After being blessed with a generous gift, we decided to combine anniversary and special day gifts to surprise the kids with a trip to Pirate’s Voyage in Myrtle Beach. I tried to video their reaction but they faked it. My kids don’t really freak out with fun surprises. Oh well.
They had an awesome time though! And we loved the meals!
We arrived early to check out the souvenirs and watch the pre-show. It turned out to be very entertaining, especially when the giant sea lion meandered up on stage.
The kids are already talking about going again. Mark and I have to let our pocket books recover first!
This girl thought the sand and waves hitting her feet were awesome.
We also saw several dead jellyfish. Pretty neat being able to see them close up. We studied ocean animals this year in Science. Now we got to study them up close.
This girl thought she was pretty hot stuff! Okay, we all did.
Papa and Grandmere came over to help us celebrate.
It looks like she has bodyguards. Well, she does. I guess this picture is pretty accurate.
Yeah, I don’t know. Teenagers!
Cake and picture time.
We kept the guest list small inviting our church family, our “family” family and our close friend family.
I thought this cake was pretty fun. While I was decorating it, I saw the idea of icing the center in atlernating colors to make a polka dot effect. Um, yeah, that was cool. I’ll post more on the cake tomorrow.
Emmie was still getting used to her neck freedom and was a touch shy of the water.
Papa and Grandmere present time!
She loves her new “home” that she got for her birthday.
Taking a peek at gifts from Ge and Granddaddy.
Emmie decided to try out her confidence in a play place. Mark and I both may have had a little tear in our eyes.
Emmie and her bodyguards. These boys will drive her batty but protect her fiercely.
She was feeding her baby apples! 
Two little girls with piggy tails is too adorable.
PDQ, free food, happy family.
Did you know strollers also doubled as shopping carts?
Ceili Rain rarely wears hats but when she does, they are cute.
This is our craft closet. It’s in the garage. When we moved in to the house four and half years ago, I really did just throw all craft things in the closet. Every time I opened the door, I whispered a prayer that paint would not cover my head. One afternoon, Zoe and I got brave and decided to attack it. Our result is wonderful and so much better.
Emmie loved the Chewi puppet. Yeah, I know I should have gotten a Chewbacca mask.
April brought a bunch of newness for Emmie. She finally started letting her physical therapist from the previous eight months walk with her, hold her hand, and work with her. I love seeing her confidence grow.
Daddy and his girl. These two have such a special bond. 
Braces are great to hold dresses while climbing stairs.
Superhero Day! Free doughnuts! 
She was super sick one day and refused to nap without me. So, I got to hold her hand for two hours.
It was a hard day. 
We call this Baby Yoga Tree Pose with Praying Hands.
She has our heart!
A few days she had to hold her baby’s hand to sleep. She would get baby all settled, tell her night night and grab her hand.
There are quite a few gorillas at our local zoo and this particular April day, they were super social. Several of them were quite interested in Emmie.
She was quite taken with them too.
We picked up a strong man, Malachi on the trip too.
Choo-choo
I have got to remember to get these pictures when we get there rather than when we are exhausted and ready to go home. As it is, this was the best we got at the end of a very fun, long day. After I snapped a couple of pictures the child who is visibly distressed (names hidden to protect embarrassment later) cried louder, “You didn’t take our picture!” Um, yes, I did. You just can’t tell because you were in curled up ball of over-exhaustion happiness.
She would try to hit it a few times and then give up and just put it in the hole.
We could see Stone Mountain in the distance.
Liam, the climber, enjoyed the view from up high.
The road less traveled.
We also got selfies…
