Day Two (because all we did was drive for day one)

I DECIDED TO CONTINUE POSTING IMAGES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG INSTEAD OF STACKING THEM AS I USUALLY DO.

NEW POSTS BELOW!!


We (myself, Kristi and the boys) joined the Parent-in-laws and Kristi's brother, sister-in-law and their two kids for a vacation in Myrtle Beach.

We have a great condo six floors up with a view of the ocean.


Zack and Max experienced the ocean for the first time.



While Zack at first was hesitant...


...Max decided to test the waters.


It didn't take long for both boys to get into the fun of playing in shark infested water...just kidding about the sharks, tho we did prepare for the vacation by watching Shark Week on Discovery.


Max heads out for larger waves...

...and gets clobbered while his brother watches.


Max rises to the surface...


...and experiences SALT WATER in the eyes for the first time.



Then it's off to The Giant Crab for a sea food buffet with over 170 items to choose from.



LAND SHARK!


The food rocked and I had three plates of sushi, crab legs, clams, steamed oysters, five different types of fish, wasabi, scallops, and much more.


Max, ever the adventurous one when it comes to food, devoured some crab legs after playing with them.

Then it was back to the beach for me and the boys. Kristi had to go food shopping (it could not wait until tomorrow I guess) and she only had a few minutes in the water. By then it was too dark to get a photo of me in the ocean getting battered about by 4 foot waves. We were in the water for three and a half hours.


DAY THREE

Morning of day three. Got my recommended 3 hours of sleep and went to the balcony for a cup of coffee.


Watched the umbrella guys put up umbrellas.


Boys had eggs, thanks to Uncle John.


I had more coffee.


This evening we went to a really big pier.


Kristi and the boys on the pier...


Took this photo of Max and myself...myself. Long arms come in handy.


Sunset as seen from the pier.


Looking for sharks. Two fishermen caught four 8 - 10 inch long sharks while we were there. Yesterday one of them snagged a five footer.



The boys scoping the beach.


Night time at the pier.


DAY FOUR
Yesterday Zack went surfing and wiped out! Here is his injury. The board also hit him in the head.
He's fine, tho.



Zack outside of the Rock and Roll Factory.


Went to JOHNNY ROCKETS for lunch.




Zack checks out the mini juke for a song...


...while Max watches the waitresses dance...


...and I stare at the biggest tub of grill fried/deep fried bacon and my burger complete with bacon strips and onion rings. My arteries have been a little unclogged lately.



A stuffed bear says "Hi" to Max...

The same bear is impressed with Zack's impersonation of Forest Gump...

Bad pirates!






Zack bought a cool kite.


I gave it a shot.


CONTEST TIME
Kristi and I went out with the boys for a late-night splash time. All went well as the boys were boogy-boarding and Kristi and I were enjoying some casual waves...AND THEN SOMETHING BIT/STUNG ME!

So, I've posted a picture of the 'wound' and you can guess what may have tried to take me out!



DAY FIVE
After sleeping in, coffee, eggs and waffles, the boys and I flew the kite and wrestled in the surf while Kristi shopped for tonight's meal. It is our turn to make dinner so we decided to make a salad bar.

Here is a little of the prep. We worked on this while the boys went with the rest of the in-laws to Ripley's Aquarium.

I've got some chicken diced in the pot with an Italian seasoning and Southwest Chipotle rub soaking in Italian Dressing and lemon.



Kristi worked on cutting all the vegitables and made fresh buttery cruttons.


After soaking in the dressing and lemon, I cooked the chicken on high until the sauce started to gel onto the chicken, then I slowly lowered the heat until the meat was done and the sauce was gone.


The boys returned from the aquarium with some great photos. Here is a view of the under side of a shark (the natural enemy of the midwest-Allen) as seen through the roof of the tunnel that the boys walked through.


Here is another shark. The only thing between my boys and a giant eating machine is a few inches of glass. What was I thinking letting them gothere?!?!?


Here is a spikey thing that can probably kill you if you step on it.


And here is an electric eel. Makes me hungry for some sushi!


Here is Zack reaching into a tank to pet a horseshoe crab. Not sure what it really does, but it's from the ocean so I'm sure it wants me dead!




The boys and a deep sea diver!


I've decided to hit the sea food buffet before we leave Myrtle Beach!


Evening came and Kristi and I set up the salad bar.


My salad on the left, Kristi's on the right.


Kristi's cousin Lori and her daughter Taylor dropped by for salads.



DAY SIX
Dolphins! Kristi was looking out the balcony window and thought she saw someone floating too far out in the ocean. It turned out to be two dolphins. You can see them over in the left side of the photo below.



While Max and I flew kites, Zack helped a cousin clean pools.



Max talking to Grandpa and Grandma Etter.


The lazy river from our balcony.




DAY SEVEN
My new mug from the GIANT GRAB BUFFET


Every morning, I have to deal with this awful view off of our balcony!


After an exhausting thirty minutes on the balcony, I'm forced to have a pedicure from my one year old nephew, Gus.



While Zack cleaned pools with a cousin, Max and I pulled an Ahab and went on a quest for the Great White Jellyfish that took my leg! I mean, stung my calf.


There was a yellow flag out today due to strong undertow.

Wipeout!


Alligator Adventure!
A really, really old alligator.


Turtles must taste rather nasty since the alligators seemed to not care that they were there.




A sea turtle chasing a fish.


Feeding the gators whole chickens.


More gators...


The boys at Broadway at the Beach


The four-story high pirate maze. The boys and I got locked into harnesses and made our way up ten feet to the first level of rope bridges, tight ropes, balance beams and planks.


Zack made it to the first level but the virtigo started to get to him. I was proud he made it that highas scared as he is of heights.



I made it to the second level and Max made it to the third.


I have a bit of a fear of heights so I would have to say that this was the second most scary thing I've ever done. I told the guy running the pirate maze that it was the second most scariest thing I've done in my life. He asked what the first was. I pointed to the towering zip line...


...and then the camera battery died! It died just before I tackled two of my fears at once. I climbed about six or seven stories up a tower, got strapped into a harness and rode a zip line across a pond. It was scary enough just climbing the tower, but when I was sent out over the water, it felt like I was falling...sideways. You don't realize how fast you're going on a zip line until you come rushing toward the end of the line. What a rush. I really enjoyed the ride back across the water. The guy running the zip line said that he couldn't believe how fast I was going! The weight limit was three hundred pounds. At 290, I was pushing it!

DAY EIGHT
Early morning photo shoot for mother's day gift.






And some early morning beach photos...















DAY NINE
A massive storm rolled in...fantstic!!!