On day 2 of our trip, we decided to stay away from the water for a little while and go FISHING!!!! While the boys fished, I FINALLY taught myself how to french braid. I have tried and tried for years and years and I always blamed being a left hander on the inability to do it. On this particular day, out of no where, it just CLICKED! Th light bulb went off and I got it!! I did TWO on her. So fun!
It was a gorgeous day on the pier, but we joked after returning home when our fishing pole's hook got caught on the fishing bag, Darren said, "Well... the only thing we caught today was our own fishing bag!"
Liley came home and cooled off with a non-alcoholic drink! Hehe.
Darren and I took the pooches on a walk!
Then, we went SHOPPING at the Tanger Outlets.
Later that night, we took the kids to their favorite place... Ultimate California Pizza Kitchen and Games.
Liley won a huge stuffed bear and I won a troll. I told the twins, "Whoever replicates the troll's face verbatim, can keep him!" I couldn't decide who to pick, so I just told them to share it. Hehe.
And speaking of replicating... Darren took this photo back in 2011 and has tried to remember to replicate/re-inact it every time we go back! Unfortunately, we didn't start that tradition until last year. So below you see 2011, 2016, and current 2017.
When we got home that night, man o'day, I took my hair down and realized this girl didn't apply enough product. Gives new meaning to the word HUMID!
No water time for us on day 2! We were fine with it. There is SO much to do in Myrtle Beach that we don't always want to be floating in the water.
Shew... these elves are keeping me busy. I won't deny that after about a week of having them return, I am ready for them to go back to the North Pole for GOOD! It's a ton of extra work/stress, but it is DEFINITELY worth hearing the squeals and seeing the excitement on my children's faces. I just find myself dreaming about ideas or waking up in the middle of the night to think of ideas and THAT.IS.ABSURD. I mean, I am losing actual SLEEP over these elves. Why me? Check out what they've been up to these last few days...
Yesterday, our elves went to the "duck pond" and decided to feed the ducks and go fishing. LOL! It was pretty intense considering they used my kitchen sink AND I am not ALLOWED to touch them. I only had access to ONE sink yesterday. I used some of our fairy garden items to set this up.
We have a board game called "Lucky Ducks Matching Game", so I used the ducks to create the correct atmosphere.
We also have a game called, "Let's Go Fishing!" That game supplied the fishing poles and fish, which look like pirañas to me.
Napoleon caught a fish!!! Did you notice the fish are red and green only?
I turned the water blue using some of my favorite house cleaner... clean cotton fabuloso.
Ariel and Rozee fed the ducks while the boys fished.
Duck pond bench, more ducks, and pebbles helped to replicate our local duck pond!
The elves also left this Holiday Countdown Calendar!!
On another day, Chippey enjoyed some rest and relaxation on a hammock banana! LOL!
Sure go ahead elves, you just relax WHILE I SLAVE away... on another day, our elves decided to "Netflix and Chill" on the couch, while eating popcorn, sipping on diet coke, and enjoying some candy! Thanks go our American Girl Doll collections, we have some great elf furniture and accent pieces. OH AND they left us a sweet message aka note that read, "We LOVE Our Family!"
Lilah was so flattered on the morning of her recital when she woke up to find a "banner" that read, "Good Luck". They held her name, LILAH, in their lap. I guess they are also some of her biggest fans. Rozee was decked out in the Claus Coture twinkle toes tutu and one of her american girl dolls was stretching!!!
I guess it's safe to say this girl is VERY impressionable. I believe she wants to be an elf on the shelf. Hehe.
One morning, the elves chose to JUST hide in sneaky, camouflaged places because the kids were enjoying "hard" hiding spots rather than their mischievous behaviors. Man, why didn't you say so sooner. It's so hard and time consuming setting up their mischievous ways! Instead, the elves left them a REALLLLLY cool gift called a "project-o-rama" along with a note.
And finally, the sweet tooth moment. You all know ELVES, especially, have major sweet tooth. It's funny because ONE got trapped under our glass cookie dome, one mistook doggie biscuits for cookies and he was really disappointed, and the girls... well... they chose to feast on some Halo Top ice cream. #HealthIceCream They are trying to keep their girlish figure. SO FUNNY! 1. Napoleon, left a message spelled out with peppermint sticks that read, "HELP!" 2. Chippey got stuck in Sadie and Simon's cookie jar and left a note that read, "What the heck kind of cookies are these?"#worstcookiesever #santawillhatethese 3. Rozee and Ariel were caught upside down in a pint of Halo Top Ice Cream. Hehe
Oh my goodness, does the title of this post prove how FAR BEHIND I am on blogging? Let's just say that Father's Day June is NOT as far back as my "blogging back log" goes. Sigh... Oh well, I'll just call that "blogging security". Let me interrupt your day to bring you the cutest post about the most amazing father/husband we know. We celebrated him this year, on Father's Day, using the theme "Hugs and Fishes!" Darren has picked up a few new hobbies that he is attempting: hand guns and fishing. Haha. Who is this man? So, we decided to shower him with HUGS and ALL THINGS fishing related. I sure wish he ate candy during this theme. I would have used hugs hershey kisses and Swedish fish.
The kids and I went shopping and personally picked out some things we thought he'd LOVE to have. I had it all displayed on our kitchen table so when he woke up he would be greeted by it all.
We bought him his very OWN fishing pole.
Along with a basket of goodies: Lenny & Larry's Cookies, Buff Bake Protein Spread, Gulp Bait, a Yeti Rambler, Whiskey, Peanuts, Venison Jerkey, Fishing Line, Fishing Hooks, Fishing Weights and more...
We also purchased Darren a SHARK bottle opener. We have it displayed in our beach condo.
Jax picked out a nice Ugly Stick fishing bag.
We also got Darren a big fishing net and inside of the net the kids placed their personal greeting cards, to their daddy, inside!
We thought getting him some Obama toilet paper and prank poop, for our neighborhood pool, would be funny. Darren is ALL ABOUT practical jokes!
Darren read his cards with the kids.
The kids were so proud to show their daddy what they said in their cards to him or what they made for him. Jax had been drawing him artwork, specifically for Father's Day, for several weeks.
I joined the family at the pool and it felt so good watching this hardworking man relax. He deserves it.
Then we did our traditional, father's day GOOFY pic. This year, the way the sun was shining and the glare from my camera's lens, sorta messed the end result up, but it's still OUR original idea and yearly tradition.
Lilah snuck up on Darren and surprised him with a "cup" that she insisted we buy him. #bestdadever.
I loved this shot!!!
I think it's safe to say, he LOVED it.
Then... Lilah played waitress with Darren and served him.
She presented him with EXACTLY what he ordered. LOL!!!! We made him homemade meatballs and marinara sauce + ziti noodles.
He was thankful and happy.
After dinner, he ended his evening JUST THE WAY he so desired. The boys watched the NBA finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cavaliers. It was a sad night when the Warriors lost.
Warriors Game in Hyperlaspe mode! Their father/son mannerisms are almost identical. So funny.
A special shout out was given to my pops (below). He may not be like "Susie's" dad, but he is the ONLY dad I have. The one the Lord has given to me and I will love him the best way I can. No matter what life throws his way, he is always making everyone laugh. I pray he always keeps his sense of humor.
Another Father's Day celebration success. Darren gave it "two thumbs up!"
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