Water, Water, Everywhere!

Oh, my...where to begin...
Actually I debated even blogging about this since it's not a fun topic, but I figured it's our life right now.  I write the blog to eventually make it into a book for the boys to have to see what their lives were like growing up...so I thought I would include this.
On Monday, September 10, we returned home from our wonderful beach vacation.  When entering the house we immediately knew something was wrong as all the windows were covered in moisture.  Then we realized that the whole house (minus the playroom) was flooded.  While we were out of town the plastic supply line to our ice maker ruptured and leaked water everywhere.  It was as if someone laid down a water hose and turned it on the entire time we were vacationing.  To give you an idea how much water there was-it came up over the sides of my feet and flip flops when I walked in it.
John found the leak and cut off the water supply, but we knew it was bad.  The linoleum in the kitchen was already lifting up, and the beautiful 40plus year old hardwood floors I loved were already buckling from all the water.  The carpet in the living room was soaked too.  We could hear water flowing into all of our vents and duct work. 
Within two hours we had a company out with over 25 heaters and dehumidifiers to dry everything out.  They put off a dry heat and kept our house between 90 and 100 degrees for over a week now trying to remove all the moisture. 
As of now-a week and a half later-all the hardwoods, carpet, and part of the linoleum have been removed.  Also, all of our belongings have been packed and stored so construction can take place inside the house.  We have been told it will be three to five weeks until we are back in the house.  We are hoping that this is accurate.  Right now we are living in the upstairs bedrooms at John's parent's house.  Needless to say, it has been overwhelming, especially seeing all of our things packed up AGAIN, since it hasn't been that long since we moved in the house.  We are reminding ourselves that we will have a new house from the baseboards down when we move back in! 
Dawson has had about a million questions about the water, why it did that, what broke, what got wet, and so on.  He's so curious, so we answer his questions but try not to talk about it too much in front of him so he will not worry.  He is enjoying getting to see his grandparents frequently though since we're at their house, so I don't think he minds too much!

Vacation!

The week after Labor Day John and I took the boys on a beach vacation to Surfside Beach, South Carolina.  We left on Labor Day and broke the trip into two parts since we have two little ones.  On Monday evening we drove to Clinton, SC, and then we finished our trip from Clinton to Surfside on Tuesday.  I had put together a lot of new activities for Dawson to do in the backseat.  I rode in the back between the boys to keep every happy and entertained, and I think it worked because they were happy most of the drive there and back! 

When we arrived in Surfside Beach, we immediately went to the beach after checking into our condo.  We played for a few hours the first day, and we had to force Dawson to come inside.  He loved the beach, sand, and ocean!

The rest of the week we enjoyed A LOT of great beach time.  Dawson's favorite activity was digging holes in the sand (with our help), filling them up with water, and sitting down in them!  We spent the whole week digging in the sand!  Dawson loved to swim in the pools at our condo too!  He liked the ocean, but he didn't want to go out very deep past his waist even with us holding him.  Although we tried to force him to go out deeper a few times, it was nice that he played it safe so we didn't have to worry about him going out too deep.

Dawson also had fun building castles, flying his kite, finding shells, running, and chasing birds.

Surfside beach was awesome because it was next to Myrtle Beach, so we had all the attractions and entertainment of Myrtle but Surfside is nicknamed "the family beach."  It really was!  There were families with young kids all over the beach, which was great!  Dawson made a friend, Lucas, who is three.  The two played together on the beach digging holes and filling them with water for hours!  Every morning when Dawson got up he ran to the balcony to look out and inform us that the waves were still there.  We also got to answer a bunch of interesting questions about what makes the waves, where they come from, and why they wash our sand castles away.  :)

Carter was a great little beach bum!  He had fun when we put his feet in the water and in the sand, but he was the most content in his swing in the shade!  The breeze and the sound of the waves must have been relaxing because he took AWESOME morning naps on the beach each day!!  He also loved being in the pool.

While there we also had fun visiting the aquarium, playing putt putt, riding rides at the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, walking around Myrtle Beach, taking night time walks on the beach wearing glow sticks (Dawson loved this!), swimming in the pool at night with glow sticks on too (another favorite of Dawson's), eating at Hard Rock Cafe, Conch Cafe, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and Liberty.  Most of all we just had fun playing on the beach and relaxing as a family!  It was fun to take Carter to the beach for the first time, and it was fun to take Dawson back now that he's older and can do more!

We stayed at the beach until the last minute on the day we had to check out, and we were so sad to leave.  I'm wishing we were still there!

Here are the pictures from our trip!

 

Carter's favorite spot on the beach!

In his swing in the shade!

Dawson looked like such a big kid

playing on the beach.

Dawson loved putting his chair

in the water!

John and Dawson flying a kite.

More fun with the kite.

Me flying the kite with Dawson on the beach.

John had to get a picture of me flying the kite

on the beach with Dawson since I am not a

fan of kites especially on the beach.

Cooling off in the shade.

Me and my handsome boys

at the Hard Rock Cafe in Myrtle Beach.

This is an awesome Hard Rock

designed to look like a pyramid.

Our family outside the Hard Rock.

Dawson night swimming with Daddy.

In one of the many holes dug

in the sand and filled with water.

Carter loved floating around the pool in this!

Dawson playing putt putt golf!

More putt putt.

Dawson and Mommy at Spy Glass Putt Putt Course.

Look at those sweet feet!

Brothers at the beach!

Two handsome beach boys!

Our family on the beach.

Carter decided it was time for morning nap

during this picture!

The condo where we stayed.

John and I loved these colorful houses next

door to our condo!  Wouldn't it be awesome

to live here (specifically the pink one!)!?  :)

Dawson sitting on one of his castles.

Dawson with the balloon animal made for him

by the man on stilts in Margaritaville.

There was so much to look at on the

ceiling in Margaritaville so Carter was content

to look around.

Margarita in Margaritaville.

Dawson getting Carter a balloon

animal from the stilts man in Margaritaville.

Dawson is standing on his chair, and the guy is bending

down some...just to give you and idea of how tall he was!

Ridding the dunebuggy at Myrtle Beach.

He picked the number three since he's three!

Giving a thumbs up!

My handsome boys in their plaid shorts!

Me and my boys!

Swim time!

Our visit to the aquarium.

In the aquarium.

More beach fun!

Dawson jumped the entire time we

were there.  Here neither feet are on

the sand!

The petting area at the aquarium.

Aquarium.

Carter at the aquarium.

Me and the boys at the aquarium.

My sweet baby in his sailboat outfit!

Happy to be on vacation.

Daddy and Carter.

Carter putting his toes in the ocean.

Mommy and Dawson playing in the backseat.

Carter snoozing on our drive.

Dawson playing with his sensory bag finding

letters as a car activity on the drive.

Dawson working in his busy binder, staying

entertained on the drive.

While staying overnight in Spartanburg

we visited a Chuck E Cheese where Dawson

had fun!