What a Day!!

What a day! All I wanted to do was to try to collect some sand dollars while visiting here at Myrtle Beach. Yesterday we went looking to try to find Hogs Inlet. In our journey we found a great little park in Cherry Grove where locals come to "go crabbin." We were taught how, with a cheap pack of chicken necks, a crab weight and a fishing net, you can catch your dinner. Think we might try that next year. Can use crab pots too, but this seems like it is more family involvement. :) While we were there, the kids got to see all these great fiddler crabs too--hundreds of them! I wanted to get better pictures of them, but if I got closer they would go into their holes--better than "ghost crab" hunting any day!

Anyway, after leaving this park, we continued on our journey and found a public walkway to Hogs Inlet. It is part of Cherry Grove, but about 2 miles from where we are staying. It is incredible! The water comes up in between 2 pieces of land. When the tide is low, you can actually walk across to the other side. The best part, there are tide pools EVERYWHERE and it is perfect for the kids to play! No worry about current or waves, etc.

So, this morning I announce I am going there to dig for sand dollars. Immediately Emily announces she is coming with me. She is DEFINITELY our swimming child! Ryan says no he wants to hang with Daddy and Lydia thinks about it for a minute and decides to come with me.

The girls spend a long time playing in one of the tide pools before Lydia announces she needs to poop. This is not good and not possible! Since we are two miles from our place, Mike has driven us down and has instructed us to call him when were ready to come back. I DID NOT want to go all the way back just to turn around and besides, I didn't think she would make it. I know this will gross some people out--particularly my mother--I quickly emptied my cup of tea and helped her move her bathing suit to the side all the while trying to conceal her from the population. Luckily this was not a populated area! I then found a trash can and disaster seemed to have passed us by.

"Let's go over here and let Mommy dig for Sand Dollars" I said to the girls. They picked up a sand toy a piece and followed me across the sand to the area where the water comes "inlet." In walking there we walked through another tide pool where we spooked a Stingray who was trapped in the tide pool and laying in the sand. I wanted a picture, but when I took my camera back to get a picture I couldn't find him again.

I was digging for a little while Lydia and Emily were playing in the shallow water, found a few sea shells (small ones) when Lydia gets stung by a jellyfish! Couldn't believe it!! It was a baby jellyfish, but it hurt her! We rubbed it with sand, scratched it, spit on it, everything. Finally the pain began to stop, but that was the end of my sand dollar digging. We went back over to our original tide pool where we made some friends, Cannon (7) and Reggie-Caroline (almost 5) from South Carolina. After they played with the girls in the sand and tide pool for a while they drove us back to our place in their Polaris and swam in our pool for a while. Very cool! Daddy was jealous!! :)