Remember the 28th

So our vacation started off like a scene straight out of Home Alone. The good news… we didn’t leave any kids behind! Jason bolts awake at 4:20am. “Darcy! We slept in!”

You see, the night before we were both up packing and working on work projects until 1:30 am. I guess our bodies were not convinced our 3am alarm was truly wake time.

Jason springs out of bed and into action. I sat stunned for a minute. My heart was jumping out of my chest from the adrenaline filled wake up but my tired brain was still figuring out the math in my head to determine the level of crisis. Hmmmm it’s 4:20 am, our flight leaves at 5:50, we have a 40 min ride to the airport and two kids to lug with us…. OH SHIT!

I join Jason at leaping out of bed. I throw on the outfit I had laid out the night before, grab my pre-packed makeup and toiletries and head to wake Bennett.

“Bennett! We slept in. Mommy needs you to be super helpful or we will not make our airplane.” I hand him a a miss-matched set of clothes from the top of his drawer. I didn’t have time to consider cuteness or if the outfit would match… but let’s be honest, Bennett typically doesn’t match anyway. I instruct Bennett, “Take these clothes, don’t put them on, just go get in the car, Daddy is out there waiting for you, and hold ur clothes in your lap.”

Next I run into Alex room. I flip on the lights, grab a diaper and one outfit. I actually fold her clothes in outfits so at least I knew her outfit would match. And I ran to the car. Jason had Bennett loaded and we did a last second check… “Got your phone? Got ur ID? Let’s go!”

We were on our way to the airport. Jason drove reasonable and our typical stress reactions kicked in.

Jason, “We are screwed.”

Me, “We can do this!”

Jason, “There is no way we will make this flight.”

Me, “Don’t give up. We just need a plan. Where are we going to park?….”

We continued to walk through a game plan

I’m chanting a mantra in my head. “It will be ok! We won’t let this ruin our vacation. Even if we miss this flight, We will get there! Don’t stress! just focus on the decisions in front of us and don’t waste any time!”

Jason, “How did I sleep through the alarm? We are never going to make it!”

We pull up to the sky cap and THERE IS NO LINE!!! There is a God!!! Jason pulls up. We leap out and grab all the bags and both kids. Jason hands me a wad of cash to tip and then jumped back in the car to park. Now alone with the kids, I stumble through all 999 pockets in my backpack to find my ID as I continue to drop dollar bills from my hands. Finally I look up at the sky cap attendant and say… “why don’t I just tip you first and get this money out of my hand.” He smiled, “why thank you.”

I asked the attendants, “Are we going to make this flight?” He said, “Yes, ma’am, you have plenty of time. The airport is slow this morning. You are going to be just fine!” Awesome! That is the best news I had heard yet! I took a deep breathe loaded up the last backpack on my shoulders, picked up Alex on my hip, took Bennett’s hand and we ran inside. We made it through security, rushed to our gate, met up with Jason, and realized we had made it!!! They are still boarding!!!! Bennett did an celebratory dance and we had a family hug. I proceeded to tell Bennett what a great listener he had been and his BIG BIG help got us on the plane!! 😘

Then I took inventory, we were disheveled, to say the least. We all had bed hair. Alex looked like she had a rats nest on her head. Both kids were still in pjs with wet soaked diapers from the night before. And we all had the biggest grins on our faces! Let this vacation begin!

During the flight I took each kid to the bathroom and got them dressed. If you have ever tried to change a child in an airplane bathroom…. well I’m sure it sounded like I was wrestling a squirrel from outside as I continually bumped into the walls and door.

Finally both kids are dressed and we look a touch more pulled together. We headed back to our seats where Bennett insisted we read the safety manual over and over. Now that we are prepared for a water evacuation, let’s land this thing.

Finally, we make it to our destination, Myrtle Beach. As we check in at our hotel the receptionist offers us a free upgrade to a 2 bedroom ocean view suite. Perfect! We have have tons of room and everyone is still likely to sleep in one bed. 🙃

The first day, Saturday, we played at the beach and pool until dinner. We ate in our room and then swam again until bedtime. It’s amazing to see how well our kids play together when they have no other distractions. Bennett is so sweet and Alex so funny. The giggles are priceless. 💗💗

Day two, Sunday, was another awesome day at the beach. Sand castles and waves for the kids and cocktails for Mom and Dad.

On Sunday we had dinner at a local dive Dirty Dirks Oyster Bar. Alex was seated next to a mirror which delighted her. So she and Jason serenaded the restaurant with twinkle twinkle little star as she admired herself in the mirror. 🤷‍♀️

On day 3, Monday, we spent another day at the beach and in the pool. We finished the day going to a dinner theater Pirates Voyage. The kids got dressed up as a pirate and a mermaid. The show had acrobats, sword fights, cannons, diving, and sea lion tricks. Both kids were mesmerized, plus both kids ate like champs! 👍🏻

Day 4, Tuesday, it is time for hurricane talk. There is a mandatory evacuation put in place. Hurricane Florence is expected to hit Thursday and be a category 4 storm potentially causing life threatening conditions. Our flight is currently scheduled for Wed at 12:30. We are not able to move our flight forward because everything is booked. So we stock up on a few groceries 🍕🍎🍌🥪and pray our flight is not canceled.

We enjoy the morning on our balcony drinking coffee ☕️ while the kids played waitress. I ordered ice cream, doughnut, and candy 🍨🍩🍭from Alex and she said, “No Moma! Too much sugar.” 😬

We head back out to the pool. But the hotel closes at noon. We could continue to stay in our suite but we had to leave the pool. So after nap we headed out to the beach. It was virtually a private beach. The water was not safe to get in so I thought we would just we walking the shoreline. So both kids were fully clothed without swimming suits. Get ready for this #Momfail moment. Both kids end up drenched and covered in sandy goop!

On our final dinner we called around and found one restaurant that was open. So we got to have one more meal out. The kids ate spaghetti and we ordered sushi. Bennett tried his first bite if sushi. He did voluntarily take two bites of a philly role…. before saying No Thank You. Both kids nearly fell asleep at the restaurant.

I wanted to take family pictures on the beach before we left. However, we walked out to the beach and the gate to the beach was locked. They were not allowing anyone to go out on the beach. So I settled for a couple pix on the empty hurricane proofed pool deck.

One final cheers before a potentially crazy day of travel.

I am happy to report we had a smooth on time flight home. Our kids got a little cranky cuz there was no food in the airport. But they survived to our connecting location on a 6 pack of knock off oreos. 🍪🍪

We really enjoy our visit to Myrtle Beach. We will be praying for the locals over the next few days. I want to give an extra prayer for the security guard weathering the storm from the hotel. We left him food in our suite. I hope this hurricane does not cause damage or injury. Here are a few pix of the Ocean blvd on the way out. This road it typically bumper to bumper… but it’s an evacuated, boarded up ghost town.