Myrtle Beach and Pirates Voyage

All of us were eager to hit the beach for our first full day of sun, sand and salt water!  P headed straight out into the waves with me.

C stayed closer to shore, although he wasn't afraid to get wet either.

Both of the boys were eager to clean up after the beach in the jacuzzi, although P quickly renamed it the "silly tub".  Silly boy!

One of the special activities we planned was a trip to Pirates Voyage, a dinner show in the area.  Pirates Voyage used to be Dixie Stampede, but Dolly put millions of dollars into renovating this bad boy.  Now instead of a rodeo competition between the North and the South, the Ruby Pirates and the Sapphire Pirates battle it out in diving and swimming competitions, with the help of some friendly sea lions.  There's a hunt for buried treasure, and there are live mermaids.

I packed the boys some (partially handmade) pirate costumes, and after getting dressed for our night out on the town, we were off!

The boys were both excited to arrive - P for the pirates, and C for the mermaids.

Many of you know about P's love of face paint.  We talked it over with the boys, and P agreed that he would rather do the pirate package here than take up his time with it at Disney World, since he didn't need to do it twice.  (We'll see if that's still what he thinks when we arrive at the Magic Kingdom later this summer.)

Of course, monkey see, monkey do, so C wanted to get his face painted as well... although he wanted the mermaid package.  (Other than the face paint, the packages are the same - pirates and mermaids both get a flag for their team, a bandanna in their team's color, an earring, and an eyepatch.)

I may be a tad biased, but this video of C's face as he sees a mermaid decoration hanging on the wall is adorable, if I do say so myself.

Both of the boys did a great job of holding still for their "makeovers".  (Not that I'm surprised - I'll hold still so someone can do something nice for me, too.  If you'd like to test out my theory, come on over and clean my floors.  I promise to sit really still while you do it.)

At last, a pirate and a mermaid emerged!  (You don't need to tell C this, but thanks to the Jack Sparrow's makeup artists, I think he looks like a pirate.)

P was so excited and full of energy he could barely hold still for the pre show.

C decided to rest up before dinner.

The show was great, and we all had a good time.  When it was over, the pirate captain stayed for high fives and photogaphs.  He told the boys to make silly pirate faces for this picture.

If we return to the area while the boys are still into pirates, this is an attraction I'll look up again!