Newest McCarty

Growing up I had a friend who annually came home with a hermit crab from the beach...and I was jealous every single year of her newest pet. My mom had a pretty strict rule about pets not ever being in the rodent (no hamsters) and reptiles (no snakes) families...somewhere in there hermit crabs made it to her "Not a Pet" list and I was never a proud owner of a hermit crab.

Not to repeat the disappointment from my own childhood, I decided Ruth Ann would be leaving this beach trip with a hermit crab...meet Shelly...



Since his purchase he has relocated to a new, larger shell...we left the sun glass shell with Ms. Page as a reminder of our visit.

Here's Ruth Ann on her very first visit to Eagles...



And the proud new owner of a her first hermit crab in what she calls a "lunch box"...



I had assumed the hermit crab was a low maintenance pet...I was wrong. After doing a little google searching on care of our new pet I discovered he may live for 10-20 years! He may also need a bigger place to live, things to climb, places to burrow himself and perhaps a friend or 2...way more involved than I initially thought! I'm just hoping he makes it to the end of the summer and after talking with my friends/co-workers I hope to NEVER see him outside of his shell...apparently it's very disturbing!

Fun in the Sun!

Finally, Saturday morning arrived and Ruth Ann was ready to hit the beach...at 6am. I managed to get her to fall back asleep and she woke up again at 9:30am. I knew it was going to be another long napless day so she needed a little more beauty rest before I was letting her out of the bed!

We ate a quick breakfast, loaded up and headed to the beach...



Much like last summer...Ruth Ann loved the beach. She headed straight to the water and would have stayed there all day had I let her.



I'm so happy to have a child who loves the beach this much...



And I never get tired of a sandy behind picture...



Believe me when I say by the end of the day there was MUCH more sand in her suit than on the outside!

Here is Ruth Ann doing her very best Baywatch run...



And then a belly flop into the waves...



We stayed on the beach from 10am to 4pm...Ruth Ann left with a nice start to a summer tan thanks to SPF 50...I got a little red, but that's just how I like to leave the beach. There were lots of smiles all day long...and this is one face I never get tired of seeing smile!

To the BEACH!!

So after we spent lunch at the beach and ventured high in the sky over the Grand Strand in the Sky Wheel we headed to get a quick mani & pedi...this was mostly for Mommy & Ms. Page's benefit...but Ruth Ann got to join in too...



And to make this even better they didn't charge me for Ruth Ann...which was great since kid's don't keep their polish on for very long!

Then Ruth Ann & Ms. Page patiently waited for me to make my way through the outlets...Tripp ended up being the big winner with a few swim suits for our Disney vacation in November and a new swim suit for next summer too.

Since most of the day was gone by now we decided to eat dinner and then let Ruth Ann do a little playing on the beach afterwards. Ms. Page was nice enough to have a few toys waiting on her when she got there...



She played and played....



And dug and dug....



And then played while she dug....



And then in typical Ruth Ann fashion bossed everyone around in order to get all her bidding done....



At this point she had gone ALL day long without a nap and was running on fumes. We headed home for baths and bed time. She was so excited about getting back to the beach the next morning that she tried to get up at 6am...I wasn't going to let that happen...I knew we had another long day in store. Eventually she went back to sleep and slept until 9:30am...she obviously needed it and once more, Mommy knows best!

Lunch and the Sky Wheel

When we arrived at the beach Page wanted to go eat down on the beach at Jimmy Buffet's newest restaurant...the man knows a good cheeseburger, so off we went...and the cheeseburger didn't disappoint!



After lunch Page wanted to show us the newest attraction on the Grand Strand...The Sky Wheel. Let me ask you other SC residents...have I been living with my head in a hole or has anyone else heard about this ferris wheel? According to Page it's been quite the buzz and had a line down the block when it opened 2 weeks ago.



It's quite impressive, but let me fill you in on a secret. We stood watching car after car go past us empty! When you're standing in the blazing sun with your 2 year old it leads you to question the people operating the ride...so we asked what the deal was. All the cars are never filled at once so they can maintain the correct balance...pretty interesting fact and made the steam pouring from my ears simmer down knowing they actually knew what they were doing.

I began to wonder if the wait was because they wanted to decide if Ruth Ann fit all the criteria to ride the Sky Wheel...I question this one...



Finally, our turn to board arrived...



And the views can't be beat!





But one thing is noticeably absent when your high on top of the Grand Strand...as a SC native...kinda, I was born in NC, but have lived in SC for 28 years...this makes me sad...



If you're from SC or have vacationed at Myrtle Beach prior to the 5 years ago then this probably makes you a little sad too...that big empty lot is where the Pavilion once stood. If you don't know what the Pavilion is or "was" I should say then you need to stop what you're doing right now and find the nearest copy of the movie Shag...you're promised to end up with "beach fever" but it gives you an idea of what life at the Pavilion was all about. The company who bought it had big plans for bringing in new attractions to the beach...but it seems they've run out of money and now an empty lot is all that is left of what was a fun...all be it cheesy...place to spend your afternoon at the beach.  As a person who publicly admits I HATE CHANGE...this is proof positive that sometimes change isn't always a good thing.

Not to end the post on such a downer... the new board walk is really beautiful and if you're down on the coast this summer lunch on the beach and stroll down the boardwalk would be a fun way to spend the afternoon...this post is in no way affiliated with the Grand Strand Tourism Council...just my own opinion!

Girls Trip!

Ruth Ann and I just got home from a fabulously fun weekend at the beach! I have tons of pictures to post and comments to add so look for several beach posts this week. Until then, here's a picture of Ruth Ann snacking in front of our family beach house...



We try to keep our family summer home a secret as to not make ourselves look like we're too "braggy"...yeah right! If this house belonged to any member of my family...once, twice, or 400 times removed...you would all know exactly where to find me ALL summer long!

Ruth Ann and I went to stay the weekend with my friend Page to be there for her baptism. Page lives less than 5 minutes from the beach and her momma lives across the street from the mammoth beach house you see in the background. We're lucky to have such generous friends who beg us to come have fun in the sun all summer. Ruth Ann woke up this morning and told me she wanted to stay at Page's house and then reminded me again as we were exiting the interstate to get to our house. I think as she gets older someone is going to be begging me to go to Ms. Page's house!

Family Lake Day

After Tripp decided to join in our family love all things water related I agreed to take him out on the boat for a day on the lake. Arch had been asking for a weeks but since Tripp had been such a hand full on our previous trips to the pool there was no way I was going to be trapped on a boat in the middle of the lake with him. Since he had a good time at the pool the previous Friday I agreed that we could try it out...and it was a success!

2 other families joined us for our afternoon of boating...the Brown's went out with us...



After re-reading my blog post I noticed what may be the sweetest picture ever...



Any question this may be a Daddy's Girl??

Later the Clark's met up with us at our favorite hole...



I only managed to get a picture of Brantley and Roper but all 4 Clarks joined us.

Here's our first family picture in the lake...and now that I've typed that I think this may actually be our first family of 5 picture of any kind!  One day I'll explain to Tripp why he was in a pink float...being the 2nd child he gets to use a lot of Ruth Ann's old things...but since he loved the lake I'll be buying him his own blue float before our next boat trip!



Well, actually, this was our very first picture, but a member of the Brown family joined in...we LOVE Jay Brown, so we would gladly add him to our family...but I think his family would miss him terribly!



If you're a long time follower of my blog you may remember this picture from 2 years ago. Arch's love of the lake may be equal to my love of the beach. We took our first trip to the beach with Ruth Ann when she was 5 months old. I won't lie, it was hard, but I had always dreamed of having a child who loved the beach too and would sleep on the beach next to my beach chair. Our first day on the beach was a disaster!

Allow me to present exhibit A:



This is when I discovered swim diapers are only absorbent when they are wet...this revelation was revealed to me after Ruth Ann cried for 30 minutes on the beach, then being loaded up and taken back to the beach house for me to discover tee-tee pooled up in her swim diaper...lesson learned! The next day however, my beach dream came true...



Now I share this stroll down memory lane to share Arch's dream of days on the lake with his baby asleep on the boat...dreams can come true to daddy's too...

He slept...



And slept...



While the rest of the McCarty kids played in the lake...



Arch was one happy daddy...but we were all exhausted and wishing it wasn't time to head home...but luckily there will be LOTS more summer days spent on the lake!

Thank goodness!

It appears Tripp has decided to except his fate and finally enjoy some time floating in the pool...



Spending time in the water is a big part of our summer...between my mom's pool, the lake and the beach most of our weekends during the summer revolve around time spent in the water. The last few trips were made very difficult for me because Tripp had a serious aversion to water. Now that water temperatures have warmed up we have discovered it was cold water he hated...now that the water is warmer he seems to be right at home!

Oh, and one more thing...is it just me or is he not the cutest baby boy alive??

One man's trash...

...is now Ruth Ann's treasure! So if you follow my blog you may remember Ruth Ann's previous motorized vehicle from earlier this Spring...



So sad...my mom told me last weekend she considered getting Ruth Ann and Tripp a brand new car for Easter, but I was glad she didn't. After looking at blogs and Facebook pictures from this past Easter I began to wonder when Easter became Christmas. Some of the gifts kids got from the Easter Bunny were what I may have gotten from Santa when I was growing up. Our Easter Bunny delivers candy and a stuffed animal...I would have looked like a huge fool had I ranted about this with friends only to turn around and have my children receive a sparkling new motorized car...anyway, back on point...

Last weekend Arch and Spencer went over to his mom's house to get his clothes for the week and spotted this jewel by the road waiting for trash pick-up. They both assured me it was intended for the trash man and not left accidentally by the side of the road by an irresponsible driver...let's hope they don't get busted for grand theft auto.



All it needed was a new battery and Arch had it purring like a kitten. Ruth Ann had a few accidents...



And a little trouble keeping it between the lines...



But give her a wide open yard and she was doing doughnuts for hours!

Looking out for Papaw

If you've spent any amount of time around Ruth Ann and my mom then you know this little girl L-O-V-Es her Grammy...but she has a special place in her heart for her Papaw too (that's my dad to Ruth Ann). I had planned on having my kids call my dad "Grumpy"...and if you know my dad there is no explanation needed. But my dad's dad was Papaw to me & my cousins so it was important to him to have the same...so Papaw it is. Anyway, last year for Ruth Ann's birthday she got a doll house and a doll family from my parents. Although she doesn't play with it much right now,it is in her room and at times it catches her eye. This past week she's been very concerned about Papaw's comfort level in her doll house. She keeps taking him out, with the double bed, and I randomly find him through out the house like this...



When I found him this time she had perched his bed on top of one of the pillows from my bed...only the best for old Papaw. After seeing the current conditions of her doll house it's no wonder why Papaw needs a peaceful place to rest...



Apparently the whole family has moved themselves and all their belongings to the bathroom on the second floor to rent out the kitchen to Fluffy...perhaps it's due to rising gas prices...who knows, but Ruth Ann made sure Papaw had a quiet place to lay his head...night-night Papaw!