Jaina's beach experience

Jaina loved the beach! Which, to be honest, was kinda a surprise to me. We attempted to walk along the beach in Deerfield, Florida, just last Thanksgiving but had to end our beach excursion early because Jaina pitched a huge fit about the sand. It was really windy that day and Jaina kept complaining that the sand stung. So, she wasn't very excited about going to Pawleys Island this summer. She would have much rather gone to Disney World, she said.

I explained that the sand on SC beaches is MUCH different than the sand in Florida beaches. And it is. Personally, I like Florida beach sand better. Its what I grew up with. Its what I feel like a 'real" beach should feel like. Then again, I fell in love with the powder soft sand and crystal blue water I saw in the Gulf Coast in Destin, FL. At any rate, different areas have different sand and I told her not to judge South Carolina beaches until she had experienced them.

We got there on Monday around 3:00 PM, just in time for it to POUR rain. We ran our stuff up three flights of stairs to the condo to unpack while the storm brewed. Jaina was so disapointed because she thought we were going to the pool immediately upon arrival. It rained all afternoon. It was just sprinkling at 6:00 PM when we decided to run to the grocery store to cook stuff for dinner. Then Brian had the idea that we'd just run down to the beach really quick just to *see* the ocean that we had just driven 5 hours to see. The clouds were still dark and gray and the rain still sprinkling, but because there was no thunder or lightning, we decided to walk on the beach a bit. We didn't really expect the kids to actually get IN the ocean in their clothes! By then they got so wet that it didn't really matter how much it was raining. I patiently waited for the rain to stop before getting my Canon camera out. Since Jaina loves to walk out in the rain, she was thrilled. She declared then and there, "I Love this beach!"

The rest of the week was fun for her as well! We tried a restaurant called "Carolina Rib and Wing" because kids ate free on Tuesday nights and Jaina declared it her favorite restaurant of all time with the "best chicken" she's ever eaten :) We even ate there again two nights later.

Inside the condo, Jaina finally got her wish... a TV in her bedroom! She has been asking for one for 2 years now and we've always said, "NO!" I was about to rethink my stance on tv's in bedrooms until we saw what Jaina would do with one. First thing in the morning, she was glued to it while she got dressed. Afternoons, she wanted to lay down and "rest" in her room with it on. And she wanted it on when she was going to sleep. Even though we weren't in the condo more than a few hours a day, that's all she wanted to do. She didn't touch her toys or books or art stuff she had brought along. She wanted that TV in her bedroom. Yeah, I hope she enjoyed it because she's not getting one anytime soon at home!

She also had a blast playing mini-golf for the very first time. She used a purple putter and a purple ball.

Jaina enjoyed the aquarium in Myrtle Beach, too. She got to pet a horseshoe crab and a sting ray.

We also played "mermaids" together in the ocean and she pretended that Daddy was her horse Butterscotch in the pool. She also buried Brian in the sand and built a sand castle with me.

All in all, she had a great time :) Here are my favorite pictures of her.