I am SO TIRED. People keep emailing me to say that I’m supposed to be relaxing, not posting on my hardware blog, answering emails, etc. Well, I think any day of work would be easier than a 10-hour day at Busch Gardens. I feel like a 90-year-old woman! Well, I guess I don’t know what that feels like, but I’m walking like a 90-year-old woman. The worst part of a day like today is that the kids start getting giddy and crazy from being overtired, right when I start to lose it. We had a late lunch so we hadn’t eaten dinner when we left the park at 8:30. We ended up eating pizza in our hotel room at 10 and the kids were out of control. Thankfully, the minute they laid down they were out cold.

Busch Gardens was really fun and not overly crowded. The kids went on just about every ride and Aliya even went on a couple of the big roller coasters. The poor thing had to go alone since Ben and I are big chickens. I think the last ride I went on was the Tilt-A-Whirl at Canobie Lake Park and I actually puked. It had to be like 20 years ago. I did go on the skyride today which I was quite proud of. I know it doesn’t go fast but it’s HIGH! Aliya kept talking and talking during the ride…”It’s not really that high…well it’s pretty high but we’re not going to fall…well if we do fall we’ll just hit the ground.” ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

At about 3:30 there was an hour-long torrential downpour. We ran for cover as soon as it started because the clouds were really black and there were thunderstorms in the forecast. Unfortunately we didn’t make it all the way to an eating establishment before it really started coming down, so we spent the first half hour waiting for it to slow to a regular downpour. Norah fell asleep and Ben had to stand there holding her the whole time. Then we decided to brave the storm and go to the closest cafeteria, but we only had my little purse umbrella. So I had the brilliant idea of Ben, Norah, and Aliya going with the umbrella, and then Aliya bringing it back for Adlani and me. It worked, we were starved and ate like hogs, and my intestinal tract hasn’t retaliated, so it was all good. By the time we were done the rain had let up, lots of people had gone home, and there were no lines, no waiting.

Tomorrow we’re headed for Water Country so I’ll be walking like a 100-year-old by tomorrow night. Probably a burned-to-a-crisp-100-year-old. I’m so happy the kids didn’t inherit my skin (or Ben’s nose)…they get tan but they don’t burn very often. Tomorrow is Adlani’s 5th birthday so maybe there’ll be cake. That makes any day better.

Lots of photos & videos to follow…probably not until we get home, but I’ll get them up eventually.
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We had one day in Myrtle Beach so it was very difficult choosing from all of the possible activities. We finally settled on the Family Kingdom Combo Pass for the water park and the amusement park. The water park wasn’t huge and the only shade to be found was either at the toddler pool or in the tunnel on the lazy river, but we had fun. We’re a little bit sunburned (again), but not too bad. Ben and the kids went on various slides while I hung out with whoever didn’t meet the height requirements. I went around the lazy river 212 times, which was just my speed.

We dragged our exhausted bodies to the hotel around 3, and everyone took a nap except Norah (whose 1/2 hour nap in the car apparently qualified) and me. I couldn’t risk taking a nap with Norah awake after the incident where Adlani left the hotel room in North Conway while everyone was sleeping. At least I was able to get my email cleaned up.

At around 6 p.m. a severe thunderstorm went through and it looked like a hurricane outside our window. The news was talking about 900 lightning strikes in a period of 10 minutes. It was gone in about a half hour and we went to dinner while we waited to see if the amusement park would reopen. We got to the park around 9 and it was open and almost empty. The kids didn’t wait for a single ride – it was great! It was nice and cool too.

Believe it or not, we stayed until MIDNIGHT! We got back to the hotel around 12:30 a.m. and had a snack from the hotel junk food shop and everyone hit the sheets. I’m actually posting this Wednesday morning (sorry Karen!). Photos to follow.
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This morning we left right after breakfast and drove to Murrells Inlet, which is near Myrtle Beach. Norah had a severe donut craving and demanded a donut for about 60 miles. Demands are extra-annoying when there is absolutely no way to meet the demands, ie. not a single donut shop of any kind. By the time we got to Dunkin Donuts she had fallen asleep. I thought she’d forget about the donut but as soon as she woke up an hour and a half later she started in again. I saw about 6 Krispy Kreme donut shops on the strip tonight so I may start demanding donuts myself first thing tomorrow morning.

The big news of the day is that I had my meeting with the guy I dragged the exit device all the way down here for, and he agreed to include it in his specifications. Very exciting! I don’t think I’m good at “selling” and I don’t play the salesman role very often, but I’ve had a few victories over the years. I think I’m set for another couple of years now.

We just got back from the Carolina Roadhouse, where we ate way too much. I need to hurry up and get home before I have to buy a whole new wardrobe of stretchy clothing a size larger. All of this restaurant food and no Zumba is having unwanted effects. When we got to the restaurant we sat down on a bench outside to wait and there was a puddle of either blood or a blood-colored drink under our bench. While we were discussing which one it was, Adlani said with authority, “It’s a drink.” I asked how he knew it was a drink and he said, “It tastes like a drink and it smells like a drink, so it’s a drink.” Yes, he had tasted the puddle and told us that it tastes like raspberry. Ew.

It’s bedtime again and only Norah (who had 2 naps today) is holding out. I think I may actually make it to bed early tonight. Believe it or not, I don’t have any photos to include with this post. The only photo I took today was one of Ben, Adlani, and Norah taking apart the panic device in our hotel room this morning. You can always go to my hardware blog…there are lots of photos there but most of them are photos of doors. Knock yourself out!  Here’s a link.
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This morning we got up relatively early and headed to the beach by way of the Paradise Cafe, which has the BEST bagels and muffins. The place was in a nondescript strip mall with an Ace Hardware, but it was packed with locals…a very good sign. I found it by telling my Blackberry to show me every business in the vicinity with “bagel” in the name. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the Blackberry has been a lifesaver on this trip. I’ve used it for all of the navigating (with my printed directions as back-up, of course), and for finding critical locations like gas stations, rest areas, and Starbucks.

The beach was gorgeous and the water was like bath water. As soon as we arrived we saw two HUGE stingrays – at least 4′ across – swimming near the shore. There were quite a few mommies on the beach on high alert because it was hard to tell for sure what they were (sharks?!) and they were swimming right toward a few snorkelers. It’s hard to see them in the photo, but they’re the two dark shadows just a few feet from the snorkeler. Right after I took the photo they seemed to realize that he was there and they sped off into deep water. There were also sea turtle nests on the beach which don’t look like much right now but it’s cool to imagine the baby turtles eventually digging their way out and heading for the water.

When we were all thoroughly sunburned (even with sunscreen!), we went to Mom & Keith’s for showers and lunch, and then we hit the road. Adlani had a complete nutty because he wanted to play a video game instead of taking a nap, but after squirting him with the spray bottle a few times to no avail, I used my secret weapon…Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Nobody can resist the soothing sounds of LBM…they’re out like a light. We made it to the hotel around 8, Ben and the kids hit the pool, and then we had takeout from Ruby Tuesday which is conveniently located in the attached mall. We’re at an Embassy Suites and it’s definitely the best hotel we’ve stayed at so far.

Here are some beach photos from today:

It was nice to have another day off from driving but tomorrow we’ll be back on the road again, headed for a quick stop in Brunswick GA and then on to Myrtle Beach SC. Today we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, went to the G.Wiz Science Museum, then back to the condo for an hour in the pool and a nap. We had dinner at Carraba’s (Italian) and went to see G-Force (movie about special agent guinea pigs). Now I’m doing laundry while everyone sleeps and a dog barks incessantly in the next building. There are no dogs allowed in this complex so someone’s in deep doo-doo. The dog has literally been barking for the two hours since we got home from the movies. Maybe someone just slid a slice of meat under the condo door (like Kramer on Seinfeld) because the barking moved to the other side of the building.

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