First Beach Trip of 2012

We just got home from the beach.  We love the beach.  Love it.  So very much.

But before we went to the beach…Lindy had a hearing test last Monday and I honestly had no clue if she had fluid in her ears or not.  Her hearing seemed normal so I was hopeful.  We checked in and found out our audiologist was out sick that day so we actually saw a combination of a few different people.  The first thing they did was the tympanogram and YAY – NO FLUID!  We headed into the sound booth and Lindy had her best hearing test ever.  The audiologist playing with her kept her hands busy so she couldn’t pull out the things in her ears and they flew through the test.  The fastest one she has ever had and thankfully it showed that everything was back to normal.  Well, you know, normal for Lindy.  Her hearing has always been stable but back in January when she had fluid her hearing was down a lot.  Monday it was right back where it’s always been.  The third audiologist checked her hearing aids and we made one new ear mold because it was starting to tear.  Lindy did great with that part as well – my iphone was a great distraction for her not pulling the mold out of her ear while it hardened.  Lindy has been on allergy medicine since we found the fluid back in January.  I guess it’s helping.  I think she might be a year round allergy medicine kind of girl (well, depends if NC has a winter or not.  We didn’t have much of one this past winter). 

Tuesday we had gymnastics after school and it was pirate week.  The kids loved it!  It was pretty cute to watch them.  Lindy doesn’t talk about pirates non-stop like she used to but she does still like them.  And Will actually likes them a lot more now, too.  They definitely had fun that day.

Wednesday the kids went to school but since music class is over we came home.  I spent the morning packing and then finished up after lunch.  We left around 4pm and headed to Oak Island.  We got to Drew’s mom’s house at 9pm but that was after three stops on the way and a trip to the grocery store once we got to Oak Island.  The kids did great – the DVD player is a lifesaver! 

Thursday morning we woke up and got ready and headed to the beach.  It was a little overcast but still fairly nice.  Some storm clouds started rolling in after a couple hours so we headed back for lunch and it started sprinkling right as we came off the beach.  No less than 1 minute after we got back to the house the bottom dropped out!  It was perfect timing.  We ate lunch and messed around and it cleared up again so we headed back to the beach for a couple more hours.  It did rain again that evening but we managed to get some good beach time in.  The kids still LOVE the beach.  We have seriously raised a couple of beach bums.   They love the sand and water.  Will was all about jumping the waves.  Last year he had to hold our hand but this year he was jumping them all by himself.  Lindy ran back and forth from the water to our stuff, over and over.  Which meant we were running back and forth after her.  The water was a bit chilly when you first walked in but it warmed up once you were in.  Of course I never went above my knees. 

Friday we woke up and it was actually kind of cold and really overcast.  We messed around the house all morning and finally decided to go out after lunch.  We decided to drive down to Myrtle Beach.  It was about an hour away and Drew and I haven’t been in about 10 years.  We headed down and to our surprise we found out it was bike week.  As in motorcycle week. You’ve never seen so many motorcycles!  We stopped at a popular shopping center and walked around there for awhile.  We were going to keep driving around but we got stuck in traffic from a wreck and Drew’s blood started boiling so we turned around and headed back.  Myrtle Beach is about the opposite of Oak Island.  Myrtle is full of people and cars and Oak Island is quiet and not crowded.  We prefer the quiet beaches and less traffic!  On the way back we drove through Holden Beach – where Drew used to vacation as a kid.  His grandparents owned a house there.  His mom has a picture of Anna, Drew, and Ed when they were about 3, 10, and 13 on the steps of the house and then another one of them when they were about 11, 18, and 21.  She loves the pictures of the kids on the steps.  We found the house and we got out and took pictures of Lindy and Will on the steps and then Lindy, Will, and Drew.  Lynn liked the pictures when we sent them to her!  We brought the kids’ bikes with us to the beach because the house has this long, flat driveway.  Perfect for riding bikes.  We do not have a flat driveway and our neighborhood isn’t flat.  Therefore they don’t have any good place to ride their bikes.  We let them ride them Friday night and they liked it.  Will, in fact, loved it!  He was really zipping along.  Lindy hasn’t exactly figured it all out yet but she is getting better.  She pedals then she’ll stop and has trouble getting going again. 

Saturday morning we woke up and again it was kind of chilly.  We  hung around the house and the kids rode bikes again.  We rode up and down the street a few times and then had lunch.  Finally after lunch it started to clear up and we decided to head to the beach.  It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.  The sun finally came out and we had the best time.  We dug the kids a little pool and they played in it forever. 

Today we got up and cleaned the house and headed out at 12:25pm.  We pulled in our driveway at 4:20pm.  No one had to stop and go to the bathroom.  It was the best time we have ever made getting to or coming from the beach.  Everything is unpacked and put away.  I’m not used to getting home on Sunday.  We normally always come home on Saturday because Drew has church on Sunday mornings.  He took the Sunday off so we didn’t get home until today.  I have to make sure I take the kids to school tomorrow and not church!  ha ha!

So here are our first beach pictures of the year.  Enjoy!

Ms. SassypantsShould have taken these Sunday but I forgot.  The kids with their Mother’s Day presents they made for me.Mimo bought Will new trucks.  They were a big hit on the beach.One handsome beach bum!Jumping waves action shots!Walking at Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach.The kids on the same steps Drew sat on as a kid at his grandparents’ old beach house.He blinged out his bike.So of course she had to as well.I wonder what they were talking about.  Although it looks like Will is yelling.  I have no idea how her hair got to the top of her head.  It didn’t start out there!She is so stinking cute!  This girl can have so much fun.  Does that smile melt your heart or what?Hey, I was at the beach, too!Daddy was ‘throwing’ the kids in the water!

And just for fun – pictures of the kids each summer at the beach.  My how they have changed!  Lindy couldn’t even sit up by herself the first time they ever went!

2008:2009:

2010:

2011:

2012: