Home sweet home

We got home from our camping trip tonight, the trip home which was only suppose to take 5 hours took us over 8 because of traffic. Luckily the girls were good for 98% of the trip, Lexi got really tired about 30 minutes from home and started some whining, then fell right asleep.

We were a little concerned that hurricane earl would make our trip a little less than pleasant, but it was a great weekend! Last night we had a bad thunderstorm, which made packing up so much fun since everything was soaking wet. Oh well, at least our tent kept us mostly dry. Friday when we got there it was really, really hot, the other few days were pretty enjoyable, a little cooler and there was a nice breeze on the beach.

This was Caylee's first trip to the ocean as far as I can remember, and she loved it, well, once she got used to it anyway. I really wish we had a camcorder so we could have taken video of her, once she got in the water, there was no keeping her out. She's so much more brave than Lexi is.

Two years ago when we went to the Myrtle Beach area we went to the Ripley's aquarium and did not like it, I blogged about it and the VP of communications contacted me immediately asking me what we didn't like, and also offered free admission to their attractions if we went back. We remembered that a few days before we left and I contacted him. I was quite impressed with how quickly he responded and followed through with his offer even after two years. We decided to check out the believe it or not museum, and mirror maze and the aquarium again. I was so glad my sister and brother in law watched the girls for us while we went to the museum and the mirror maze, the museum is NOT a place for young kids, Lexi would have been REALLY scared. The mirror maze was fun, and I'm sure the girls would have liked it. The did they like aquarium this year, which made me feel better. It doesn't compare with the Tennessee aquarium, but seeing their faces light up at the fish and sharks was worth it.

We spent some time each day on the beach (normally two times a day) and it was actually relaxing! The first night we were there we were walking right after dusk, so it was a little dark, but there was another family there who had 4 kids, ages 6,4,2 and 2 months. I was so impressed with them, they were calm, laid back and were just standing there while their kids played out of hands reach. We were all nervous, yelling at the girls when they got too far away, and trying to make them stay with us at our pace. Seeing them really got us thinking about trying to relax a bit and let them be kids. I think it really helped our vacation be more enjoyable. Yes we still jumped and yelled when Caylee ran into the campground road, or got too far away from us at the beach, but all in all we really relaxed a lot. I'm hoping to be able to continue that here, because yes I want rules and I want them to listen, but I also want them to be allowed to be kids! My sister kept pointing out to me how much more relaxed we are with Caylee than we were with Lexi and saying that by the time we have 4 we'll be like them. We'll see, I really hope we can be more laid back now!

The worse part of the whole trip was the sleeping, or lack there of. I barely slept any of the nights and tonight I am exhausted and looking forward to being in my own bed! Last year we got one of the double high air mattresses, thinking it would make life easier and better, I really don't like it any better than I like the smaller ones, in fact I might like the smaller ones better. This was probably the last summer we will be using the tent we have because it's really too small for us, we have to keep our bags in the car which to me is just annoying. We've thrown around the idea of getting a small, older pop up for next year, we'll see!

Right now I am going to answer the call of my bed! Good night!