Myrtle Beach Family Vacation

We just got back from Owen's first Myrtle Beach vacation!  My parents own a condo down there, so Jimmy and I have been down several times, but not since Owen was born.  It's a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom condo and sleeps at least 12 people (probably more), so it's plenty of room for the whole Clem Clan.  My sister and her boyfriend came down and stayed the whole week.  Then my brother, Miles, and a family friend, Lyndsi, came down the Wednesday before the 4th.  And of course, my parents were there too.  It was a full house, but SO much fun!

The first few days it thunder stormed on and off, so we all went to the aquarium.  Jimmy scoped this out online and we were really excited to take Owen to look at all the fish and animals.  The aquarium was actually really cool, and we all had a blast!

I think Pops had just as much fun as Owen!

He loved the clown fish (Nemo fish).

Peeking at everyone from the inside of a clam!

We went to the pool several days and Owen loved it.  This pool was just made for kids.  It's only 3 feet deep and has one part that is less than a foot deep for little ones to play.  It is also a salt water pool, so it was warm!  And, it's huge!  Plenty of space for everyone to play around.

I didn't get very many good ones at the pool, I wish I had gotten more the last day we were there because he was splashing around, laughing, and smiling a lot more.  

We went to the beach on July 4th and Owen was in heaven.  As soon as I sat him down he was on the move (as usual).  He grabbed the sand a few times and tried to pick it up and decided he liked it.  Then he was off!  Crawling all over the sand finding shells and sand straw (and of course showing me everything he found).  The sand was a good temperature, not hot, so it didn't bother him to crawl around on it.

A ball?!?!  I gotta get it!!!

Once Jimmy and the guys got our tent set up we headed into the water.  During low tide the are little tide pools that Owen could just crawl around in.  It was only a few inches deep, and in some of the pictures you can see the sand bars in the background and the waves breaking beyond that.  This was so awesome because we could just let him GO!

He booked it ALL over!  Jimmy and I just had to follow him around so he didn't bother other people or get too close to where the waves were breaking.  Every time we picked him up he started crying because all he wanted to do was crawl around in the sand!

Can you believe I actually put on a bathing suit?!?  Haha!

Jimmy took him out into the ocean a little bit and dipped down when the waves came so he could feel the waves.  He loved this and smiled and laughed each time!

We had a little family photo shoot on the beach.  Who doesn't love beach pictures!?!

And, this is the result of our beach day...

We had the best time on our vacation!  The thing that warmed my heart the most was seeing my family with Owen and how much they all love him!  He had so many play mates and everyone just loved spending time with him and making him smile.  I know Owen won't remember this vacation, but I know that someday he will look at all these pictures and know just how much his family loves him!  I'm so glad that we went and could give my family such great memories with Owen, I think they will always remember this trip and how special it was!  I'm a little sad it's all over... but now we can look forward to next year... and next year there will be TWO beach babies to chase after!  

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Love,

Judi