Happy Birthday Daddy!

 I'm not sure how old you are, but I think the number is pretty big.   Who cares, there's cake!!

Beach Week!

Ah, what can one say about 8 whole days at the beach?   Heaven.   Just pure heaven.    Team Barnes hit the highway and met my Mom's sister Rebecca and her whole family down in South Carolina for a much needed beach vacation.   Our condo was south of Myrtle Beach in a little place called Murrells Inlet.   The food was great, and the beach was pretty low key.    Remember this royal meltdown from the trip down there last year?

Mom did her best to avoid all that drama by bringing plenty of snacks, movies, stuffed animals, and a departure close to nap time.   Worked like a charm.   I was a perfect angel for 99% of the trip.  

 For 1%, I was not.    But hey, what did you expect?  4 hours in the car is unacceptable for any human under the age of 5.   Am I right?

 Mom and I liked to get up early and look for shells.  Ok, let me re-phrase that:  I like to get up early.  Mom is a very good sport.  At 6:30 in the morning, there isn't much going on, and the 8 other people in the house were very supportive of my early morning outings.   I think mainly they just wanted to sleep in peace.

Can I just tell you how much I hate sand in my crocs?  This was a battle all week..  Crocs vs. Nikes.   Crocs allow for walking in the water, but let in all that pesky sand that I hate so much.   "DIRTY!!" was the word of the week.   If I wore my Nikes, then I couldn't go in the water.   There's got to be some happy medium somewhere, but I didn't discover it.   I've still got sand in places that I'm too much of gentleman to discuss.

The pool solved the sand problem nicely.   I'm a little fish if you remember, and this contraption that Mom bought me allowed me the freedom to swim that I crave, minus the drowning part that will ruin a vacation in a hurry.

 My awesome cousins were all too happy to play in the pool with me, and I loved spending time with them too.   Here I am with Leah and Josh.  Above all, I prefer to swim with my Daddy.  He's nerdy in those goggles, but I love him anyway.

Mom is pretty laid back most of the time, but apparently she has some deep-seeded fear about getting me sunburned.  You'll notice that none of my water pictures are taken in the broad daylight.  I'm beginning to suspect that we are really a family of vampires, since we did the bulk of our swimming after 5pm, and needed no sunscreen.  Have you seen how white my Mom's legs are?  It's not an accident.

Myrtle Beach itself had many fun adventures to offer us, and a way bizarre trip to Carlos and Charlies did not disappoint.    After being told with a perfectly straight face that the wait for Margaritaville would be 90 minutes, we settled for this joint down the boardwalk.    I suspect they were trying to be a mexican restaurant, but mostly they just baffled the grownups.   They had never been to a restaurant with such ADHD before.   Balloon hats for everyone, waitresses that shouted about ketchup, and drinks by the yard.    The kids thought it was awesome.   The grownups didn't get it.   A mexican restaurant with no chips?  No salsa? But plenty of ketchup....

 Man, were there some marathon Play-Doh sessions.   I taught these chicks everything they know about it.  Boy I hope that Aunt Rebecca didn't have to pay a security deposit for this joint, because I'm pretty sure you could outfit an entire pre-school with what we left in the carpet.

What?  You've never fallen asleep in your Mom's lap at McAllister's Deli before?

 I highly recommend the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel!   200 feet at the very top, and you can see for miles!  I don't look particularly impressed here, but I'm just taking it all in.    I wasn't afraid at all, which is more than I can say for my scaredy-cat cousin Aaron.  Come on dude, aren't you like 16 or something?  Hahahhaa..

 Mom loves this picture of me.   Pure unadulterated toddler joy.  

If you could bottle this, you'd be a rich beyond your wildest dreams.

The best thing to do after a night of swimming is to hurry upstairs and put your warm jammies on really fast.   Grab your blankie and friends, and cuddle up on the couch with a bottle of milk and some snacks.   I slept like a baby every night! 

See you next year beach!!  You were a blast, and we'll be back before you know it!

Dry Spell

So it's been a little bit of a posting dry spell, because there hasn't been much going on.   Here are a few things that I've been up to lately.  I'm not doing that "month" thing anymore, but if we were, I'd be 28 months old!

1. I can talk pretty well.    At least well enough for my own parents to know what I'm saying.  I'm asking a lot of questions now as well.
2.  I have a great memory.   We drove past Dick's Sporting goods the other day, and I asked to go in.   When Mom asked me why, I told her "see the bikes!"
3. I'm cranky when I wake up from naps.  I'm not sure why, I just want to be mad for a good hour or so.
4.  When I'm really upset, I cry for "MommyDaddy."   Yep, just run it together into one word.   I figure if things are going poorly, I can kill two birds with one stone, and just summon them both at the same time.
5. I've developed what my parents call the "World Domination Laugh."  Sort of like a Muh hah hah hah, but more sinister than a mere blog can convey.
6.  I give spontaneous kisses and hugs, and some very cherished "I love you's."  Mom melts every time.  Someday I will learn the art of manipulation and use this to my advantage.  Until then, they are very much sincere.
7.  I ask to go to Grandma's house almost every day.
8.  I have quite the imagination, and pretend to hide from the monsters.  Or ants.   I'm not sure why they are on the same level, but they are.  
9.  I'm not afraid of the dark, and actually prefer it.  If it's too light in my room at bedtime, I will complain loudly about it.
10.  Heading for 8 days at the beach tomorrow with my Texas cousins!  I can't wait!   Pictures will follow, I'm sure....

Cheers!
Jack