Hawes Mom: Our first family vacation

Last August, Joe and I took the kids on their first family vacation--and what a vacation it was! We flew across the country and went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a week. I can honestly say that that was one of the best vacations I've ever been on! Of course there were a few "speed bumps" along the way (what vacation ever goes smoothly with two small kids?!), but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.

We went to Myrtle Beach for a big family reunion; Joe was born there and has tons of family that lives there--so of course it was a blast. His family owns an engraving business called Coastal Engravers and it was their 50th anniversary so they decided to throw a huge family reunion to celebrate. We flew into Raleigh/Durham on August 7th, and I honestly was not prepared for the humidity that smacked me in the face the second we walked out of the airport--I'm used to my California weather! We got our rental car and started our hours-long drive into Myrtle Beach. I think by the time we actually got to our hotel it was 11:30 at night. About 10 minutes before we reached our hotel, Madison got carsick and threw up everywhere--it was AWFUL. We didn't think it was car sickness--we just chalked it up to the fact that we had eaten crap all day being in airports and on the road and her stomach just couldn't handle it--but that wasn't the case. Regardless of what was going on, I was just happy to be there. I had never been to the east coast--I was blown away by all of the gorgeous trees that are EVERYWHERE, I loved driving by all of the beach stores that line the streets (and you'd better believe I tried to stop at each one and buy the cheesy touristy stuff), and I couldn't help but laugh a little at just how many miniature golf courses there were (mini golf there is no joke: their courses are crazy detailed and look so cool--and they're on every single street corner).

The next day we drove about 30 minutes away from our hotel to go see Joe's cousins who were all staying in a rented beach house (we should have stayed somewhere closer to them; we didn't know). Their beach house was so cool.. it had its own dock to the lake and the view was just gorgeous. I was already friends with a lot of his family on Facebook but I finally got to meet them and I instantly loved them. After spending a few hours there, we headed over to his aunt and uncle's house and had dinner with a lot of the family.. We had so much fun! After spending the day there, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night. The next day was a big day: my 24th birthday!

I was woken up the next morning by Joe and the kids singing happy birthday to me, giving me cards, and Joe surprising me with a ton of touristy Myrtle Beach stuff that I just loved. He cooked me breakfast (we got a hotel room that had a kitchen in it so we could at least try to cook some meals), then we got started on our day (that very quickly went downhill). The kids, Joe and I walked out of our hotel room and hopped into the elevator next to our room. The hallways in this hotel were outside (so lots of humidity), and the elevators we not air conditioned. We, along with 2 other groups, crammed into the elevator and tried to go down. The elevator started--then stopped, and didn't start again. We were stuck. I tried to stay calm so that the kids wouldn't freak out, but I almost instantly started having a panic attack. I cant breathe in hot cars, I cant go in saunas or steam rooms--something in my throat just closes up and I cant breathe. This elevator was like being in a hot car-sauna-steam room all in one: it was awful. I couldn't breathe. I tried to keep my cool since everyone else seemed to be fine--but I didn't know how long we would be stuck in there. I felt like such an idiot when another woman caught me crying; she instantly started fanning me with her big hat. We ended up being stuck in the elevator for about 20 minutes, and once we got out my panic attack stopped and I instantly had an anxiety attack. It was awful--I was shaking, couldn't stop crying, and was just plain freaked out. Joe felt terrible--he wanted to make my birthday perfect, and then this happened (not like he had any control over it). He went to the office and demanded our money back--we were absolutely going to switch hotels. The hotel was horrible about this whole ordeal and they refused to help us out; the best they could give us was moving us to a room on the 2nd floor instead of the 15th. Sure, we'll take it. Whatever. So we packed up all of our stuff and moved rooms. NOW it was time to get the day started.

We went to a bowling alley and met all of the family there; the second we walked in they all started singing happy birthday to me--it was so sweet! We had a blast bowling; Maverick bowled for the first time and he loved it--he had so much fun! I, surprisingly, bowled my best game ever--a 182! It was such a great time with the family. Afterwards, we went back to his aunt and uncle's house again for dinner. I loved their house--its gorgeous. Their backyard is this huge, gorgeous lake--I wish I could have a house like theirs!

The next day, Friday, was a very relaxed day. We went to his cousin's rented beach house and just hung out by the beach all day. We barbecued and had an abundance of food--then played Mexican Train Dominoes (or something like that--so much fun) all night. The next day was the big family reunion--and I was so excited. I got to meet so much family--and they were all so sweet. They had bought this gorgeous cake for me to celebrate my birthday--it has to be one of the cutest cakes I've ever seen (I even teared up when they presented it to me because it was just such a nice gesture!). We watched picture slideshows of all of them growing up, flipped through these amazing family tree books that Joe's aunt had made, and took professional pictures of everyone together. It was an amazing day--I couldn't believe how fast this vacation was flying by; we would be going home soon and I just wasn't ready for that.

The next day we, of course, went back to Joe's cousin's beach house and spent the day there. This day was particularly fun to me--I got to experience my first east coast summer storm. I couldn't believe how hot it was outside, yet it was pouring rain. You definitely don't get that in Southern California! I think we all know my drill back at home--if its raining out, Christmas movies are playing, candles are burning, and sweatpants are on. I don't think that would so much work on the East Coast--it was just too humid and hot! We ordered around 15 pizzas to be delivered, crammed into the beach house, and played games all evening. I would say it was the perfect day.

The next day Joe, the kids and I hung out at our hotel for a little bit; we walked down to the beach (Madison HATED the sand and made us all miserable--so we weren't there very long), then we took Maverick miniature golfing for the first time (our hotel had a mini golf course and Maverick loved it). It was so cute watching Maverick try to golf.. he wasn't the best at it, but he still had a blast. After that we headed over to our hotel's water park--it was amazing. The whole thing was 1' deep, so it was perfect for the kids to play in (we hit up this water park a few times throughout the week, I just don't specifically remember when). We then headed over to his aunt and uncle's house (from his mom's side of the family) so that we could spend some time with them. His cousins and their wives joined us and his aunt made some hush puppies and a big shrimp boil. I had never had any of this, and I must've eaten my weight in those hush puppies--those things are amazing!! His aunt and uncles house (on his mom's side) was also amazing; their backyard was totally like Dawson's Creek--no joke. It was gorgeous!

After we did all that, we drove down to his cousin's beach house and started saying our goodbyes. Were all going home the next morning, and it was so sad having to say goodbye. Usually at the end of a vacation, especially a week-long one, I'm dying to get home and sleep in my own bed. Of course I was excited to be home, but I really didn't want to say goodbye to everyone. I wanted to stash them all in my luggage and take them home with me! I had grown so close with all of them over the course of this week and I wasn't ready to say goodbye. After a few hugs and tears, we headed back to our hotel. The next day was going to be a day filled with lots of driving and flying.

We woke up the next morning and got on the road pretty early; its a long drive from Myrtle Beach to the Raleigh/Durham airport. Within 10 minutes of us leaving our hotel, Madison got carsick again and threw up everywhere. Great way to start a long drive, huh? I was so stressed out; we had about a 3-hour drive and I wasn't sure if she was going to do this the whole time. Luckily she fell asleep and it wasn't an issue again. The rest of the trek home went smoothly; we got to the airport, flew to Vegas for a quick layover (we stayed on the plane), then landed in San Diego. Ah, home.

I'll never forget this vacation. It was the best vacation of my life. We made so many amazing memories and I'm dying to go back. I think we should make this family reunion an every-other-year type of thing--just so we have an excuse to go back ;).