Murrells Inlet in November

About a month ago I had a few extra days off work so I decided to pack the family up and drive down to visit my sister.  With everything going on with getting our house on the market this past summer / fall, I realized that I had not been to visit her since July 4th.  Eeekkkkk - sorry Amy!

Typically we avoid the beach in the colder months.  We usually visit Amy in the warmer months and she usually visits us in the colder months.

One of the things we decided to do was re-visit the REDNECK ZOO.  OMG - that place is just as I remember.  Ridiculous!

Poor Stella - she is VERY skittish around animals.  She HATES them!  Obviously, I didn't realize just how much until we arrived at my sister's house and she saw her two little pugs.  Stella literally jumped out of her own skin.  She was terrified of two little pugs.  Unfortunately the dogs had to be put up the entire time we were there.  If she even heard them bark, she literally would jump up and run to me begging to be picked up.

With that said, I don't know why I thought it would be a great idea to go back to the REDNECK ZOO.  With every "BAA", "OINK", "RAWR", she would start screaming and trying to run away.  The best part was when we were looking at two HUGE black bears, she was totally calm.  Then, she hears and sees a little squirrel several feet away eating a nut and freaks out!  Steve and I couldn't help but laugh.  Oh the irony!

And because it's a REDNECK ZOO, they give you peanuts to feed the animals.  Well, who knew peacocks loved peanuts?  Poor Stella - she was harassed by a peacock the entire time we were there.  That peacock followed us around the entire zoo.  He never came too close, but it was certainly close enough for Stella.  She hated that peacock!  Every time she looked behind her, it was there.  Once again, Steve and I just laughed.  Lottie loves animals so much and always has.  I guess this confirms that we will not be getting a pet anytime soon!

This place is so ridiculous!!!!!!!!  I have never seen so many kiddy toys being used by animals!  This monkey had his own little playhouse!  :)

Stella running away from the peacock crying!  :)

This monkey hit the jackpot - he got his very own Jeep!

My sweet nephew!  I swear he never stops smiling!  He is such a great baby!  

We are not sure if this deer was part of the zoo or not, but my sister was almost able to hand feed it.  So cute!

Inbred ZONKEY

The majority of the time spent at my sister's house was playing with the kids, doing art projects, cooking, playing dominoes and going on walks.  We even squeezed in an hour or so on the beach.  

Thanks Aunt Amy for letting us stay and play!  

xoxo

The day I was bit by a miniature horse, poisoned and head butted

This past Saturday is one of the worst Saturdays or days in general I've had in a long time.  One of those days where you helplessly look at your husband with tears in your eyes and tell him to just take you home!

It started out like this.....................

I cleaned and scrubbed my bathroom from top to bottom with a new cleaning product I purchased the week before.  Afterwards, I happened to glance in the mirror and noticed a bright red rash on my shoulders / neck area and spreading down my back......  WTH!! 

After cleaning, our little family headed to Aw Shucks Farm in Monroe.  I've been told it is a great place to take kids.  They've got a petting zoo, slides, corn maze, nature trails, paddle boats and cute play areas for the smaller kids.  Needless to say we were pretty stoked about it, not to mention the weather was perfect!

As soon as we got there, we walked around a bit to check everything out.  As soon as Lottie spotted the slide, she was off, ready to go!



Afterwards, we headed to the petting zoo area.  As we all know, Lottie loves animals.  She gets so excited when she sees the goats, sheep, bunnies, etc.  As we walked up, we bought a small cup of feed.  Everything was going as usual, Lottie was happy, the goats and sheep were happy, heck we were all happy. 

As you can see, everything was going great.  Last up was the miniature horse (Charlie).  We were almost out of food and were getting ready to head to the "general store" for a hot dog for Lottie.  As Charlie approached us, he immediately headed for the last drops of feed I had in the cup.  I thought nothing of it and handed him my cup.  Next thing I know I was profusely shaking my entire hand from the horse's mouth.  He would not let go.  I kept shaking and shaking until finally he released my hand.  As soon as my hand was released, it immediately started turning red, blue - OUCH!!!!  At that moment, we immediately jerked Lottie away from that devil of a horse in case he decided he was still "hungry".  Honestly, I wanted to beat the **** out of that horse!  Of course afterwards, all the kids who worked there hopped on their 2 way radios and started spreading the word.........  Geeezzzz, last thing I wanted was the attention.  In any event, I immediately sanitized all of our hands and we headed to the general store for a hot dog for Lottie and ice for me! 

After we ordered Lottie her hot dog which she did not eat, we decided that it would probably be best to just leave.  At this point, I was feeling pretty BITTER about the place and my hand was hurting like heck. 

After we left, Steve and I were starving so we headed to the local Mexican restaurant about 10 minutes from our house.  I simply ordered a pork taco and a fish taco.  After our food arrived, I took one bite of my fish taco and thought, "WHOA!!!!  This tastes OFF!"  After I swallowed, I had Steve take a bite to which he did and immediately spit out.  He said that as soon as the plate crossed the table, he thought it smelt a bit funny.  Of course, we let the staff know but at this point, there was no way I was going to eat another drop of anything.  So, I left hungry!

I should have known right then that it was just time to go home, but Steve wanted to make a quick stop by Lowe's.  At this point, Lottie was getting TIRED and GROUCHY!  We walked around Lowe's for a bit and of course, melt down mode was quickly approaching.  We started to leave when Lottie plopped herself down in the middle of Lowe's and refused to get up.  I picked her up and told her we were leaving.  Of course, she started squirming and flailing about when all of a sudden she head butted me so hard on the bone under the eye that it left a red mark on her forehead.  I immediately put her down and called for Steve (who had his hands full).  He turned around and with tears in my eyes, I said, "Help".  Between my hand, my eye, my fear of food poison, I had enough!  I was getting ready to have a full on cry in Lowe's any minute now. 

After we left, I called my sister who I knew would get a kick out of my day.  As soon as I tried telling her that I had been bit by a miniature horse, I completely lost it.  After hearing how bizarre and ridiculous that sounded, I could not stop LAUGHING to save my life.  Steve and I were laughing so hard in the car, we could not speak or breathe.  My sister thought I was hysterically crying.  For the remainder of the day, Steve and I laughed and laughed and laughed. 

I am the only person I know who this would happen to.  Saturday will forever be known as the day I was bit by a miniature horse, poisoned and head butted. 

Update:  The hand is completely black and blue.  I'm just waiting for someone to ask what happened - I just know that I won't be able to control my laughter after saying out loud that I got bit by a mini horse. 

The lesson here is to stay AWAY from those miniature horses - keep your kids AWAY and DO NOT feed those little devils with four small legs!  I mean it!  Not to sound immature or anything but every horse we passed on the way home got the bird!  BITTER!  Very BITTER!