Ahhh, the beach...

I love the beach. I wish I could afford to perpetually be on vacation. I'm pretty sure I watch far too many episodes of HGTV's "House Hunters" where people relocate to their favorite vacation spot somewhere in the Caribbean. Aside from the threat of pirates, how amazing would that be? Waves crashing on the sand, sun shining, cool tropical breezes blowing, living life with the windows open. Oh man, I could handle that. However, my recent trip to the beach was not quite the paradise I had envisioned. It was rainy and cold and cloudy. I was mostly okay with the temperature - heat and I do not get along so well - but I was sad for my niece, that the weather wasn't a little nicer for her first experience with "the beach".

Paris and I decided to tag along with my parents for their anniversary trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. They went a few years ago and the weather was beautiful then. Not so much, this time around. We did have an oceanfront hotel, and they upgraded our room when we got there, so Paris and I literally had three beds to choose from in our room. Mom and Dad had a king-size, and I had a queen with bunkbeds and a crib for Paris. I could totally live longterm in our hotel room. And the view was amazing.


The hotel pools were heated, all four of them, so Paris and I spent quite a lot of time in the pool. It did take her a while to adjust to the "elegator" which was necessary to take us from the ninth floor down to the Lobby or Pool area. I have a feeling part of her transportational mistrust may have had something to do with her pronunciation's similarity to the word "alligator".

On one of our several excursions to the sand, I modestly displayed my artistic prowess for the whole of Myrtle Beach, and now the world, to see. Note that Paris is going through an extended phase with the Toy Story movies, fondly known in this house as "Woody Buzz". Prepare to be astounded by the unparalleled mastery and artistic skill as displayed in my sand renderings of "Woody Buzz", "Bo Peep" and her sheep, and our famous "elegators".



Remarkable, I know.

We also went to the "Ripley's Aquarium" where Paris had a life-changing experience. First of all, we saw Nemo, and Dory, and the Bubbles-bubbles-bubbles fish. And some really cool-looking jellyfish-type creatures. And sharks, not quite Bruce but sharks nonetheless, and a sea turtle. And Dad touched some creepy-looking crab and a ray of some sort.


But here comes the life-changing part...we saw a "dive show", where a diver, named Michelle, gets inside the 80-bajillion gallon tank to feed the fish. Paris was enthralled. And now I fear every diver, from Marcie who later fed the rays and sharks to P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, will forever be known as Michelle. I think the part that really stuck with Paris was when Grandad took her up to the tank and had Michelle give her a high-five from inside the tank. Paris is still talking about Michelle and it's a week later.




Needless to say, the beach was a success. Just this morning, Paris said, "Kah-dee, I want go beach again." Me too, little girl. Me too.