Happy Birthday Brynn Anna-Louise!

3 years ago I gave birth to a beauty....Brynn Anna-Louise! Oh my little chicken, as she's affectiontately known in our house is turning into a little lady. She may be on the loud side (I think it has a LOT to do with her astrological sign..the BULL). We call her Stephen Jr. because she doesn't just resemble her daddy, she has his personality too :)

She is a strong willed little girl who isn't afraid to tell you how it is, which may be a good or a bad thing. I swear she's going to be a lawyer when she grows up because she will argue a point until she wins. She loves her siblings and is incredibly sweet when it comes to Emily Grace.

She loves princesses and dress up. She can't wait for Tuesdays to arrive every week because that's our day for Little Gym and chineee food (her favorite as she calls it). Happy Birthday my big girl. Can't wait to see what this year has in store for us....PRESCHOOL is just around the corner

Nascar

I don't know who enjoyed this park more, Dylan or daddy...Dylan was just tall enough to drive the cars and poor Brynnie was way too little to even ride along with daddy as a passenger. Stephen bought tickets and they were off---Dylan was absolutely HYSTERICAL driving his own car. He was almost ejected from the park for using his father's driving skills (because I am a perfect driver :)) It was a lot of fun watching him and Stephen and I couldn't stop laughing!

Ripley's Aquarium

The Ripley's Aquarium was another stop during our vacation. They have an amazing set up and the visit to the aquarium can be pretty hands-on for kids. Brynn and Dylan love riding the conveyor through the tunnel and seeing all of the sharks and fish swim around them. Em was fascinated with the fish and kept pressing her little nose against the glass. I enjoy going to Ripley's every year~This year was especially nice because my Uncle Bruce, Aunt Bonnie and cousins met us at the aquarium and spent the day with us. Dylan and Brynnie, who have only seen my Uncle and Aunt 3x in the past, immediately bonded with them and held their hands throughout the exhibits and had long, in depth discussions about the fish they saw and going fishing. It was a GREAT day :)

Broadway at the Beach

There's only one word I can use to describe Broadway at the Beach FUN! There's a lot to do there, mini golf, there's Carp and ducks you can feed in the man-made lake, there's a little amusement park, ice cream, movies, the aquarium and of course Margaritaville! You can tell when you travel down South with my kids, that they have definitely been there before. We kinda have a routine when we go to Myrtle Beach and we try to do something different every day (even though we almost always wind up at Broadway at the Beach daily). The first restaurant that we went to was Joe's Crab Shack. We like seafood and the food and drinks there are awesome. I didn't realize that they also have a outdoor playground for the kids to play on while the parents eat! FANTASTIC! Stephen and I enjoyed lunch and relaxed while the kids played and made some friends....you have to be sure to check out Brynn's outfit in these pics...what a little lady she is!

Medieval Times

Dylan is really into knights lately. I don't know why he likes them, but for some reason, he really does. It actually works out in our household because Brynn, as we all know, is a Princess and what goes better with Princesses than knights...Stephen hasn't seen the Medieval Times show since high school and it is one of the kids favorite things to see when we are in Myrtle Beach. All three of the kids had a blast and actually sat during the entire show. Brynn said the horses were her favorite part, especially the "chocolate milk colored one". It was a lot of fun and even daddy enjoyed himself. Dylan's face was priceless during the show when they announced "We are going to wish Sir Dylan Poley a very happy 5th birthday" and they knighted him. The boy was all smiles for the rest of the night.

BEACH!

I have to say we really lucked out with the fantastic weather we had while on vacation. While it rained back at home for 4 days straight, we only had one night of rain, and goregous 70+ degree weather the balance of the week. Emily is so much like me it's scary. I think she's going to be a beach lover. My sweetie pie was all giggles running around in the sand and loved the waves hitting her little feet. Dylan immediately ran into the FREEZING cold ocean and Brynn just wondered around picking up sea shells. It was a little chilly the morning we went to the beach but it didn't stop my kids for heading into the water....boy do I LOVE Myrtle Beach!

South of The Border

I'm going to back track a little and try to post some pics from our vacation. South of the Border is nothing special to adults, but they do have pretty neat concrete dinosaurs and animals that are outside the stores and line the street. The kids know that this is the spot when they are finally in South Carolina AND Myrtle Beach is only a little over an hour away. Stephen has never experienced a car trip with the kids longer than 5 hours and we all couldn't wait to take a breather and stretch our legs. We spent about an hour walking around and checking out the figures but then we hopped right back into the truck and onto our vacation destination....