Myrtle Beach

That's right, why go all the way to the Bahamas, when there's Myrtle Beach right here on the east coast! In all honestly, the 24 hours after discovering that my passport had expired were pretty tense around the Lyles house until we came up with plan B. I was mainly disappointed for Finn. We had been talking about the Bahamas for nearly two months, so I hated breaking the news to him. I should have know that to a toddler, a beach is a beach, is a beach, is a beach. We only missed one day of our vacation and were able to rebook flights and a nice little condo at Kingston Plantation, where Mark used to vacation as a kid. Hilton was so understanding and didn't charge us for canceling our reservation on such short notice.

The best part about the entire trip was when we emerged from the plane in Myrtle Beach. It had started to rain and as I carried Finn across the tarmac into the airport, he looked around and said, "oohh, Mama, I like the Bahamas!"

We ended up having a great time and by the end of the trip were able to laugh about the whole thing. Still laughing about our "Bahama vacation" now. Ask Finn about the "Bahamas" and he said it was "great." Mimi and Bop came down and spent the weekend and took Finn on a special date. We had plenty of good beach days and spent lots of time at the water park. We ended the week with some putt-putt golf and a trip to the carnival, which I could have done without on account of the motion sickness.

A good time was had by all.

Mimi and Bop pay us a special visit

Hmmm, what happens when I pull this string?

Oh

Digging in the sand

Running head first into the ocean

Whoopsie

Having so much fun

Where did Finn go?

Golf lessons from Dad

Hole in Two

Taking a spin on the carousel

Someone looks happy and someone not so much

Guess who didn't enjoy the "crazy caterpillar"

Captain Finn

Yay Bahamas/Myrtle Beach

Here are a few more pictures:

Myrtle Beach August 2010

Ready, Set, No

3 Airline tickets to the Bahamas, check

2 hotel rooms reserved, check

Sand and water toys purchased, check

3 Suitcases packed, check

2 excited parents and 1 excited toddler, check, check and check

1 expired passport, CHECK

3 cancelled airline tickets, check

2 cancelled hotel rooms, check

3 disappointed people, check (actually 2 disappointed parents and 1 blissfully unaware toddler)

The moral of this story . . . make sure your passport has not expired before you book a trip to another country. Yes, it was my passport that had expired and thankfully we realized the night before our trip, which was bad enough. It would have been so much worse had we actually made it to the airport. Mark is very good under pressure and in less than 12 hours we had rebooked another trip and were soon on our way to . . . . . . . . . . .

And Another Thing . . .

Finn's recent swim in the fountain brought back memories of another similar episode. This time, it happened to my four-legged child. . . and in the reflecting pool on the national mall. Clearly, I should not be surprised when these things happen.

Whoopsie!

The heat has been unbearable recently. I know, I'm preaching to the choir, but still. It seems worse when you are walking around in it all day every day. So, when a big rain storm blew in some cooler air, we decided to take advantage and enjoy a day outside. Our "plan" was to walk down to the national mall, see the monuments, take a carousel ride, eat lunch and then home for naps. You know where this is going . . . right? Problem #1 was that I had a plan to begin with.

En route to our destination, we passed a really nice courtyard and fountain that Finn just HAD to see.

You know this face equals trouble

Yep, he jumped right in

before anyone could stop him

He didn't want to swim alone . . .

trying to talk me into joining him

Makes a break for the fountain

Freedom!

Can you tell that this is NOT a swimming pool?

Because he can't.

Where's Waldo?

Of course, I didn't have dry clothes or a towel

so home we went, naked baby and all

A short delay and here we are

Boys are on a mission

Waiting in a LONG line for the carousel

Proud of his ticket

Here we go

Future Firefighters of America

On Monday, we headed up to Baltimore to spend the day with the Slye girls (+ baby Barrett). Finn loves Samantha and it is hilarious watching them play together . . . but even funnier to hear them carry on a conversation. Both are GREAT at giving directions. When Finn is with Samantha, he wants to do whatever she is doing, whether it is pushing a baby in a carriage, feeding a baby doll a bottle, wearing pink shoes or carrying a purse. He is secure enough in his manhood to pull it off.

Alisha had arranged a special treat for the kids: a trip to the fire department! Emergency vehicles, cool helmets, flashing lights and lots of noise . . . what more can a kid ask for? Fireman Paul pulled out all the stops for the kids (must have been a slow day). Finn and Sam got to sit in and on a firetruck, try on gear, test the lights and siren, tour the inside of an ambulance, meet the fire chief and so much more. Fireman Paul even decked himself out in full firefighter apparel, complete with oxygen tank and mask for these two. The best part of all was that a call came in right when we were leaving and we got to see the trucks roar out of the station, lights flashing and sirens blaring.

I'm not sure how it can get much better than that, but we tried, with stops at the playground and the popsicles and sprinklers in the backyard. A good (but exhausting) time was had by all!

Here are photos from our fire station extravaganza.

Click here to view these pictures larger