Weekend Getaway!

We were in some need of going away to....somewhere!  Sometimes life can put you in a routine, and once you are in that routine it can be hard to get out of until you just HAVE to break it and reset yourself.  We haven't taken a little family trip since last August, and I told Cory, "Even if we stay in a hotel in town, it would make me think we were on a vacation...we just need to break the routine a little." So, last week Cory surprised us with a weekend down in Myrtle Beach...boy did we ALL need that! It was so much fun and we were able to do and see things that we haven't done before (there's a ton to do down there).  We stayed in a really nice hotel, and enjoyed 2 full days of fun and whatever we WANTED to do and not what we HAD to do. Quite rejuvenating :).  So here's our weekend!

We got down there around 12 and we went straight into playing miniature golf through a Dragon's Lair. It was pretty fun and fire blew out of the Volcano every once in a while that would get Jaden super excited.  There were also pieces of a story at each hole that Jaden had me read to him.   We all had a great time, and I think Jaden might be better than us at mini golf if not on the same level!

After that we had some time to walk around the boardwalk and take pictures and walk through some shops.  We found this outdoor bouncy house place that had a ton of bouncy houses, so of course we stopped there for about an hour and let Jaden jump his little heart out :).

He had to climb on everything... :)

After we went and checked-in at the hotel, we went out and ate at this AMAZING seafood place!!  Cory and I and Jaden couldn't get enough.  It was delicious, and we probably will go back there whenever we go down there again.  Jaden even grabbed the last bit of his dinner in his hands to take "on the road" with him as we were walking out of the restaurant, funny boy. He loved it.
This was my dinner...Plank Smoked Salmon, and the sauce was honey/dijon mustard deliciousness. My mouth really just watered..

The next day we woke up and packed up our suitcases.  We checked out of the hotel and started for Ripley's Aquarium.  I think that is one of the best aquariums I have ever been to.  It had things in there that you don't see anywhere else (mermaids!), and their shark tank was FILLED with sharks.

It was my first time wearing a maternity top in this pregnancy, and Jaden just is so excited about it all and is always touching, hugging, or kissing my stomach!  He can't wait and neither can we! Today I am 15 weeks!!

These ducks were so silly out in the front...

Sting rays!

Piranhas...They hold incredibly still in the water...they were all floating there the entire time we were watching and didn't seem to even move a muscle...yikes.

This was a little pool where you could touch Horseshoe Crabs and little Sharks.  This was Jaden's favorite part of the entire aquarium.  He was here for a good 30 minutes, picking up the crabs, holding and petting the sharks.

What really got him excited was when one of the workers came over to him and explained how to tell if the crab is a boy or a girl.  The girls have all of the same "claws" on the bottom of them, while the boys have the front claws looking like boxing gloves.  Of course, after figuring this out, Jaden was flipping over every crab he could to see if it was a boy or a girl.  He was so gentle and loving to them.  It was fun to see him so curious and willing to learn and not be afraid.  This is such a great age!

I have no idea what kind of fish this is...but check out the teeth!

Notice his shirt is all wet from the little "petting pool"..

Riding through the Shark tunnel thing...lots to see and lots of questions!

This was pretty intimidating to see when I looked up from the camera...

Of course, Jaden asked what that was...so here was my explanation: "That's a divers cage. Swimmers go in there to be with sharks so they are safe...but look! That bar is broken, and where is the swimmer? Uh oh...what do you think happened, Jaden?....yep, it was probably a shark.." His eyes got big and said, "Oh." I just love him!!

This was the scariest shark in the tank...look at his Jaws!!

Captain of the ship!

Found some pirate treasure!

Dori and Nemo!!!

A Sea Dragon! Jaden was excited about these.

And last, the Mermaid Show! This was actually pretty cool.

Priceless...He was so shy to go up there. And if you know Jaden, he is NOT the shy type, so it was so fun to see him like that!

After the aquarium, we were super hungry. So, since Cory has never been to a Hard Rock Cafe, we decided to eat there! I forgot how yummy the food is there!

After that, we went to Ripley's Mirror Maze...hilarious. You have absolutely no clue if it is a walkway or a mirror until you feel it with your hands, or as Jaden did, run into it.  He didn't quite get the whole concept at first, and what an illusion for him to experience! He was running into mirrors left and right, until he realized to put his hands in front of him and feel if it's clear or not to walk through!

After making it through the maze, it didn't take long, we had about another hour to spare until we needed to leave our much needed mini-vacation.  So, since we were within walking distance, we headed over to the SkyWheel.  I felt a little queazy at first, but finally got used to it after the second time of going around, although I still couldn't look down.  Jaden and Cory had a great time the whole ride.  Jaden loved being high in the sky!

This face sums it up: we had an absolutely fantastic weekend, and it was filled with lots of great food, activities, and the best company in the world! I love my family :)