Mini Golf Pro

Hole in One

Every year since Steven and I were engaged, we've gone to Holden Beach. Steven's family holds a reunion of sorts there every July for a week. Sometimes we stay all week, and sometimes we only get in day or two of sand and surf. This year Steven used his vacation for the full week, so we got in lots of swimming. Edmund's swimming lessons the two weeks prior really helped...not with the swimming so much as conquering his fear of the water. Edmund still refuses to blow bubbles in the water, but he doesn't scream (as much) when his face gets wet. He got in the ocean on Day 1 this year. Even if the waves were still "scary," this was a big accomplishment.

The beach involves swimming, reading, shell hunting, game playing etc. Since you get the gist, and in order not to bore you with minutiae, I've decided to focus on one annual beach tradition..miniature golf, or putt putt if you'd like. Each year we head over the bridge onto the mainland to play golf at Treasure Island. The last three years we've left Edmund asleep in his bed. This year, we decided he could handle it, and off we went along with Aunt Alison and cousins, Ian, Susie, Andrew, Emma, and Drew.

When we arrived, Edmund just had to ride on some quarter operated vehicles. He was lucky Ian was there with a quarter to spare or he may have missed some mail truck fun. After all that excitement we went to pick out clubs. Edmund was excited to get his very own toddler sized one. We showed him how to putt on the first hole and to our surprise he picked up the concept in no time. You may notice from these photos, Edmund has perfected his own signature grip, and we learned quickly you don't mess with the master.
We decided against keeping score for Edmund, but perhaps we should have because he was getting the ball in the hole in 3 and 4 putts. This was even better than his daddy was doing :) Edmund couldn't contain his excitement and quickly completed each hole. Before he got to the 18th hole we prepared him for the tunnel that takes balls to the land of no return. We weren't sure if there would be a club throw down. Fortunately, Edmund was fascinated by the tunnel. Since he completed the course first, he was kind enough to let his aunt and cousins know about the tunnel's existence. He didn't want them to be disappointed.
Edmund was a miniature golf natural. It's too bad we don't have a course for him to play closer to us, or we'd have him out practicing his swing. Edmund ended this excursion with a ride on the carousel that made it's debut appearance at Treasure Island this year. Because what is miniature golf without a ride on a painted horse?