Nothing could be finer

We are back from the beach, and it was fantastic. We spent a week in Litchfield, SC, about 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach. We went with both sets of grandparents, GG, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Stanley, Uncle Dave and his fiancee, Great Aunt Vic, John and their friend Cheryl. There was also a special guest appearance by Uncle Adams. So basically at any given time, there was David plus about 14 adults who think everything he does is the best, funniest, most brilliant thing they've ever seen. We currently have him under very careful supervision as he detoxes from all that attention.
We started our vacation with a weigh in. Dave's fiancee challenged Kevin and Uncle Dave to a fat off. Whoever lost the least weight would have to buy Illinois football and basketball tickets for his thinner brother. David was nervous at the weigh in, but Kevin's 12 pounds was enough to seal the victory.
David knew beating Uncle Dave in the fat off would be tough.

We flew in to Myrtle Beach Saturday evening. After what may be the longest wait for bags and a rental car in the history of our travels, we finally made it to the beach house. We took David out to see the ocean. He splashed in the ocean some but wasn't so sure about it. (It took him until Wednesday to really get in to the water.) He fell in love with sand and his wagon full of shovels immediately.

David's first time on the beach. Sunset over the marsh.

Sunday was all beach all the time. Here is David in Nahnee's old navy hat and playing catch with GG and Uncle Dave.

Action shot. Flying a kite with Grandpa.

Monday Kevin and I celebrated our 7th anniversary (and Grandma and Grandpa's 34th) with a delicious breakfast prepared by Dave and his fiancee, a round of mini golf, a little beach time with David and a nice dinner at Oliver's Lodge while the 12 other adults in the house babysat. We returned home a little after 10:00 to find that David had refused bath and bed and was happily playing with the choo choo set from Nahnee's house.

David refused the plastic kiddie club and even the shortest regular club and spent most of his golf time using Kevin's. Kevin, David and GG. Me and Kevin all cleaned up for dinner.

Tuesday was more beach and a little pool time. David spent more time examining the fresh water trickling in to the pool than he did actually swimming. The Maas contingent went dancing Tuesday night, so the LaBorde side (pictured in front of the inlet) made a return trip to Oliver's Lodge.

Wednesday the Maases took a day trip to Charleston. We enjoyed a harbor cruise, where we got beautiful views of the city as well as a pod of dolphins. We also had some good food at A.W. Shucks and checked out the Market. David was a trooper and managed to stay awake and pleasant way past nap time, but he eventually crashed and burned and was sound asleep before we got to our final stop--Kilwin's for some ice cream. We came back to more good food at the house, a dinner that included Uncle Stanley's famous stuffed shrimp.

Kevin and David on the boat. Playing with Grandma at the restaurant. Unconscious at 3pm.

Thursday we tried to spend as much time on the beach as possible. We had a group dinner that night followed by my family's beach tradition, a game of Trivial Pursuit. (We're nerds.) Unfortunately, our strongest player, Nahnee, had to leave that afternoon to go back to work. The LaBordes were allowed to phone-a-friend him, and though there was some grumbling from the other side when we won, I maintain it was completely legit.

Friday was more beach time, another round of mini golf and a game of Apples to Apples during which GG kept us all very entertained.
Sunrise. David playing his ball from the rough. Going for a walk with GG.

David sent Nahnee an email to keep him up to speed on what we were up to and kicked back in the jacuzzi tub that night. Uncle Dave with GG.

Kevin, David and I hit the beach at sunrise yesterday morning. Kevin and David played catch and checked out crab holes. Then we had to pack it up until next time.

On our way to the airport, we stopped at the Island Shops where David picked out a new South Carolina hat. He was a hit at both airports with his hat and suitcase.

We are back at home. Unfortunately our efforts to get David back on some sort of sleep schedule are being thwarted by a crabby boy with a fever that started about half an hour after bedtime last night. Hopefully he'll be fully recovered soon so that we can all get some sleep and recover from our vacation.