Myrtle Manor - 127/365

Today we spent the day with the Myrtle Manor Cast...LOL! 

Jim and my dad went golfing, so Ed, Pam, Nana, Reagan and I drove down to check out Myrtle Manor. We all started watching it mostly because, it was filmed in Myrtle Beach. We all got hooked and watched every episode. 

We arrived and immediately spotted Cecil, the trailer park owner, in the souvenir trailer. He was the nicest guy! He made you feel like you have been best friends forever. He just loved Reagan, too. He scooped her right up and didn't want to put her back down. We asked him what he thought of his new found fame and he replied, "well, I still take out the garbage." LOL! 

Next, we headed to the back where the rest of the cast lives. We parked the car, hopped out and realized Taylor was washing his car in the driveway.  His bulldog, Gus, was just walking around. He was pretty nice, but really only spoke when spoken to. Reagan got a kick out of playing with Gus! Although, Taylor was nervous he would knock her down. It was cute. 

After we talked with him, we spent some time walking around the set and taking pictures. There was an old playground set in the yard that Reagan enjoyed. She got a kick out of going down the slide, even though it had two holes in it...LOL! 

Cecil had said that most of the people work nights, so you have a better chance to see them between 1-3 in the afternoon. We had a few things we wanted to do at the mall, that's less than 2 miles from there, so we went to the mall. Pam wanted to go in Belk, and Nana and I wanted to go to Gymboree. After the mall, we went over to Five Guys Burgers and Fries to have a snack before we headed back over to the Manor.  

When we got back, we headed straight for the back. We noticed that Tangulls was now open, so we went in and Gina was in there cutting a girls hair. We chatted with her and asked if she would be willing to give Reagan a trim. She said sure, so we just plopped down an waited. We talked with her and she was super nice! 

Gina doesn't live in the trailer park, but has known Becky's family forever. She had a SEVEN carat diamond on her hand! It was stunning! She was telling us all about how they film. She even pointed out things around the shop that were from the crew. It was really interesting! 

Next up was Reagan! She had a kids chair she wheeled over and threw a peach towel down on the seat. She was telling us how the crew ruined the seat with some of their hot camera equipment. She has had the seat forever and was so bummed they ruined it. She puts the towel down so it doesn't pinch the kids legs.

Then, just as Reagan was getting in the chair, Miss Peggy walked in. It was a HOOT! There we are, sitting in Tangulls, hanging out with Gina and Miss Peggy all by ourselves. It was so fun! 

Gina was so good with Reagan and talked with her the whole time! Her hair looks great and she even took the time to give Reagan a cute braid at the end! It looked adorable! Reagan sat perfectly, too! After we were done, we headed back up to the souvenir trailer to get some goodies. It turns out Becky, Alyson and Jeana were there working. They were all super nice, as was the rest! Every single person, made you feel like you knew them forever! It was such a weird, but fun day! 

 After we got back, we got cleaned up for dinner and hit one of our favorites, Carolina Roadhouse!

 The photo of the day is Reagan sitting in the chair for her haircut....

 The extra pic is all of us and Cecil...

 

Myrtle Date Day - 126/365

Today was Jim and I's, Myrtle Date Day! 

Every year, my mom and Aunt Pam take Reagan for the afternoon, so Jimmy and I can go on a date! We love to go have lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and have a drink at his other restaurant, LandShark. This year, we decided to do the opposite. LandShark was slammed! It took nearly 45 minutes to get our food. There was a football team of 15 or so players that put their orders in right before us. So even though we just ordered pretzel sticks as an appetizer and some sandwiches, it still took forever. When we did get our food, it was delicious! We still like Margaritaville better for food though.

 After lunch, we were only a couple blocks away from Myrtle Manor, so we decided to drive over and check it out. We pulled in and found the "set" all the way in the back of the trailer park. We saw all the "famous" trailers and Tangulls hair salon. My mom, Pam, Ed and I were going to go the next day and really spend some time taking pictures, so we just kinda looked around from the car. As we were leaving the park, we spotted the souvenir trailer. Becky, the head of the trailer park, happened to be there selling shirts! I told Jim, we HAVE to get out and get a picture with her! We parked the car and hopped out. She was SO NICE! I asked, "can I get a picture with you?" She said, "Sure honey! I just got my hair did!" We chatted with her for a few minutes and she mentioned that, Roy and Gina were in the salon and told us to go say hello, so that's what we did. They were also super nice and it was surreal standing in that salon! LOL! Roy was actually in the middle of a hair cut! He came over, shook our hands, and was friendly as can be. He is one of our favorite characters on the show, so it was funny to actually meet him! 

After we left Myrtle Manor, we headed over to Broadway at the Beach to walk around and have our drink at Margaritaville. It was such a beautiful day! We popped in a couple shops and visited our favorite winery. Perfect afternoon with the hubby!
My mom and Aunt Pam had a fun day with Reagan. They took her down to the pools and lazy river. Aunt Pam even gave Reagan a mani/pedi! She was SO EXCITED! It was a glitter polish and when we got back and Reagan said, "mama, Pam gave me farkles!" She is such a little HOOT!

When we got back, we took Reagan down to play in the sand for a little bit and check out the inlet. She loved "digging in the muck" as she kept saying. Who knows where she got that! What a fun day!

 The photo of the day is Myrtle Manor Roy and I...

Extra pic is our little lady running in the inlet.

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Aquarium Day! - 125/365

Ray and Jenny had to leave the beach today. We were so bummed! 

Before they left, we had to do our Myrtle Mint t-shirt shoot. We have an inside joke, that has been going on for years, so my mom and I decided that this year, we would surprise everyone with shirts. They all loved them! We went down to the pool area in our shirts and took a family pic! It was too funny! 

Nana, Papa, Reagan, Jim and I headed down to Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway at the Beach to see the fish. They were having a live Mermaid show at noon. The show was cool, it was just regular girls in mermaid tails. They would swim down to the bottom, wave, do some flips, and go back up for some air. I give them credit, I would have been dead tired by the end of the 15 minutes! Reagan was just fascinated and kept saying "Ariel!" 

We walked around the aquarium a bit more. Reagan really loved the fish. We went up to the stingray pool and tried to pet a few, but they weren't into it. We went over and did get to pet some horseshoe crabs. She LOVED that, she wasn't even afraid! 

We went back to the "beach house" and hit the pools. The lazy river is so warm, it feels just like a hot tub. It's heavenly! We went around and around and around! Reagan had her vest and swimmies on, and anytime we tried to touch her she pushed us away and said, "I do it myself!" She's so brave and loving the water! She kept saying "I a mermaid!" It was a HOOT! 

Tonight, we went to our favorite Italian restaurant, Chianti's! We have gone every single year we visit the beach. My mom and dad usually come to Myrtle for two weeks in May and go twice! We had a great time and got our "private" little room we love! We've had it a couple times, it's too fun! Reagan started dancing in her chair and made sure everyone else joined in, it was so cute! 

We got back to the condo and settled in to watch the season finale of Myrtle Manor. We've all watched it just because it's Myrtle Beach. It was so funny watching it, knowing all those people are right down the street...LOL! 

Another fun day at the beach in the books! 

The photo of the day is Jim, Reagan and I with our Horseshoe crab friend... 

The bonus pic is the crew in their Myrtle Mints!

 

Brookgreen Gardens - 124/365

We had a fun filled day today! 

Ed and Pam finally got in around 9:00am. Reagan and Jim hit the pool, while the rest of us were waiting for them. We got them all settled and got ready to hit Brookgreen Gardens. 

Nana, Papa, Pam, Ray, Jen, Reagan and I all piled in the Saturn for the 45 minute ride. I sat on the floor between the two back captain's seats, so we didn't have to have three cars down there. 

We got there and signed up for the 1:00 boat ride. They took you down this little waterway that used to have old plantations and rice fields. It was a nice little ride but a little chilly! They way down wasn't bad, but coming back it was COLD! The weather hasn't been the normal Myrtle weather we usually have this time of year, but it's supposed to be back to normal starting tomorrow. Anyway, we saw a couple alligators and tons of turtles. It was fun!

We got off the boat, and headed over to the butterfly house. We had a great time in there. The butterflies were hanging out everywhere and Reagan got a kick out of the ones that were fluttering around. 

Next, we headed down to the little zoo. It's a real nice path that winds through the woods where they have exhibits of all native South Carolina animals. Our favorite was the otters. There was one that was hanging out in a hammock. We kept waiting for him to jump out, but he was just being lazy. He would stretch and yawn, but wasn't budging from that hammock. It was adorable! We checked out the outdoor exhibit and there, we got to see three swimming around in the water. We just loved them! After we were done at the zoo, we hit up the gift shop before heading over to Drunken Jacks. Papa bought Reagan a little stuffed Otter, she was TOOO excited! She was holding him and showing us how we saw them swimming in the water. It was too funny! 

We got to Drunken Jacks and sat on the back patio while we waited for our table. We enjoyed lots of yummy appetizers. Reagan's favorite was the popcorn! It was a really fun dinner! 

We came back to the condo and got all set in our Disney jammies. Ray and Jenny got them for everybody when we were doing our Zabel family Disney trip in 2012. We never got to take a picture together in them, so we all brought them here. We were just going to hang out and play Pictionary, so we figured it was a perfect night to wear them! We had so much fun playing the game. Some of the drawings were a HOOT! We had a ton of laughs! It was a perfect family fun day! On to day three....

 The photo of the day is everyone enjoying the boat ride at Brookgreen.

The bonus pic is us, in our jammies

 

Snail's Pace - 123/365

We made it to the beach! 

We planned to leave Greensboro at 8:00am on the dot. They have a nice little breakfast at our hotel and every single year, Jim has to get his hard boiled egg in a bag. LOL! We had a nice little breakfast and got on the road by 8:15. We were making great time, about a 1/2 hour ahead of schedule, when Reagan got a little bit sick. She doesn't usually get car sick, but she had a pretty big breakfast. We stopped, got her cleaned up and were back on the road in 10 minutes. 

We were still early to the beach! 

Nana, Papa, Ray and Jenny were all there to help us unload the car. Reagan was super excited to see everyone! We got up to our "beach house" and went straight to the balcony. We just love that view, and while Reagan has been here three times before, it was ALL new to her. She said "look, there is an ocean down there!" 

We also got to meet Ray and Jenny's new pet snail. They found him on their walk that morning. They thought it was just a shell, until they got it upstairs, and realized there was a real snail in there. They are going to try to keep him and named him "Racer". Jenny googled to learn all about snails so they know what to do for him. They picked him all kinds of grass and mist him every once in awhile. He's been in his shell for awhile now, but they learned snails can sleep for THREE years! Exciting pet...LOL! 

 We got unpacked and hit the pool. They have three of the big pools heated, plus the lazy river, so it was wonderful! Reagan was in heaven in her little inter-tub in the lazy river. She got so brave that she said, "dada, don't hold me!" 

After while, we got cleaned up and headed out to Chestnut Hill! It's one of our favorite restaurants and has become a tradition. We always order the same thing every place we go down here, but this year, Jim said he's getting something different every place we go. Tonight, he got beef tips over rice. When we were leaving, Jim and Reagan were a few steps ahead, Reagan asked Jim "is everbody coming?" and he said, "Yes, in just a minute." To which she replied, "I'll wait here for my friends." LOL! She is too cute! 

We closed down the evening with adult beverages on the balcony. Somehow, we got into a discussion about folding laundry. We ended up making clothes templets from paper towels to demonstrait the different ways we all do it. I learned some new tricks! LOL!

Perfect kickoff to our trip! 

The photo of the day is "Racer" with our Mickey Myrtle Mascot standing guard.

I had to add a pic of Reagan from the lazy river...

Here is Jim and his favorite egg in a bag.

Deer, Greensboro - 122/365

Today was a busy day! 

We started by gathering up the rest of our stuff for our drive to the beach! Jim headed into work for a few hours to tie up a few loose ends, while, Reagan and I headed to Tales for Tots at the Ford Nature Center. 

This month, the topic was baby deer. Reagan was so excited! We got there and started with our coloring page. After everyone arrived, we headed inside to check out the deer statue. They got to pet him and hold some real antlers, too cool. We then headed back outside to do their craft. They got to make the scene of a fawn laying in the grass surrounded by sticks and leaves. The kids had a blast gluing the cotton ball spots, sticks and leaves to their picture. After we finished that up, we went over to a nearby tree where Miss Julie read a story about deer. The kids were very good during the story and paid close attention. We fished up the hour by taking a walk down a nearby trail to see if we could catch a glimpse of any live deer. No such luck. Oh well, we had a wonderful morning and are already looking forward to next month's. 

We got home, loaded the car and set off for Greensboro. We always stop at the same place. We love getting the nearly nine hours of drive time out of the way, then we only have about 3 ½ hours to the beach in the morning. Jim was so nice and drove the whole way! Reagan was a trooper, too! I loaded her up with some new puzzle apps on the iPad and she watched a little Netflix. She broke out in song here and there too. We got to hear Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald Had A Farm a few times over! Except for the singing, we barely knew she was in the car! Not one single tear was shed the entire way! YAY REAGAN! 

We got to Greensboro around 9:30 and only made two stops on the way down. Jim went to check in to find there was a high school tour group checking in! Seriously, we just want to get to our room! Luckily they went pretty fast and we were upstairs, quick! We can’t wait to start our final leg to the beach in the AM! 

The photo of the day is Reagan amongst all our luggage...

I have to add a Tales for Tots picture, too! Here is Reagan and her craft....

 

Final Preparations - 121/365

Today, I did all my final preparations before we head off for family fun! 

Jim's mom was so nice, she came over and spent the day, so I could get the car cleaned up and get some mowing done. 

I knew the grass was long, but I didn't realize HOW long until I got into it. The grass was still a little damp, so it was clumping pretty good. Even with the rider, it took me over three hours to get it under control! I had to just keep going over and over it to grind up the clumps, it was awful! My knees, actually got a horrible sunburn! OUCH! I didn't feel it while I was doing it, but boy do I feel it now! I'll have some awesome tan lines for our trip...LMAO! 

The car is all sparkling, too! It looks like it is brand new! It just feels like it runs better when it's clean. So, it seems we're all set! I can't wait to get there and start the family fun. Reagan is anxious, too! She asks me 20 times a day..."mama, we go beach!?" 

While, I did the final chores in the house, Reagan and Jim hit the playground. They had a great time!

The photo of the day is my strips in the yard. I mowed on the highest setting, too! YIKES!

And, here is my lovely sunburn....OUCH!