Bowman Family Reunion - Myrtle Beach, S.C

In July we had the chance to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a reunion with the Bowman side of the family.  That included Grandma and Grandpa Bowman (Adam's mom's parents), Uncle David and Aunt Cathy, Dustin, Lori, and Caden, and Julie, Justin, and Nick (Adam's cousins and families).  Mom and Dad Bucher, Keith, Michelle, Gage, and Neil all went as well.  We stayed in a time share that Adam's aunt and uncle have and it was amazing!  They were 2 bedroom "condo" style hotel rooms overlooking the ocean.  The kids were almost as excited as me when we walked into the hotel room:-)  I have always loved staying in hotels, it just makes me feel good! 
We stayed for a week and were able to spend some good quality family time.  They had a pool and lazy river just below our room that the kids lived in while we were there.  I hadn't ever been to the Atlantic ocean and was amazed.  It was the kind of beach you see on the travel channel, lined with umbrellas and people all day long.  The water was as warm as bath water and was incredible to swim in.  Cole made his debut into body boarding and did that all afternoon one day.  The boys combed the beach and found tons of shells, crabs, and cool rocks to collect. 
One of the days we took the kids to Alligator Adventure, a huge reptile zoo that was literally crawling with alligators.  It was really cool to see them feed the alligators and when they asked everyone to take the kids off their shoulders during the feedings in case one of them fell in, it kind of made me shiver at the though!  The boys loved it and we thought it was pretty cool, despite the dripping humidity and heat. 
Adam's Aunt Cathy offered to watch all the kids one night so the cousins could go out for a night.  We went to the boardwalk and walked around for the evening.  They had carnival rides, a mechanical shark that all the guys and Julie rode, restaraunts, shops, and all sorts of other fun things to see.  It was fun to be able to actually hold conversations and not have to be chasing the kids everywhere!  We thought it was so much fun that we took the kids to the boardwalk the next night. 
Most of our time was spent at the pool, playing on the beach, or laying in the sun.  Adam was able to squeeze in a game of golf and I did get a bit of shopping in.  We cooked most of our meals all together in the hotel, which saved us a bunch of money and was easier with the kids.  Our meal out, of course, was the all you can eat seafood buffet, where we left PILES of empty crabshells behind!  Our kids can really put away some crab!  YUMMY!!! 

 Our incredible hotel room

 View from our balcony

 Lazy River and pools

 Rides at the boardwalk... so much fun!

 Candy from the HUGE candyshop at the boardwalk... gummy snakes for the big boys and a gummy work for the little one:-)

 Love  this guy!

 Grandma and Grandpa Bowman (Nana and Popsie) getting in on the pool action

 Julie and Neil

 Our hot, sweaty family

 Grandma and Aunt Cathy

 Grandma and Grandpa on an early morning walk on the beach with Cole

 Uncle David helping Cole "surf"

 Lori and Caden... what a cutie!

 the rental car was a squeeze

ALLIGATOR ADVENTURE PARK:

 This is when they told everyone to take the kids off their shoulders... feeding time!

 Gage, Mason, and Cole with a bunch of baby alligators!

 Grandpa, Grandma, Neil, and Nancy

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation.  We love getting together with family and had a great time with everyone.  It is so much fun that we love our extended family so much and could enjoy a week with them!