yesterday she got to go in and see him. Last night when Rob and I went back to the hospital he was off the oxygen and laying in his crib with the monitors on. Now he is just having trouble breathing while he eats. Once he gets the hang of that, he can go in Kelly's room. I can't wait to go back and see him.

And here is the big brother! He was so excited and just kept saying, "isn't he so cute." I think Jamison looks a lot like Kyler, but we will wait and see as he gets older.
And for all you wondering...this did not make me want more. In fact, it just confirmed that I don't want more!!! I will enjoy being an aunt!!!

Soccer

So Broderick had his first soccer practice on Saturday. He had such a fun time and did really well. When we got home he wanted to practice in the back yard. Rob and him went outside and kicked the ball around. Broderick's friend Logan from house church is also on his team.

I love this picture of the team all lined up ready to go!
And here he is...

VBS and random

This past week Broderick went to VBS at our church. This was the first year he could go and he had such a great time. His crew was a teenage boy that he absolutely loved. Broderick asked if we could have him over sometime. I helped out this year also. I love VBS. Rob and I used to be the directors of it at our old church. It was a lot of work and our church was small. I can't even imagine all the time that goes into it for a church of 2500 people. We had a very fun time and Broderick learned some very important truths about God.

Today is a big day...Broderick has his first soccer practice. He is very excited. We went and bought his shin guards earlier in the week and he has wore them everyday since. All morning he has been asking me, "Is it time to go to soccer?" It should be very funny to watch.