Bumgarner & Leslie 2012 North Myrtle Beach Trip

This year's beach trip with Mark, Melissa, and Hannah Leslie (and Hannah's friend, Emily) was AWESOME! In my opinion, this was our best trip yet.  Everyone got along beautifully - no husband and wife bickering, no teenage drama, and, for the most part, no toddler tantrums. It was great!  Luke's BIG personality coming from such a little guy kept us smiling and laughing the entire trip.  Here's a summary of our fun times....

Saturday, July 21st (Arrival Day):  

Luke was awesome on the drive down.  He talked and sang in the back seat for most of the trip.  This was our first long trip since he was potty trained so we did have to stop quite a few times for some "beside the road" potty breaks. We were patient and stopped as many times as needed, and, as a result, Luke had no accidents in the car seat.  :)  Luke slept for about an hour during the middle of the ride.  

We arrived at the absolutely gorgeous condo at Crescent Shores Condos in North Myrtle Beach around 4:00pm.  The condo was newly renovated so everything was top notch - beautifully decorated, hard wood and tile floors, tasteful, modern decorations, and an awesome master bedroom and bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and spa shower and, most importantly, it was CLEAN!  We were very excited from the start because this was definitely the nicest condo we have ever rented.  (Just in case you are interested - it was condo 1702 at Crescent Shores in NMB.)  

The only negative part of arrival day was that this place was PACKED and everyone arrived at the same time and were trying to unload.  Because we were on the 17th floor, we did not even attempt to unload when we got there. We decided to head to Martin's Golf Store and Wal-Mart and then unload later in the evening.  

At Martin's, Luke had a great time!  He ran and ran around the store. He kept saying that he was looking for some "magnets". He tried on some sunglasses and hats and watched a few men hit some golf balls. When he put his sunglasses on, he walked over to Landis and said, "Daddy, does this look wonderful?"  :)  Of course, Daddy said that he looked great!  His absolute favorite part was running up and down the pathways.  After 30 minutes in the store, I was EXHAUSTED from keeping up with him!  

A very observant comment came from Luke as we walked up to Martin's.  On the outside of the store were huge sketches of a person playing tennis, golf, and running.  Luke looked at the pictures and said, "Golfing, Magnifying, and Running."  Even though he called the tennis picture "magnifying," I still thought this was very smart of him to identify the sports. The child pays attention to EVERYTHING.  


After leaving Martin's, we headed to Wal-Mart.  I have NEVER EVER seen a Wal-Mart so busy in all of my life. As soon as we walked in, I prayed for patience and reminded Landis to go ahead and take a deep breath and not get frustrated - we chose to come and deal with that mess so there was no need to complain.  Luke was awesome during the whole ordeal. I don't know how long we were in there but I know that we waited in line for over 20 minutes and getting down each aisle seemed to take 5 minutes because it was so crowded.  Luke watched a Mickey Mouse cartoon on my phone while we waited in line and he talked to me and watched all the people while we shopped. He was very well behaved and I was thankful.  

When we arrived back at the condo, Luke played blocks and cars with Emily and Hannah while we unpacked groceries and luggage.  Luke loved playing with the girls. He kept telling them to say the magic word ("Please").  Luke enjoyed putting his train tracks together and then smashing them with the hammer.  The girls loved building towers and then knocking down each others.  I think they enjoyed the blocks as much as Luke did.  :)  


It was a nice way to end our first night at the beach!  Here are some pictures from arrival day...

A quick walk on the beach before shopping...

Don't those glasses look wonderful???

Being silly in the car on the way to Wal-Mart...

Sunday:

With it being our first day at the beach, Luke was super excited to get outside.  We were on the beach playing before the pool opened at 9:00am.  Luke dug in the sand with his dump truck - we made a road for it and filled it up and dumped it.  Luke swam around the lazy river in his boat while I floated beside of him in a big float. He swam around in the big pool and little pool getting his turtles with the scooper and his shovel. The pool had a fairly big flat area with about 5 inches of water and then big steps.  Luke enjoyed playing around this 5 inches of water area and he loved playing on and around the steps.  He would go to the edge of the steps and jump. We played some of our usual games - I messed my hair up and swam under his legs.  

When the rest of the gang came down to the beach, we headed to the ocean.  He would stand in the sand and then jump with me when a wave came.  Mark and Melissa took him out into the water for him to jump waves.  He would lift his legs in a big straddle when jumping them. He wasn't scared at all this year. He sat with me in the shallow water and let the waves roll all over him.  (This was my favorite part because I enjoyed being able to hold him and play with him.) I have no idea how long we played but he had a blast all morning going from one activity to another!  

It was getting late and he still had not taken a nap so I decided to take him up to the room, give him a bath and take him to Ripley's aquarium (with the hope that he would take a catnap on the way).  The plan worked and he slept for about 45 minutes on the way to Ripley's.  

I, myself, was kind of disappointed in Ripley's Aquarium. For the amount of money that it costs to get in, I was expecting more.  Luke, on the other hand, had a great time. We always try to make the best of our adventures.  

Luke enjoyed climbing on the fake reef finding hidden "treasures" in the barrels.  He loved the sea horses because he thought they were cute. He was fascinated by the sharks. He kept telling me something about their noses but I never could figure out what he was trying to say. We watched the colorful fish and striped fish swim and Luke kept saying, "They are looking at me." Luke got his picture made with the mermaid."

He watched the very creepy looking sea snakes and then, as usual, he loved the gift shop and made a good purchase.  I told him he could pick out one thing and he did really good about making that one choice. He would pick up one thing and play with it and then when he found something else, he would put the other thing back. He put up a stuffed dinosaur and a sword before finding the item he wanted - a mini stuffed turtle. It was like $4.00 and was super cute! We bought it and it was immediately his new best friend. Matter of fact, Timmy the Turtle is still a very close buddy of Luke's - he is still playing with it here at home.

Here are some pictures from Sunday...

Oh...how could I forget that the lawn mower was a hit too!

Stopping for a snack...

Digging...

Playing catch with the balls...

Loving his sunglasses...

Heading to "jump" waves with Mark and Melissa..I wish I could have gotten his jumping on camera because it's hilarious - I just didn't want to get my camera wet....bummer!  :)

At Ripley's....

See?? He is telling me something about their noses...

Giving the turtle a hug...

Monday:

On Monday morning, Luke was extra snuggly when he woke up. He snuggled in the huge bed with me and daddy for a long time. He is getting so big - you can really tell when he lays down with me how much bigger he is than he used to be. We all enjoyed that relaxing morning time. (I should say that Luke slept AWESOME the whole trip! He slept until 6:30 or 7:00 each morning - that's even better than he does at home. We were so thankful.)  

After our snuggle time, Daddy left to play golf and Luke and I headed to the pool and beach. This time, Luke was brave enough to walk into the waves all by himself and only wanted me to help him jump the waves.

We played in the sand - I built towers while he loaded his dump truck and wagon. Every time, my towers were knocked down within 5 minutes. Luke has no interest in building anything creative in the sand right now. He just wants to dig and load and destroy. I tried sculpting a turtle, building a sand castle, a moat, etc. to no avail.  Oh well - it's still fun watching him do whatever it is that is fun to him!  :) 

In the pool, Luke made me some porridge, played with the scooper ball with me and he and I just swam and swam together. He was so lovable. At one point, he just sat on the steps with me and said, "Do you want to just sit here?" I love to see his cute little smile as he swims all over the place.

He ate his snack in his new red chair that Mark and Melissa bought him. He looks so sweet sitting there watching the ocean.

We went back up for lunch, a break, and for his nap. All week Luke played in the room wonderfully.  While I made lunch or started laundry or got ready - no matter what I had to do, Luke just enjoyed everyone's company, rode his scooter up and down the hall, and played with his toys.  It was so nice not to have to worry about entertaining him every second.

After Luke's nap, we headed back down to the beach for some more fun.  Luke had his shirt on at first and he told me the cutest thing - he said, "Mommy, take my little shirt off so I can get a suntan."  :)  He kept telling us all something about seeing a snake and a hippopotamus and then later said that he caught it.  He has such an imagination.  

In the lazy river, Landis leaned over and gave me a kiss and Luke gave Landis the cutest mad face. We have learned that Luke wants me all to himself. He gets mad when he sees Landis showing me attention. It's hilarious!  He is so dramatic with his mad face...even grits his teeth.  

After playing some more, we got our showers and then headed to our favorite restaurant - Fiesta Del Burro Loco. Luke was in an awesome mood! He was sweet before, during, and after dinner. He talks and talks so much that we laugh constantly.  It is impossible to write down everything that he says that is funny.  One thing that we all remember is Luke being silly on the way home. Mark and Melissa rode in our car on the way home. We went on a mission to find some ice cream.  Mark said that he wanted some "Rocky Road" ice cream. For some reason, Luke thought that was hilarious!  He kept repeating "rocky road" in a voice like Mark's and giggling. It was adorable.  It was late when we got home so Landis and I snuggled with him as we all fell asleep together. It was a wonderful day!  

Here are the pics from Monday...

Watching TV during breakfast...

Snacking in his new chair...

Giving us his cheesy smile at the restaurant...

Tuesday:

Again, we played in the pool and on the beach. His new favorite activity on this day was filling up his watering can and bucket in the water and then dumping the water in a hole that we dug. He would walk by himself to the water to fill up his containers.  

In the pool, Luke loved playing in the water when we were all in the water playing.  We all took turns playing with him. He loved Melissa throwing him in the air and then flying him like an airplane. He also really enjoyed swimming to the girls (Hannah and Emily) in the water. Matter of fact, when Hannah and  Emily left the pool, Luke asked, "Where did the girls go?" Melissa said, "They went back to the beach." Luke said, "That breaks my heart."  What a drama king! 

On this day, Luke took a nap on the beach, and while he slept, I enjoyed sitting in the edge of the water talking to Melissa. We rarely have downtime like that together.

After Luke's nap, he told us a similar comment about his shirt. He said, "Take my shirt off so I can get a suntan like the big people." We played just a little more and then headed up to the room for our showers.  

After the showers, we headed to Barefoot Landing to eat at Tbonz.  Luke was awesome once again. He just told himself stories and sang songs while we ate.  After dinner, we walked around Barefoot and looked at the big tigers as well as the baby tigers.  One of the baby tigers came right up to the glass where Luke was standing. Luke loved it!  We walked across the bridge and watched the turtles swim. On the other side of the bridge, there was a carousel.  All the girls decided that we would ride with Luke.  Hannah held him the first time and then Melissa rode beside Luke the second time. When riding with Melissa, he first chose the frog to ride on but then Melissa showed him the rooster and he decided to ride it.  As he went around and around on the rooster, he would look back at us and say, "Cock-a-doodle-doo."  It was hilarious! Our last stop at Barefoot was the ice cream shop.  Luke sat down and ate his vanilla ice cream with the rest of us. We had an awesome time hanging out at Barefoot! 


On the way home, Luke made me and Landis laugh and laugh. As you know, Luke rides with me (just me and him) a lot of places so Luke is very aware of what my driving is like. I am the first to admit that my driving is not the best. It is truly because of the grace of God that I don't have more accidents than I do.  Well, on the way home from Barefoot, Luke decided to tell on me - he decided to tell Daddy just how bad of a driver I am. Landis and I all of a sudden heard a tiny little voice in the back seat say, "Daddy, you know what?"  Landis said, "What?"  Luke continued, "Mommy can't drive. She doesn't pay attention to anything."  We laughed and laughed!  :)  


When we arrived back at the condo, Luke played on the big bed with all of us before settling down.  We were all watching Luke talk to Daisy and roll around and we couldn't help but laugh and talk with him. Well, evidently, we were all talking too loud because Luke told us to be quiet because Daisy was sleeping and then he pretended to snore with her. Luke seriously makes us laugh all the time!  


Here are some pictures from Tuesday....


Playing on the beach...

Napping on the beach...

Mommy and Luke getting ready for Barefoot - this has to be one of the best pictures I have of me and Luke - it will definitely be framed for work!  :)

With Daddy at the ice cream shop...

Riding the carousel...

Eating ice cream...

Family photo opportunity....

Playing with Daisy on the big bed...

Wednesday:

Luke needed a break from the water and the sun so for a mid-week change, Luke and I headed to the South Carolina Children's Museum while Daddy and Mark played golf.  As usual, Luke had a blast at the museum.  You will see some of his favorite parts when looking at the pictures. A few highlights for me and him that weren't on camera - 

(1) In the book corner, Luke brought me Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss and wanted me to read it.  I read it and he laughed out loud the whole time I was reading it!  Hearing me try to say all those tongue twisters was quite funny!  I enjoyed having him sit in my lap for a minute and I loved hearing him laugh!  

(2) Luke loved the little dinosaur figurines in the Animal Discovery Lab.  He took all the dinosaurs and stood them up in a line UNTIL an older boy came along and started taking them from him.  Luke tried his best to stand up for himself and eventually just took a few of his favorite dinosaurs to another area and played with them.  

On the way home from the museum, Luke took a quick catnap and then woke up ready to play. While we waited on everyone to get ready, Luke and I sat on the couch and I read him some Dr. Seuss books that were there in the condo. He loved the book, "There's a wocket in my pocket." We ended up reading for over 30 minutes.  It was a nice relaxing time. We ended up reading the wocket in my pocket book every night before he went to bed.  He still (even after being home) will say rhyming phrases like, "There's a rat in the tat."  

We spent our Wednesday evening at the rides in North Myrtle Beach!  We had an absolute blast - all of us!  Luke rode the airplanes and the helicopters, as usual, and then he rode his first ever roller coaster.  Ironically, it was also the first time that Hannah had ridden a roller coaster.  The roller coaster was called the Wacky Worm.  Luke and Daddy rode it together the first time and then I rode it with Luke the second time.  Luke absolutely loved it! He would squeal when we went up and down the hills and laugh out loud!  He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time!  For me, it was a huge highlight of the trip.  When we finished riding, Luke said, "This is the greatest roller coaster ever!" 

Hannah and Emily and me and Landis decided to ride the Tilt a Whirl ride while Melissa and Mark held Luke.  Luke thought watching us go in circles was hilarious!  He laughed out loud the whole time!  Landis and I enjoyed our ride too; however, it was the longest Tilt a Whirl ride I have ever ridden. We were the only people riding and the guy operating the ride was laughing at us - I think he was trying to make us sick!  :)  

We ended up our rides by watching Mark and Emily ride the big roller coaster.  Luke, once again, thought it was great to see their faces on the big ride.  

Oh....here's a cute moment that I should tell you about - While Luke was riding the helicopters, we were all standing around the fence watching him.  Hannah and Emily walked off for a minute and Luke immediately noticed that they were missing.  From the inside of the helicopter, he yelled at us, "Where are Emily and Hannah?"  He loves those girls!  

After the rides, we all ate dinner together at Chick-fil-a (my new favorite restaurant, by the way, I will continue to eat at Chick-fil-a every chance I get in support of the CEOs stand on gay marriage.  I am proud of the fact that he will stand for what he believes no matter what it may cost him - it sure is interesting that the Chick-fil-a lines are longer than ever lately.) Sorry for the tangent...back to the beach trip...

At Chick-fil-a, Luke ate great. Everyone decided to get a dessert after dinner so we let Luke eat an ice cream cone. He enjoyed it!  

After dinner, we headed home for bed!  :)  At this point in the trip, I could already say that our evenings together were such fun this year - probably the best ever. They were so easy and laid back. Between Luke's comments and our usual jokes when making fun of Mark (LOL!), we laughed constantly!  

We love you Uncle Mark!  :)  

Here are some pictures from Wednesday:  

Riding in the punch buggy at the museum....

Making pizza...

Riding in the boat...

Working at the doctor's office...

Calling for HELP...

Playing with the huge legos...

Playing inside this huge stuffed man - or, what Luke called, "A gorilla."

Playing with the balls - he always loves this! 

Another favorite - the trains...

Stopping for a picture....cheesy style....

Look at that face...he's telling me all about something....I think something about riding Grandaddy's tractor...

Playing with the bubbles...

A boa constrictor...that's what Luke called it...

Hiding from me...

Playing peek a boo....

The rides...posing with Mommy..

Riding with Mommy...

The roller coaster...it's hard to see Luke because he was sitting on the inside beside of me...

See his little head???

Thursday:

Early Thursday morning, Landis, Luke, and I went down to the beach early to put up the awning. I didn't bring my camera (which is unusual and I wish I would have) because Luke had a great time playing in the sand and jumping puddles.  He ran up and down the beach jumping puddles.  It was quite cute!   

After putting up the tent, we went back up to the room and got our things and came back down to play.  We splashed a few times in the waves, built a road for his car, built and knocked down a few towers, and played in the pool with his new dolphins. (The night before we bought him dolphins that stand up in the water.) Luke loved dropping these on the pool steps and then going to get them.  I was proud of him - He started blowing bubbles with his nose and putting his whole face in the water.

I laid him down on the beach for his nap.  After his nap, we all went to the big pool with Luke and he drove his boat float around the big pool with each of us. He loves it when we are all around him. One time, Mark lifted him in the sky like an airplane and when Mark put him back down, he went under water. To our surprise, when he came up, he said, "Do you think that's funny?" as he grinned.  Just for fun - we put Mark in time out for dunking him under.  Luke thought that was funny!  We played in the water a little more and then Luke and I headed to take our bath.  


The other grownups were hanging out on the beach for a little longer and were going to order in dinner so Luke and I decided to go on an adventure of our own.  First, I took him to the Cherry Grove pier.  I LOVED walking up the pier looking at the gorgeous view of the ocean while holding tightly to Luke's hand. Luke was fascinated with how the ocean was under him.  He also enjoyed sitting on the benches and looking out over the water as we talked about all the different things that lived in the ocean and how big the waves were. The waves seemed huge to me! We climbed the steps to the viewing deck and I let Luke run around and play. At the bottom, you will see a cute video of him playing around the pier poles.  


After we left the pier, I found a little park close by our condo. There were some sweet little kids there playing. There was a boy around age 3 and a girl that was probably about 6 years old.  They were the sweetest kids and Luke made friends with them right away.  Luke and the 3 year old boy would slide down the slides side by side by saying, "5,4,3,2,1 Blast Off!" Then, they raced over the bridge and, my favorite part, they ran across the grass soccer field and rolled down the hill. There are a few videos at the end of the blog of them playing together. At one point Luke said, "I made a new friend. I like playing with him." It was sweet to watch Luke make friends on his own. They all played together for almost 2 hours - that might be a record for Luke.  

Here are some pictures from Thursday:  


Eating a snack on the beach...

Napping on the beach...look at those hands crossed...

Daisy joins him for a snack...

See little man hanging out with Uncle Mark and Aunt Melissa...

On the pier...

At the park...

Friday:

Luke was so excited about the beach and pool again! In the pool, he played with a few other boys and girls with his cups, dolphins, gooey fish, and watering can.  Landis and I drove him in his boat around the water - he told us he had to buy some tickets and go to the mountains so we pulled up along the edge of the pool and paid.  I twirled him around in circles in the pool over and over until I thought I would throw up and I put him in the air like an airplane. There is a super cute video of us twirling at the bottom.  We both had a blast!  

After playing in the pool, we went to the beach. Luke dug in the sand with his rake - he made a path with it. Daddy and I helped him dig a hole and build a fort around it. He helped with his big shovel. He loved throwing the dirt around with his big shovel. He at first knocked down our fort but then began playing in it - he jumped in it, fell over on purpose and got dirty and didn't even care, which is unusual. He started running around the sand in circles and falling down - there is a video of this at the bottom too. He sat in his hole and pushed the car around it while making the car noise. 


Daddy, Luke, and I went to the ocean to play. Luke held both of our hands and floated until a wave came and then he would pull up on our arms and jump. He would stand in the water up to his chest and wait on the waves. He also loved for us to hold him while he floated in the calm water. A big wave came and he got some water in his eyes, after that, he was ready to go back to the pool. We washed off his toys and headed to the lazy river. He loved washing his own feet off before going to the pool - he would push the button all by himself. In the lazy river, he didn't want his boat this time. Instead, he wanted to lay in daddy's arms - it was sweet! Landis loved it!  After a few times around in the lazy river, we headed up for our baths. We took a bath, read on the bed a little, ate lunch, and then headed to the outlet stores.  

Even after not having a nap, Luke was excellent. He rode in the red car (that was really the outlet stroller). He was so cute turning the wheel whichever way I went. In between stores, we let him ride the quarter machines and then while me and Melissa shopped, Daddy and Mark took him to the food court area where there were a ton of riding toys and let Luke ride and ride and ride. He rode so much that he fell asleep in the car on the way to dinner and then slept through half of dinner. When he finally woke up, he ate a ton of my ziti and continued to be in a good mood.


After dinner, we all headed back to the condo, packed up our things, and relaxed.  The whole day was awesome and was a super way to end the trip!

Here are some pictures...

Luke playing in the bathroom cabinets...

At the pool...

I love this picture too!  That's my sweet boy...and he doesn't have a cheesy smile - that's a real one! :)

Digging a "ditch hole" (as Luke says) 

Riding at the outlets..

Here are a few more pictures from throughout the trip that I took on my phone:

Here are some videos from throughout the trip....

Video:  Luke sliding down the slides with his new friend at the park.  Listen carefully and you will hear Luke say, "I'm having fun with this boy. I found a new friend."  I thought it was so sweet to watch them play together."

Video: Luke popping the gigantic bubbles at the museum...

Video:  Luke and Daddy digging a "ditch hole" (as Luke calls it) in the sand...

Video: Luke playing in the sand on the beach...

Video:  Luke being silly out on the beach...

Video: Luke talking on the phone at the museum...he is telling someone that he needs help because his fish is too big - He is actually quoting a few pages from the book, "A Fish Out of Water." It's quite cute that he remembers all the words...

Video:  Luke playing on the Cherry Grove Pier....

Video: Luke riding his first ever roller coaster - the Wacky Worm!

Video:  Luke rolling down the hill at the park.

Video:  Mommy spinning Luke in the water. This was fun for both of us!

I had to save this picture for last - bye, bye Myrtle Beach....Luke waves good-bye....

As I have said 100 times by now, this trip was special - the best yet! We did everything we wanted to do and we did it with laughter, good spirits, and the best friends we could ever ask for - Mark and Melissa.  I found myself tearing up as we said our good-byes on the front porch last Saturday - even though I know I will see them soon and talk to them all the time - we still miss you Uncle Mark and Aunt Melissa! Thank you for a great trip! 

We look forward to the next one - here we come North Carolina mountains and Tweetsie Railroad (we are working on planning an October trip - can't wait!)  

Thanks for hanging with me! Have a great weekend!  

Toddy