Camping Trip to Myrtle Beach

A trip planned by Daddy must go down in the record books as one of my favorite. Ryan rented us a travel trailer from an RV place in Wilmington. We left on a Friday and drove down there in the truck to pick it up. From there, we drove to PirateLand in Myrtle Beach. We were originally going to only stay 3 nights but once we got there and checked in, we decided to go ahead and book 4 nights. We knew that only having 2 whole days would fly by and we didn't have any schedule to keep. So happy it worked out, because it was so much fun!

The girls could barely wait to get into the camper and start setting up our "house on wheels". We packed a ton of stuff! From sheets and flashlights to bikes and beach chairs. We had pretty much everything we needed. Once we got there, we headed to Walmart to buy a few snacks and food items. We didn't end up cooking much in the camper - we just did breakfast, lunch and snacks and then ate out. But that was really nice because we were usually all ready to get out and eat a good meal at the end of the day.

After dinner our first night, we were on our way back to our site in the campground. We came upon a "parade" of golf carts. Come to find out, each night at PirateLand they have a golf cart cruise line where you get in and cruise the "strip" of PirateLand. The girls were ecstatic! As soon as we got back, they hoped in the golf cart with Daddy and took off to cruise. We did it for 3 nights (it rained the last night and we had already turned in our golf cart) and Avery loved every minute of it. She looked forward to the "Parade" (as her and Riley called it) each night. It was a trip. I laughed so much when I went the second night. Whole families were packed on their decorated golf carts, jamming to music from sound systems blaring anything from rap, country to pop. WOW is all I can say now.

We took a few beach pictures one night before dinner. The girls cooperated pretty well. It was windy - as most beaches were, so we had fun battling the wind in the face pics but I think some of them turned out pretty well. My goal was to get a close up of each girl to hang in the playroom.

On Sunday morning we got up and went to "church". It was outdoors under some beautiful old trees and the weather was partly cloudy so it was so nice. The regular preacher was out of town so we just had a special music Sunday (I always looked forward to those Sunday's growing up - something a little different). What was funny is that one lady, literally came in her bathing suit...she wasn't even wearing a cover up! And a lot of people pulled up in their golf carts and just sat in them during church. We went ahead and sat on a wooden bench and the girls did pretty well. Riley of course was her fidgety little self but she did great.

That day ended up being our beach day. It was nice because it stayed cloudy all day. The girls enjoyed this time more than I thought they would. Riley and I fished for minows for awhile in this little pond area that led to a little lake on the campground. She held a real, but dead crab that some boys had found. Ryan and Avery had made a trip to Walmart and when they got back they did the same thing for awhile. I did manage to catch a sand crab and Riley thought that was super neat. In one of the above pictures she has it in her purple net. She was getting ready to let it go back to it's family. :) Avery and daddy tried to build sand castles. I liked the pictures of the two of them because it looks like they were having some good conversation, when I think it was only about how Avery couldn't get the sand castles "just right". haha

Our last full day we decided to play mini golf. It was a scorcher! Full sun and standing on the put put course...whew! The girls had little patience for playing the game as it's supposed to be played so we actually kind of breezed right through the 18 holes. But they did attempt a few "real shots" here and there.

The campground had some fun activities. They had a coloring contest, kids bingo night, ice cream eating contests, VBS etc. We did a few of them here and there. The girls enjoyed bingo, we were a little disappointed not to win a prize but it was a good time. It started raining that last evening but we managed to grab some pizza and make a trip to a new yogurt shop we saw called Sweet Frogs. Come to find out, one is opening up in Greenville soon (just what we need...another one!). But the franchise is cool Frogs stands for (Fully Rely On God) and they play Christian music in their store. Yay!

I had to snap a few pics the last day. You can see the puddles on the ground from the rain the night before and that morning. We packed up in between rain spurts and the girls got to get some energy out before our trip home. Avery LOVED the freedom of riding her bike. She hardly ever rode in the golf cart those few days. She would take off in front of us and "lead the way" to the pool, or camp store, or just taking a cruise around and we would follow in our golf cart. I'm so thankful we had that cart because there is no way I could have walked around that campground...stuff was so far away! We were so proud of her though. She only took one minor fall but after some ice and a rest, she was back to being our bike guide.

Ryan did a great job taking care of all the camper needs. He grew up camping in his grandparents camper and he is quite good at knowing what to do with all of the camping "how to's". So thankful for that!

That's all the pics I have. I loved, loved the camping atmosphere. The one thing I took away from the trip besides the need for a real mattress next time, was how much I enjoyed just relaxing. I don't think I realized how much you can just chill while camping. I loved seeing people riding bikes and walking. I loved smelling bacon being cooked in the mornings for breakfast. I loved seeing clothes being hung out to dry from fun times at the beach or pool. And I loved spending that sweet time with my family. The girls loved every second of the trip and I think they would love to do it again!

Let's get this little boy of ours here first then we'll discuss camping again. :)