10 Things of Folly

I'm having trouble knowing where to start after being on vacation for ten days. You'd think a beach trip would be good for clearing the mind better than anything else, but maybe in my case it was too good at the clearing. I'm afraid I might have another case of missing brain. Maybe I left it under the couch cushions of the wonderfully comfy couch at the perfectly perfect beach house in Folly Beach. Or maybe it's just blogger's block. Sometimes when there's just too much to say/do/remember (in this case write and remember), a list is helpful. I really like lists, so let's give that a try. Here are some things of Folly--Folly Beach, South Carolina, 2010, yo.

1. The house we reserved months ago turned out to be a total dog when we arrived. Bugs wouldn't even live there, and didn't as we clearly saw. There was pee on the toilet paper for crying out loud. We stayed there for about ten minutes before we kicked in the door to the rental office and demanded an upgrade (read: UPGRADE!!!) just seconds before they closed. Well, we didn't actually kick in any doors, but we did politely explain that they had no choice whatsoever, at all.
2. The second house was so dreamy, it got me wanting to sell my house and buy one with the exact floor plan, furniture and overall coolness. I did find paint samples in a drawer there and write down all the wall colors and possibly convince Blake to let me repaint the dining room a fourth time to look just like the best beach house ever. Yes I did. I could go on an on. But I'll just say this last thing about the house: Since getting home, Blake and I have mentioned a few new decorating ideas to each other, and afterward we affirm that idea to each other by saying, "like the beach house?" Uh-huh.
3. I learned how to play Cornhole. Maybe I should re-state: I learned of Cornhole. And then I played it. I am (shockingly!) out of the loop with tailgating, because it has become a very popular pre-game, I'm told. I was also amused to discover there is an American Cornhole Association which is trying, they say, to make Cornhole "America's game." Anyhow, it was fun. I'll take a fold-down model, please.
4. Harper pretty much wanted to make a few scratches in the sand with her shovel, eat a snack, claw at the sandcastles I had made, eat, run after me if I moved more than three feet away from her, eat another snack, and then fall asleep to the sound of the waves. She did not like touching the water, however. Once, she tried to walk to my mom, who was sitting in a chair in a tide pool, and Harper kept trying to find a way around the water or otherwise get to mom without getting wet. Harper didn't even try to hide her frustration. At least the beach had "sna" (translated: snacks).
5. Peyton, on the other hand, loved the beach, particularly shell hunting.  We lounged in warm tide pools talking about clam shells, cockle shells, crab shells and really old shells. We poked at little crabs, snails, minnows and even found a live hermit crab. She learned how to make drip-drop castles. We threw handfuls of mud "back to the bottom of the sea" as she would say. After a few days, she even started asking us to take her in the ocean to jump the big waves. The first time she really got in the water, she said the water had salt and pepper in it.
6.  Peyton got to enjoy many morning and evening walks on the beach with Mimi and Pops (and Hannah the Yorkie), even a few early morning ones still in her nightgown. I hope she remembers those for a long time. I would if I were her.
7. We discovered and sampled orange and strawberry MoonPies, a "legendary Southern creation" if you didn't know. At the MoonPie General Store in downtown Charleston, one can find all sorts of MoonPie versions, including chocolate with sprinkles and peanut butter crunch. Plus, it's in downtown Charleston, which is so cool even without a MoonPie. Duh. 
8. I went ankle-wading in a public fountain...with Peyton. In our defense, Charleston is hotter than anything you've ever known.
9. Peyton had her first why sequence. I've been wondering when the whys would start. Here is how it went. We were playing with a mini-disco ball toy at the beach house. The whys began when I turned it off: Peyton said: Why did you turn off the disco ball?
   Mom: Because it's time to go to bed.
   P: Why is it time to go to bed?
   M: Because it's 8:30.
   P: Why is it 8:30?
   M: Because that's what the clock says.
   P: Why does the clock say 8:30?
   M: Because 8:30 repeats every night. (I was obviously struggling.)
   P: Why does it repeat?
   M: Because that's the way God set up time.
   P: But why did God set it up?
   M: Can we just brush your teeth?
10. As for the most commonly repeated line from everyone on the trip, I think it's a tie between 1) Can you imagine doing this (this being anything) at that first house? and 2) Harper, are you eating again?!

Here's the family photo from the trip...