Boyfriend # 4

So, while we were floating in the lazy river yesterday (Thursday), we had yet another boy follow Annabelle around the pool. Of course, look at that sweet little face! Should I expect anything different? I thought it was one of the same boys as had spyed her the other day, but after looking at the picture I posted in my blog, I believe it is actually a different little boy. But, it is definitely the same boy who swam next to us yesterday as we floated along in the lazy river.

We befriended the little boy, as he was completely harmless, and he seemed very interested in Annabelle. He told us his name is John, he is four years old (he'll be five next week) and he is from North Carolina. After a few times around the lazy river with him swimming right next to Annabelle, I decided to grab the camera. Big surprise, right?!?! I needed some pictures of Annabelle with her Daddy floating in the lazy river because it is hubby's favorite place to be, so I thought it was an excellent time to grab the camera! Hubby said "He could stay in the lazy river all day long. He didn't even need a room." That would sure be a lot cheaper! :)

So, I grabbed the camera, and I continuously took pictures of Annabelle, John and hubby. John stayed near Annabelle the entire time, and he even grabbed Annabelle's float and pulled her around the lazy river.

I was trying to figure out who John belonged to as they all floated along, and I finally smiled at a lady as they passed around a corner. Based on her smile, she gave me the impression that he belonged to her, so I asked her if he belonged to her. She said yes, so I sat down next to her to tell her what a kick we had gotten out of John. He really gave us some good laughs with all of his flirting (for a four year old)!

John was staying at Ocean Reef Resort with his grandmother, Ramona, the lady I met. They are from High Point, North Carolina, and they came to Myrtle Beach for a few days. She said they visit Ocean Reef Resort every year.

I can tell you from experience that John is a very, sweet young boy. He is a cutie too, so Annabelle knows how to pick them (or attract them)! I was amazed at how polite the young boy was, and he was so interested in Annabelle, who is half is age. According to the Grandmother, John wants to be a father. I told her that she better watch out in about 10-15 years because John was a little flirt! She laughed and said she knew that from him being in preschool. Apparently, he already attracts all of the little girls in his preschool who he hugs and who hugs him. Ramona also said that he loves little babies. He doesn't have any baby brothers or sisters, but she said that he really wants one. I think he would do wonderful with a baby brother or sister. He reminds me of how proud my brother apparently was of me when I was born (according to my mom). My brother was four years old when I was born, and he asked the doctor, "Have you seen my beautiful baby sister?" I picture John being the same way. And, I think my brother turned out alright!

So, to the parents, grandparents and loved ones of John, you have a very sweet boy on your hands! I only hope he'll always be that sweet for you, but I suspect he will be. You have obviously done a great job teaching him manners! Maybe Annabelle and John will meet again in another 28 years! Ha! Ha! Like I've said before, Annabelle cannot date until she's 30, so that is why I say 28 years!!!

Oddly enough, for the many boyfriends that Annabelle has had this trip, she had one little stinker try to attack her today. What a little brat! He had a surf board in the pool and he told Annabelle, "Get out of the way! You are going the wrong way!" with hubby standing right there next to Annabelle. Hubby said, "Can we get through?" He said, "Only if you'll get out of my way!" Then, he passed Annabelle while I was right next to her and he said, "Get out of my way!" I turned to him and said, "That was rude!" We believe the father was sitting right there within a few feet of him, but maybe it was an uncle or something. I still couldn't believe that the guy didn't scold the child. I am hoping that he just didn't hear him, but for a child that age (he was probably 3-4 years of age), he probably wouldn't act that rude if he'd been scolded for his wrongdoings before.

For goodness sake, Annabelle grabbed her beach bucket as another little girl neared it last night when we were by the ocean, and she said, "NO!" I ran over to her and said, "Now Annabelle, that was rude. You can share your sand bucket with that little girl." I then apologized to the Daddy for my daughter's rude behaviour (and we're talking about my 19 month old daughter who really doesn't know any better). And, believe me, I do not have this parenting thing down at all, but seriously, do these parents really not have any manners?!?! It is no wonder some of these kids are so rude and impolite. I just really think parents should teach their children to apologize by example. If the child does something wrong at a young age, they often do not realize it, but if the parents lead by example, hopefully, the child will follow their example in the future.

Here is hoping there are more John's in this world for my daughter to date and marry one day!

Mommy, help!

I absolutely LOVE the above picture, and I am completely surprised that the picture even came out decent! As you can see, Annabelle was reaching for me. Take note of her Daddy in the background. I hope he doesn't mind that I've posted a picture of him on my blog.

When this picture was taken, it was breakdown point (aka meltdown mode) at the beach this morning. Annabelle's Daddy had just gotten his $6 kite from Wal-Mart to fly without any problems (compared to the $12.99 kite from Bargain Beachwear that he tried to fly last night). Here is proof that it was flying. That is a picture of the Ocean Reef Resort below the kite.

Annabelle even helped fly this kite with her Daddy. Is that not adorable? Look at her very sweet expression!

And when it finally crashed and burned, she wanted to help her Daddy rescue it.

So, she followed him into the softer sand. That was mistake # 1 as she got sand in her water shoes! Not good! She does not like dirt on her at all. I am not sure where she got her hate for dirt from though because I used to love to play in the dirt and dig for worms with the boys when I was a little girl.

Before mistake # 2 occurred (I think), I was busy taking pictures of her helping her Daddy rescue the kite. I never got a picture of them together with the kite because I was distracted by ANOTHER (completely different) little boy who was around 4 years of age who had grabbed his own underwater camera to take pictures of Annabelle! And, I am not even kidding! This child just snapped away. It was so hilarious to me that I didn't even think to take a picture of her new boyfriend taking a picture of her until hubby said, "Take a picture of that." By then, it was too late. It sure would have been a cute picture for this blog entry though. What is up with her and all of the boys? They even think she's a hottie in her bathing suit that covers all! What are we going to do when she's 16 or 17 years old wearing a bathing suit that shows all? Oh my! Now I'm wishing we had all boys! :) Only kidding! I love my little girl, and I'd love a house full of girls!

Mistake # 2 occurred when she fell into the sand when she tried to help Daddy rescue the kite. She cried, and she wanted help up, and then she was not happy because she still had sand on her hands. I tried to get her to wash them in a bucket of salt water, but her response to me was "NO!" So, instead, I grabbed the camera and took some pictures. Take note of the sand on her face and hands in the first picture.

Honestly, this bathing suit is the best bathing suit in the whole wide world! I have not even dressed her in any of the 10 other bathing suits I bought for her (even though they are adorable). I guess I'll be taking those back (except for maybe one or two of them). She would have never played in the sand if she had worn any of the other bathing suits. She just does not like to get dirty! She's my girlie girl, that's for sure! I guess that means she'll be a tomboy when she's a teenager and adult. Oh well!

She's a looker!

While we were at the waterpark today, Annabelle had two little boys who kept eyeing her! They were closer to 3-4 years of age, but they kept looking at Annabelle and just grinning.

It was so funny to see because it totally reminded me of how teenagers are googly-eyed over one another. In this case, Annabelle was the hottie and she had two boys checking her out!

Of course, her Daddy was watching them! So, Annabelle look out! I feel really sorry for you when you start to date in about 30 years! Ha! Ha!

The best part of all...I captured all of this on camera, so you all can enjoy the picture I took of the two little boys checking Annabelle out. Oddly enough, I didn't know she was ALSO checking them out until I looked back at this picture.

So, she's obviously a looker AND a flirt! They were cute though. I'll give her that!

Fresh Water Only

I mentioned in a previous blog entry how excited Annabelle was to see the ocean from the balcony when we arrived at Ocean Reef Resort on Monday. She was ecstatic!

But, on Tuesday when we ventured down to the beach, and Annabelle saw the ocean from up close, the first words out of her mouth were "NO!" She would NOT venture anywhere near the ocean. Every time we would even suggest it, she would emphatically say "NO!" We even offered to carry her to the ocean, but she would have nothing to do with it.

I told her that I would force her into the Easter Bunny's lap against her better judgement, but I would not force her near the ocean. Poor baby! If only she had known how to say the word "NO!" back when we visited the Easter Bunny in March. I probably would not have pushed her into the Easter Bunny's arms if she had known the word "NO!" then.

I can understand that the ocean is very overwhelming and scary to a 19 month old though.

After our trip to the beach on Tuesday, we went up to the room around 12:00 p.m., and we had a snack before heading back down to the pool. We took Annabelle to the children's outdoor water park. This is a description of the outdoor water park per the oceanreefmyrtlebeach.com website: "Giant tiki men stand sentry over this adventuresome water park located in the "U" the resort creates. Enjoy a perpetually sinking ship, giant water bucket, dripping palm trees, and the friendliest sea serpent around!"

On Tuesday, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the outdoor water park. Again, we heard "NO!" We didn't want to force her, so instead, we tried the kiddie pool next (only 1 foot of water). I told her it was like a really big bath tub, but she still wasn't interested. I finally managed to get her to get in with me. She pretty much just stood there. And then, we tried the adult pool. We put her in her float (that I found at a garage sale last year), and she was fine after that. The resort also has a lazy river, so hubby and I both grabbed tubes ourselves, and we floated around the lazy river. The lazy river is apparently my hubby's favorite thing as he has said he could stay in it all day long.

On Wednesday, we tried the water park again. Once again, she was reluctant, but this time, we at least got her near the pool of water. Once she saw her floatation device, she was fine. We put her right into it without her pitching a fit or a fuss, and she waded (more or less walked) around the water park (only 1 foot deep). I took her out of the floatation device at one point because there was another little girl about her age (22 months old) walking around and playing in the water without a floatation device, so I thought Annabelle may would like to do the same. She wasn't a big fan! She tried to walk, and she fell face first into the water. She swallowed some chlorine water and she coughed it all up, but she didn't freak out. I realize even more now how easy it is for small children to drown in only a foot of water. If I had not been nearby (right next to her) to pull her up from the water, she could have freaked out and been unable to pull herself to her feet (in only a foot of water)! Very, very scary!!!

The best memory I have of Annabelle in the children's water park is of her floating herself under the dripping palm trees with her mouth wide open as if she was trying to drink the water, even though she wasn't. The 22 month old girl had walked back and forth under the dripping palm trees, so Annabelle found that interesting herself. She had a blast! At that point, she did not mind getting wet.

Now, ever since we ventured into the water park this afternoon, Annabelle will walk by the water park and just point and make sweet, joyful sounds. She even said "pool" today!

So, she's not much of a fan of the beach or the ocean, but she LOVES the pool!

Cheese!

We tried out a new restaurant this evening. We didn't want to eat the eggs, bacon and biscuits we had originally bought for dinner (to save money), so we instead decided to try something a little less expensive than your typical seafood restaurants at the beach (so we spent some more money).

So, we walked a block or two from Ocean Reef Resort to River City Cafe. They apparently have been in business since 1983, and it appears that their specialty is burgers. Hubby ordered the Chili Cheeseburger, and I had the Grilled Onion Cheeseburger. They were very tasty burgers, and I think we will definitely be back. We also found some coupons out of a coupon book from the hotel lobby for a $1 off each of our orders, so we saved $2.

Annabelle wanted nothing to do with the cheeseburgers. Big surprise! Should I expect anything different? This child refuses to eat any type of meat! I worry if she's getting the protein she needs, but I just have to have faith that she's growing well (but not too much) according to her well child visits, so hopefully she is getting all of the nutrients she needs.

She did help herself to all of my fries! She loves french fries! There is a reason that we rarely eat out.

So, she pulled a new trick this evening while we were eating that I don't remember her ever doing before. I had pulled the camera out, and I told her to smile for the camera. That little stinker smiled alright, but it was the silliest smile I have ever seen out of my precious little girl! Check it out for yourself! Is that not silly? And, I think I actually told her to say "Cheese!" for this particular picture, so you can see that she is saying "Cheese!" for me.

Does she have a skin condition?

Yes, it is called "casperitis." Have you never heard of it? Hee, hee! My novel husband came up with the "casperitis" humor in it all.

Those are the words we heard from some other fellow Tennessee Vols fans today as we passed them on the beach. I probably have not mentioned that I purchased Annabelle a new bathing suit from onestepahead.com on Thursday, and I had it overnighted for Friday delivery. I paid an additional $20 above and beyond the normal shipping fees to make sure the bathing suit arrived before we left for our trip on Sunday. Since FedEx does not deliver on the weekends (to my knowledge), we would not have received it on time if I had not had it overnighted. And, I really wanted this bathing suit for Annabelle! I had good intentions to order it the week before, but I just never got around to it because I couldn't make up my mind what all I wanted.

So, with my very expensive order from onestepahead.com, I ordered this bathing suit that covers practically her entire body with the exception of her face and feet, a matching hat with a bill and flaps that cover her ears, matching sunglasses, matching water shoes, a swim diaper (non-disposable) and the tray to attach to the Bumbo chair. I purchased the tray that attaches to the Bumbo chair for the next child as Annabelle is too big to use the Bumbo chair any more. It did not cost any more for shipping, so I decided to go ahead and order it since Babies R' Us no longer carries it after the Bumbo was recalled last year.

This bathing suit is awesome! Like I mentioned, it covers almost her entire body, and it is supposed to be equivalent to SPF 50. I told my husband that if they made this bathing suit in our sizes, then I would also buy one for both of us. Annabelle hated getting lubed up with sunscreen last year, and I suspected she wouldn't like it this year either, so I thought this bathing suit would be perfect. Not to mention, it saves so much time NOT having to sunscreen her entire body!

So, like I said, we passed some fellow Tennessee Vols fans at the beach this afternoon, and if you know anything about Vols fans, you will know that any time another fellow Vols fan is spotted, you must say hello and say "GO VOLS!" While we were talking briefly with the couple, who currently lived in Knoxville, TN, the man asked us "Does she have a skin condition?" Inside, we were both probably laughing hysterically. We had already been laughing earlier about what people must think as they saw this poor little toddler covered completely from head to toe as she walked down the beach with her very pale parents (who were not covered completely). She even wore the sunglasses! She loved those sunglasses as soon as I gave them to her! We politely explained to the man that "No, she does not have a skin condition, but that we both burn very easily and she was blessed with our very pale skin." They nodded as if they understood completely and told us that was good that we were looking out for her (in so many words). I am sure they were also laughing uncontrollably inside. Of course, I am sure the wife could have killed her husband for asking us if she had a skin condition.

I thought you all would enjoy some pics of our beautiful daughter covering up her skin condition.

Sssshhh! They are sleeping!

So, you probably already read my "Sssshhh" entry, but if you haven't, refer back to that blog entry first before you read this one.

According to hubby, when we left the beach this afternoon, Annabelle spotted two girls lying down on beach towels sunning their backs. As her and hubby walked by them, she put her little pointer finger to her lip, and she said, "Sssshhh" or "Sssss."

Too sweet! I guess she does understand that the "Sssshhh" is sometimes used when people are sleeping.

I am updating this blog entry today, Wednesday, May 28th. After talking with my husband, he did not know if she had put her little pointer finger to her lip in the above story. But, as I was walking with Annabelle down the beach today, she said, "Sssshhh" as we walked past some more girls tanning, but she did not put her finger to her lips.