Myrtle Beach!

We were pretty excited, to say the least, that we picked last weekend to hit the beach before Earl hit the coast!  It was a beautiful weekend at the beach, and it was a great excuse for Nana and Papa to visit!  We spent time in the water, on the boardwalk and at the amazing Brooke Green Gardens!  So, we have been here since January, and this was our first trip (shameful, really as we are about 2 to 3 hours away from the coast), but we wanted the boys' first time to be very special.  I think it was worth the wait! 

I love this pic of Luke.  He was fascinated with his footprint in the sand!

Lyndon had everyone up at about 6:30 this particular day and at the beach by 7am.  Needless to say, I was not in picture mode and could really only concentrate on my coffee.  I am not a morning person.

I love this pic of Lyndon...ARMY t-shirt and all!

Nana and Papa going for a walk.  Notice that Nana has coffee too.  We share that addiction!

We stayed on the 15th floor of this hotel.  It was a great view of the water.

There really are advantages to waking up at the crack of dawn sometimes.  This sunrise is one of them.

The Boardwalk

Logan was having a rough day and refused to show any enthusiasm...

Nana and Papa!

On the boardwalk, they had a Ripley's aquarium with some amazing sea life!

The creature below is a sea dragon! 

I think any dentist would be proud of the teeth above!

The Brooke Green Gardens were amazing.  It sat on land previously used as a rice plantation.  Now, it is a beautiful garden with statues all made by American sculptors.  The property is also a natural habitat for wildlife which we saw a lot of including all kinds of birds (owls were my favorite), eagles, fox, and alligators!

I thought this was too cute.  They were looking up at the American flag!

Not really sure what this is, but it reminded me of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!

We also took a river boat ride along the property. It is well known that alligators roam freely along this river and we even saw this precious baby gator...

...and as we went along the river, we came across several people standing on the banks taking pictures or just taking in the view.  The tour guide on the boat told them all that they really needed to watch out as a true warning.  They all just stood there and smiled and waved at us.  I am not sure, but I think I would have taken it at face value!

He was pretty tired when we made him take this pic!!! I thought the expression was appropriate!

This owl was actually awake, but he would not turn towards me.  He was gorgeous!

These bald eagles were injured, but they are in their own little area to keep them safe. 

A small fox.

These owls are hard to see in their box, but they refused to move or open their eyes for me! There were several high up in some trees, but I lost my camera battery right after these pics, so I did not get them.  They had three different kinds, all amazing.