Having an Only Child...

...must be dull. No offense to all my dear friends out there. Let me explain. Sunday, Harrison left with my parents and his cousin Ethan to go camping for a week. It is just Chris, Maia and myself until Maia and I travel to where they are on Friday to meet them and camp for the weekend. I have too much free time and it is waaaaayyyyyyy to quiet. Maia, on the other hand, is enjoying all the one on one attention. She did say she misses him in the mornings and that it is lonely. They really do love each other even though they spend half the time trying to inflict bodily harm upon each other. Personally, I can't wait to see my baby boy again on Friday!!

From the Shore to the Mountains...

...in one week! Wow! My kids and I have done quite a bit. First the beach (see older posts). This past weekend, my kids and myself headed to Mount Rogers to camp for the weekend with my Mom and Dad at Beartree Camp Ground. Let me tell you, this is some beautiful country! Do I sound like a hick?? It is located off I-81 at the Abingdon, VA exit. You pass thru the quaint little town of Damascus, VA which thrives in part due to the Va. Creeper Trail, that passes right thru this cute little town. (Have you guessed that I like the Hyperlink option?? I REALLY REALLY like it!) My hubby was working the skate park all weekend, so I decided to drive the three hours to the campground with kids in tow and expose them to a little nature. We arrived around 9:30pm Friday night and stayed until 10am Sunday morning. While we were there we visited Green Cove Station, the lake at the campground for a little mountain lake swimming, the playground for some tire swing and fire pole action (my Dad decided it would be a good idea to spin me around on the tire swing, yeah, maybe not. I almost puked!), and the kids took a short hike with my Dad while Grandma and Mom got some much needed R&R. They loved the hike, and my four legged brother, Spike, managed to find his way to a mud hole where he decided to take a dip. He didn't like the bath that came after the fact.

Saturday night, the kids had a ball roasting marshmellows and making their first S'mores. I got great pleasure just watching my kids revel in things I use to do on a regular basis as a child. I remember playing with my older brother on our family camping trips in the same mountains. Our favorite was taking matchbox/hotwheels cars and making roads, bridges, and such complete with stick guardrails around the campsite. Harrison found pleasure in the same. So much so that he didn't want to leave on Sunday when it was time for us to go. He ended up staying with my Mom and Dad and coming home with them on Monday. Maia and I headed back down the mountain and to Roanoke (and 100 degree heat) for a little girl time shopping and using our Gymbucks on some new digs for school. Quite a fun weekend for all!!

Surfside Myrtle Beach

Harrison and Maia's Sandcastle

*** Warning: Lots and Lots of Photos of Cute Kids***

I have been a slacker on this blog lately. Ahhh, summer. Lazy days and lazier nights. We got back from the beach a week ago tomorrow. What fun. The kids had a blast and we got some good quality family time in around the area. We went to the "strip" as mentioned in my previous post. Kids played some skeet ball in the arcade and walked on the beach. Thanks to my hubby's Aunt Pat who works at the Crown Reef Resort, we were able to get super deep discount tickets for the four of us to go to The Dixie Stampede one night. We had front row seats and Harrison got to participate in the chicken races that they do for the kids. He had a ball and even got a medal and a book for taking part in the fun. Maia was suppose to join him, but backed out at the last minute. If you have never been, it was well worth it. The show was fantastic and the food wasn't bad either.

Inside Dixie Stampede. Mom, of course, rarely gets in a photo since I am ALWAYS behind the camera. If it wasn't for me, we would have no photos.

Inside the Gay Dolphin Gift Shop

Miss Hollywood posing in her getup

Harrison and Maia really enjoyed the ocean and the sand. I was convinced that Maia would turn into a sand monster the way she rolled around in it. Her bathing suit is still full of sand, even after a washing and several dips in the pool. Harrison really was brave in the water. Showing practically no fear. A huge change from last year. He was a little pro riding the waves on his boogie board and a little body surfing for good measure. Me, I love the ocean. There is nothing like coasting over the waves before they break on you and the sensation of rolling along with them. I could do without the sand though. Here are a few photos taken on the beach on various days. I am a freak with a camera. I really like the ones of Harrison with the boat. Yeah, I am an amatuer photographer at heart...

About mid-week, we took the kids to Family Kingdom. It is a great amusement park, very clean, very family oriented and mostly full of kid rides, minus the scary park workers. This is definitly a place you want to visit if you have young kids. I can't say enough about it. The kids have a blast and got to ride just about every ride. Harrison said his favorite ride was the roller coaster and Maia liked the bumper cars. Harrison cracked us up by putting his hands up in the air as the coaster went down the hills. Too cute.

Riding the bumper cars at Family Kingdom

Harrison was pretty much over the "photo shoot" at this point. His face says it all.

Maia on the Carousel

If you are going, a great, off the beaten path to eat is Nibils at the Surfside Pier. It is small, so if you go and have a large party, call ahead. The food is great, and the service is superb.

After we ate at Nibils, I attempted to do an amatuer photo shoot of my kids. Boy, I could never be a professional photographer of kids. I would be arrested to what might happen to them. Mine were determined to make it difficult, chasing each other, throwing sand, etc. Anything but what mom wanted them to do. If it had been sunny, fine, but there was a light rain and it was getting dark. I did manage to get some great shots (IMO) though. Let me know what you think!! In the photos are my MIL, Judy, my FIL, Wayne, my kids, Chris, and LOOK!! I got in one photo!! (though i don't know how flattering it is!!)





One night, we headed down to Garden City Pier one night in hopes of seeing the fishermen and their catch. The fishermen throw the fish heads off of their catch of the day, and when they do this, sharks will come to the surface to eat them. Harrison was sooooo excited, but alas, the fish were not biting, so no shark sightings this trip. Harrison and Maia did get to jump on one of the trampoline/bungee jump things. I have never seen a kid go so high as Harrison did. Maia looked a bit scared or unsure at first, but once she got the hang of it, she loved it!




The last night of our vacation, we were going to head to minature golf, but it rained. The kids were disappointed, but all was well when we pulled out the Wii and taught them how to play the bowling game. I am not a video game person, but i swear, it was like being in a bowling alley, minus the 10 ton ball that I can never hold. Harrison and Maia really got into it and I have never laughed so hard at them. They were so cute and serious. They topped Chris and his Dad's score at 100 and 103 in the final game. The look on their faces during the game was priceless.

I love the beach and love a vacation even more, but there is something nice about coming back home when all is said in done. We came home on Friday, so we had the weekend to recover from our adventures and get back in the swing of things.

Welcome to the Freak Show!

So, my family arrived in Surfside Beach (near Myrtle Beach) today. After we got settled into the house of My hubby's aunt and uncle Chris and I decided to take the kids to the "strip" for some fun. We were not there long, but long enough to witness quite a freak show of people. As we drove down the main stretch looking for somewhere to park, hotel after hotel (not the nicer ones, but the run down skank shacks) were running over with redneck guys and gals drinking beer in cans (is it not illegal to have an open beer can on the street?) baring their chests, gals too people! The gals did have on tops, but some may as well not have had on anything at all. Mullets galore. Missing teeth, dirty babies. Gross. Not kidding.

We stopped and went to my favorite place as a child, The Gay Dolphin, and let the kids wander thru the endless maze of cheap junk. I swear some of it is the exact same inventory they had when I was a child. If you have never been there, it is definitly a place to stop on the next visit to the area. It is an amazing multi-level tower of junk. Some of it is actually pretty cool and expensive to boot. Something for everyone.

After that, we went to the arcade and played a few rounds of skeet ball, and the hurricane thing that you have to stop the light in between the arches. Chris is a big fan of the quarter push things. We got some tickets, the kids got some junk for them and then we headed out to the boardwalk for some more freak watching. On the boardwalk we encountered a woman wearing practically nothing, big, african american (no i am not prejudice at all, but the facts are the facts) woman, wearing a black tank top with little to no bra to support the girls, and I *think* she may have had on shorts, but they were too short to tell where the shirt ended and the shorts started. Add to that the wedge heel laced up the leg espadrilles, and some gold teeth, and boy was she a sight!

When we were leaving the strip to head back to our car Hulk Hogan almost ran us over in his big obnoxious yellow pick up truck. No kidding, he looked just like Hulk Hogan and was no more concerned about pedestrians than the man in the moon.

We did have a great time despite all of this. I have always been a big fan of people watching, and boy was there plenty of that to do tonight!!

Tomorrow we are hopefully off to the shore to catch some rays and dig up some sand. Harrison got a fish net tonight and he is looking forward to catching a fish or two. Maia is ready to take a dip in the ocean, rain or shine! I am glad that Surfside is freak free for the most part. Scared to think of what may lurk on the sand during the day!!