Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 5

Yay! for another beach day!! It was a bit overcast so the kiddos stayed longer than expected.

We hit Garden City Beach where we played in the sand, splashed, found a starfish, and had a great day.  After a few naps and showers we headed to Barefoot Landing for walking around, dinner at an Italian place, and of course, a carousel ride.

We even had some late night shopping and ice cream!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 4

I don't have many photos for today... we seemed to take is slower, be in the water more which means fewer photos. Jeff and Grace hit the road back to VA and we split up for a few hours with Mom and Dad looking at houses, lunch for the girls at a French Bistro, and the mall for Joey's family. After some more pool time, we celebrated "Tequila Tuesday" with the worlds worst margaritas at a local Mexican place. At least it was great company.

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 3

Monday we spent the morning at the pool. Just lounging around enjoying the sunshine!

A funny thing about my family... they don't really go to the beach all that much, even during a beach trip! I could spend every day out in the ocean, laying on a towel, building sandcastles, you name it. Just being out there looking at the waves makes me smile. But I really, really have to convince them to go to the beach more than one day. Well, this afternoon I got them all to go!

After the full day of sun, we hit Murrell's Inlet for a seafood (sorry Dad!) dinner overlooking the water. In addition to the "I-actually-got-a-version-of-the-photo-I-wanted" picture, were these gems.

I especially like the four "Stein" kiddos with our people. :)

Sadly this was Jeff and Grace's last night on vacation with us but we were so glad they came, especially over Grace's birthday!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 2

Back to the recap of our days in Myrtle... Day 2 and we were off to the aquarium on a cloudy day where some of us found ourselves inside the oyster shells,

We saw the sharks, turtles, turtles, jellies, and more!

Next was Broadway at the Beach with Jello shots, Dino-riding, and merry-go-rounds

 

And silliest of all Tiki Jim's faces!

Next we headed to mini golf where Mom kept getting holes in one, and finally some of us even made it to the beach!

Today Was a Good Day

Today was a good day. I had work super early with the astronauts on the ISS, solved a problem, and was congratulated for a job well done by Mission Control. :) Jared got his badge... his attending physician badge!

And then while on the phone with my sister, my niece requested to Face Time with me.

That little girl just makes me smile. I love her to the Moon and back. I am tired, have one million things to do... but today was a good day.

On My Way To Work

This is what stopped traffic...

I took it as a reminder for me to slow down, smile, and as my Dad would say "enjoy the ride." Happy Tuesday!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 1

Driving to Myrtle, checking into the resort sans parents!, Uncle Jeff and Miss M, Jason's first vacation with us!

Bang, bang, shrimp and lemon drop martini's (my fav!), celebrating Grace's birthday, finally Mom and Dad are here!!

Myrtle Beach 2013 Family Photo

There are a lot of us. Thirteen of us actually that encompass the "J. Stein" clan these days... 10 adults with three sets of husbands/wives, two sets of boyfriends/girlfriends, 2 grandsons/nephews (with another on the way for Juls) and 1 granddaughter/niece. It is a lot of people, opinions, and expectations... especially on a vacation... especially in our family. 

In my "post something rather than nothing" mode these days my plan is to post a collage of each day as soon as I can. With photos I absolutely love. Most especially, this one.

We had planned to take family photos this vacation. On the beach, at sunset. A big group photo and then individual families. We had a great camera, tripod, and our plan. With my Grandfather passing away back in March it makes you think of life differently, it is that fleeting feeling. A reminder that we all have limited time here on Earth together. So I wanted this photo, of our big crazy family now.

Well, it didn't happen as I would've liked. It was too hard with our do-one-million-things-in-one-day, stay-up-way-too-late schedules. It didn't work out to meet up at the beach. So, this photo was by luck. During dinner on one of the two nights Jeff and Grace were in town fireworks started over Murrell's Inlet and we all headed outside. I grabbed a stranger and crossed my fingers that a photo would come out where you could see everyone and eyes would be open. I got my wish. And although it isn't something that looks like it is from a magazine, it isn't perfectly positioned, with the perfect sunset... it is perfect to me... with the littlest ones watching the fireworks, and all us "grown ups" smiling.