Jordan and Hailey arrived in Myrtle Beach on Sunday February 23rd. Their flight came in almost 30 minutes early. It was a good thing Laura let us know as we might have been a little late. We went to church first thing and then our plan was to come back to the condo and get changed, make a coffee and then head to the airport. We quickly got changed, skipped the coffee and left. It was so nice to see the girls again. We drove to Huntington Beach and spent a couple of hours there. We did treat the girls to a donut first to cover for lunch and promised an early supper of pizza and salad. We had a great afternoon walking and enjoying the beautiful day. While there wasn't many birds out, we were blessed with the presence of both the male and female eagle.
After dinner, Teresa and Lawrence joined us for a fun round of Play Nine. It was a fun day.
We set the girls up to sleep in the wouldn't wake them. They sure like their sleep. Monday morning they weren't up until 9:30. Ralph and I on the other hand were up at 6:30. We waited in our room until 7:00 and then went downstairs for coffee. We stayed down until 8:00 and then came up expecting them to be awake. Nope - they just kept on sleeping so we once again stayed in our room. After getting ready, we left for the Outlet mall at 11:00. They shopped till almost 3:00 at which time we left and went to Target and then to Market Common. It was a full day of shopping. We came home and enjoyed another game together before heading off to bed.
On Tuesday, Ralph and I enjoyed coffee in our room. We had set up the coffee maker in the bathroom making it easier to enjoy. We slipped out onto the balcony and enjoyed the beautiful morning while the girls slept. After they finally got up we headed to Holden Beach for a couple of hours of sunbathing, shell collecting and dolphin watching. It was nice!! After leaving Holden Beach we discovered a parking ticket on our windshield (yikes $25). We drove to Sunset beach to see if we could spot the eagles. We saw some dolphins again in the Intercoastal waterway. That was exciting!! The girls were able to see the eaglet but the adults weren't around. We make a short stop at the thrift store on our way to the condo and enjoyed a quick game of Yahzee and went to bed early. We were all pretty tired.
Wednesday we were on the road by 9:00 and went to Charleston for the day. We walked through the Market and downtown Charleston. We also spent a few hours at Folly beach where there were surfers and I also saw a dolphin. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Sesame burger. We all really enjoy their deep fried cheese curds. I think we ate too many as we couldn't finish our meal so we had what we couldn't eat boxed for lunch the next day. Yummy!!
We decided to have a quiet day on Thursday. Jordan wanted to tan on the balcony and Hailey wanted to focus on her homework (both worked on homework through the week as well). We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Gulfstream Cafe. They girls really liked it there and I'm glad we went. We had a beautiful sunset. I wish I had my camera with me and could only take photos with my cell phone. They didn't turn out very well. Oh well.... we have our memories.
Friday we went to Brookgreen Gardens. It was beautiful there. We haven't been for many years so I am glad that we went. While there wasn't many flowers to enjoy, the zoo had some interesting animals and birds which we all enjoyed. In the evening Teresa and Lawrence came back for another game of Play Nine. We had lots of fun!!
Sadly it was time for the girls to go home. How quick the week went. We sure loved having them with us. Their flight was delayed by 2.5 hours, but they were advised to be at the airport at the time for their original flight in case the delay was shortened. They figured that they could work on their homework while waiting. Laura drove to Detroit to pick them up and Jamie came along with her as Jay had another commitment. We had a wonderful time with them and will miss the laughter. It was so nice sharing a week together.
Ralph and I drove to see the Eagles after we left the airport. Rick told us that they had layed another egg and it might hatch before we leave for home. I hope we can see the new baby. The other eaglet is now branch hopping and will most likely fledged in the upcoming week. I'm sure that they don't want it in the nest with another chick on the way. Rick also told us where a Heron was nesting so we decided to check that out as well. It was pretty awesome to see them building the nest. On our way back to the condo we saw lots of smoke off in the distance and heard on the news that there were many wildfires burning. The fires went from Georgetown to Carolina Forest and you could see the smoke clearly from our back windows.
Sunday was a quiet day. Ralph enjoyed the hockey game on Sunday afternoon and we also heard that a State of Emergency had been called in South Carolina. There are currently 4200 acres on fire. Coming to church Lawrence saw water being dropped by planes. Pretty surreal. We enjoyed together after church with everyone. Here we are looking at the dolphin swimming by... It was a great week.
The news has reported that there are 145 fires burning and a State of Emergency has been declared. We later heard that 40% of the fire in Carolina Forest has been co rained as of 6:00 pm.
