our SC vacation: random shots part 5 (the beach; v2)

At the risk of this blog turning in to a boring play-by-play recount of our vacation, I must admit that posting our photographs and memories from this time away, is salve for my soul. Because I know that on a day when life feels overwhelming and difficult, I will be able to look back at these posts and instantly be transported to a different place.

I absolutely love the South Carolina coast.

Not only do I love the topography and palm trees and Spanish moss, but I love that in the summer, the air temperature is balmy and warm. I love the humidity that makes your skin shine. I love wading through water out to distant sandbars and collecting beautiful seashells.

(This particular sandbar we dubbed "Gracie Island".)

I love the paths that are designed for bike riders and the flat paths that meander for miles and miles. And miles and miles. And miles.


I love that the ocean water is warmer than the pool water in San Diego.


I love the afternoon rain showers that leave the world feeling clean. I love that when you go out for an afternoon bike ride ...

It is quite possible that you might spot deer gazing on the dunes. Or dolphins jumping in the open water. Or pelicans swooping fish from the ocean.

Or ... alligators swimming through a swamp. And when you see alligators cruising through a swamp, you remember that alligators can run up to 35 MPH on land and you make absolutely certain that your bite-sized children don't get anywhere near the water's edge.

Because Jim and my mother are still in recovery mode, we rented a golf cart to shuttle around the island. This worked out really well, because even though we were only a few hundred yards from the beach, we quickly realized that the distance was too far for mom and Jim to walk comfortably. So, we would drive them down the access path, across the sand, and drop them (and our 50 pounds worth of beach gear) off near the water's edge.

Additionally, mom would take the cart every day and run to the local market to pick up important items like the daily newspaper and lollipops the size of our children's heads.

It probably goes without saying that our children adore their Noni. She is so good to them. Not only did she buy them a present every time they went to the market, but she served them up an ice cream cone every afternoon. When it was finally time to leave South Carolina and fly back to California this past week, the girls sobbed all the way to the Georgia state line.

Whenever mom and Jim would go in to their room to take a much needed nap, the children would eagerly await until they could hear them begin to stir ... and then ... they'd pounce.

Jim, an avid sports watcher, would have just turned on the television to catch a Red Sox game, when the kids would hijack the remote and turn on Curious George, while laying across his bed.

There is no doubt that Jim and Mom's recovery has been so expedited over the past few weeks, because these children kept them going constantly. You just had a knee replacement and a stroke?

So ... your point is...??

GET UP!!!

Oh!

And!

Then?

There was the body surfing and boogie boarding we did each and every day. As I mentioned previously, the children's swimming skills really improved on this trip.


As did their ability to take a wave directly in the face without crying.


The terrific trio learned how to time waves and became proficient at catching them at the exact moment so they could ride them all the way to shore.

Some days we went to the beach once.
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Other days, we went in the morning and again after dinner.


Sure, I had a great time at the beach ... but I really wish the children had enjoyed themselves.

I could find absolutely no indication that they were having nearly as much fun as me.

our SC vacation: random shots part 4 (the beach; v1)

The second week that we were in South Carolina, we loaded up our 12 passenger van and we drove to Wild Dunes on the Isle of Palms.


This time that we spent at the beach, was our first true family vacation.


Sure, we've gone away before ... we've traveled back and forth across the country almost 10 times, and we've been camping and spent many a night in a fancy hotel.

But this trip was different.


There was nothing to do but just rest and relax.


Play...


And play ...


And then, play some more.


And if you were with Henry ... DUCK.

(Or, at least - wear goggles.)


We weren't rushing around to see people.


We weren't taking long day trips to various parks and attractions.


We weren't busy entertaining groups of people.


Our days were spent playing at the beautiful beach that was just at the end of our street.


After splashing in the waves for the better part of the day, we would go swimming in a fresh pool and watch the sunset.


At night, we would have wonderful dinners ... like Frogmore Stew ...

Once the children were in bed - we would sit in matching rocking chairs and have a cocktail on the porch. And then, we'd play cards.


During our vacation, I read two books, that I had discovered in the beach house library. Late at night, early in the morning - and while reclining in a chaise lounge at the beach - I read. People, I cannot tell you the last time that I read two books, in a week.

Dr. Seuss not included.


Our vacation at the beach was amazing.


It was heavenly.


It was everything that a vacation should be - and then some.

And because we were there with mom and Jim who have both had significant health challenges this past year ... our trip was very special.

I would like to interject here that Jim was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer less than three months ago. He suffered a massive stroke less than two months ago. He was in the hospital for almost a month and is still completing his recovery process, at home.


Here's Jim. Diving, head first, in to the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Every day that we would go to the beach, Jim would dive head first in to the waves, at least twice.


So not only was this vacation wonderful and revitalizing for us ...


I think it was healing for both Mom and Jim.

(That one leg that Mom is balancing on, just so happens to be the leg with the knee she had replaced eight weeks ago.)

our SC vacation: random shots part 3 (the henry)

Before I dive in to the next segment of our trip, I must take a quick break to discuss a little boy who goes by the name of Henry.

Henry is an extremely cute little guy. With a mind all his own.

When things go Henry's way, Henry is happy.

When Henry is happy, Henry is a pure delight to be around.

Henry is two.

And two-year-olds are amazing.

They possess many baby features, like super soft skin and chubby legs. But they have TREMENDOUS stores of ENERGY and are very ACTIVE and busy, busy, BUSY.

They are usually small and compact. As such, they are not yet too heavy to pick up and hold above your head for short stints. Although they might be speaking an assortment of words - they still don't have a full grasp on the language and so they babble a lot. They still have pudgy baby feet and on their hands, they have adorable knuckle dimples.

Two-year-olds have absolutely no modesty. If given the choice, I would be willing to bet that 99.9% of all two-year-olds would prefer to run around without a single stitch of clothing.

As the dresser of a two-year-old, you might need to tap in to your stores of ingenuity. For instance, you might opt to put swim suits on backwards so that chubby little hands cannot undo zippers, which would inevitably result in a toddler streaking along a public beach.

Sometimes the continued insistence that a two-year-old keep their clothing ON can be quite a challenge and cause much frustration for the two-year-old involved and the dresser of said child.

And sometimes, you might decide that you just don't feel like fighting and so you throw in the towel and let your two-year-old have their way. Because at two-years-old, they are still a baby and there isn't a lot of reasoning with a baby.

With a two-year-old, you need to carefully chose your battles. Of course you cannot condone bad behavior. So if your two-year-old is throwing food or hitting their sibling or having a tantrum over something that might hurt them (or others), it is best to remove them from the situation.

But two-year-olds, although they are still bordering on babyhood, they are smart as a whip and you might discover that if you give them a little room to explore, they will surprise you with what they are capable of accomplishing.

Although some might think that if they give an inch, their two-year-old will take a mile and grow in to an obnoxious brat, I disagree.

They are only this little for such a small period of time.

They still need for you to hold them and cuddle them and they still curl up and fall asleep on your lap. And sometimes, they still suck pacifiers. Which you know they won't have forever, but if it keeps them happy and QUIET, well, then, everyone is better off.

Likewise, when you are at a dinner party and your two-year-old climbs in to your lap, sans clothing, and eats chocolate cake without using their hands, you have a choice to make.

If this is keeping the two-year-old happy and QUIET, is it really so wrong?

Of course you could say NO. And put them in their clothing, assuming you ever let them out of their clothing in the first place. And you could feed them cake with a fork.

But then they wouldn't be nearly as happy. And their clothes would be covered in cake which would transfer all over their carseat on the drive home.

So you let them eat their cake in their birthday suit. And then you give them a bath. And then, you can see that they are tired and offschedule and they are beginning to exert characteristics that lead you to believe they might soon be bouncing off the walls and causing a ruckus. You know that if you nurse them, they will quickly settle down.

So you nurse them. And this keeps them contained, safe and happy. And most importantly, it keeps them QUIET.

Although, it probably makes all the people surrounding you wonder what the heck is up and when did Jenny turn in to such a hippie?

And Jenny doesn't know. Because Jenny never nursed her other children until they were two-years-old. And Jenny never imagined nursing this child until he was two-years-old.

But she is. And she does.

And although it certainly can be convenient at times ... like when you're flying on an airplane, or when your baby falls head first down a flight of 16 stairs and nothing will calm them down, or when it's very early in the morning and the whole house is sleeping and you want just a few more minutes of rest ... sometimes, nursing a two-year-old can be quite draining.

Then again: the very act of raising a two-year-old can be quite draining.

But as a mother of this particular two-year-old, you wonder if you are raising your child correctly. Or, if you need to crack down and stop treating them like such a baby and put the kibosh on allowing them to strip off their clothes and run around the countryside naked. Even if it means that by keeping them in their clothing you will severely curtail their potty training progress.

Overall, you are continually amazed at how different raising one two-year-old is from raising three two-year-olds. And well, sometimes you can't help but wonder if people are judging your totally relaxed parenting style.

Not that anyone would ever judge me...