home sweet home

we're home from myrtle beach. here's a shot from our hotel balcony. it was a great week, but, again, i'm glad to be home. this is one of a few pictures i took this week because now the boy's camera (the only working digital in the house) is broken. the view screen is cracked so i took pictures never knowing exactly what would show up. nice.

i've come to realize that going on vacation isn't REALLY going on vacation when you're with your kids. i know that sounds shitty but those of you with kids know what i mean. the vacation is pretty much about them, doing what they want, keeping them entertained, etc. a couple's vacation would be much, much different than a family vacation, but, we're making memories and we did have fun.

we were on the beach part of every day. i have come to realize that i like the beach mostly in the evenings/night. the kids love riding the waves. i do not relish being continuously beaten about by salty water that gets in my nose and eyes. i do not relish getting sand in crevices.at.all. i don't like grit. we also swam in the hotel pool every day--that was much better. i can see what's in the pool. there are not sharks in the pool. or jelly fish.

one night we had seafood--crab legs. the girl and i ate some serious crab legs. the boy kept commenting about how he wasn't into killing and eating animals. i tried explaining to him where beef comes from. he gets it but said ripping the crabs apart was gross. i disagree.

another night we subjected the kids to our favorite restaurant. when the hubs and i went to the beach almost 17 years ago on our honeymoon we found a german restaurant. we go back every time we go to the beach. the kids don't like german food. they suffered. the hubs and i were in heaven.

we also went to an amusement park and had a pretty good time, despite the fact that the hubs had started getting sick (i think he has bronchitis). first we rode the ferris wheel. i have discovered that i am a wuss in my old age. as a kid i rode rides w/ reckless abandon. nothing scared me. as an adult i'm a pussy. the ferris wheel sort of freaked me out a little and it freaked the girl out a lot. she kept looking at the floor of our "basket" the whole time. i was more than ready to get off.

then we all rode the hurricane--you know the one that goes around really really fast and the person on the inside slides across the seat and squishes the person on the outside? the hubs and i used to ride that at the german fests in high school. yesterday we rode it w/ our kids. it was pretty amazing.

then the boy decided that he and i should ride the roller coaster--the swamp fox. it doesn't have any corkscrews or upside down stuff so i thought, ok, we can do this. holy hell i'm getting old. it was fun and thank god it was over fast and the boy was scared shitless. he said afterwards that if it had gone one more second he would have puked. then there were go carts and bumper cars and we had a blast.

last night we spent a lot of time on the beach before heading back to the room. apparently my adjectives are still on vacation because i really can't describe how peaceful and wonderful it was. watching the kids digging in the sand and running around in the waves. sitting there on the beach, feeling the ocean's power.

it was a good week and we had fun and i want to go back soon, but this time just me and the hubs.

the kids did notice that the people across the hall from us had their do not disturb sign out ALL WEEK. seriously ALL WEEK. lucky bastards. (although we did manage to sneak in a quickie by sending the kids to the pool. we were on the second floor over looking the pool and both of them can swim.)