The Beach ~ Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was our last day at the beach.  Avery and I finally got in our bonut date and went and got more donuts.  The line was to the door that morning, so we had a bit of a wait.  Sam took a good nap, so I decided I would take him to the beach with us when he woke up.  As we were leaving the house, it was sprinkling and I could see dark clouds.  Ned assured me we'd be fine, so we kept going.  If your husband isn't a meteorologist, don't listen to him.  Ned got the tent up and I got sunscreen on before the big drops started to fall.  This was no shower, it was pouring.  Sam, Avery, and I huddled under the tent, which really wasn't doing a great job.  Rain was obviously coming in from the open sides but also from the mesh all around the bottom of the tent.  We had the floor part down, so water was pooling around us.  I had a towel around Sam to keep the rain off his head and laid his shirt on him, but he was still shivering.  Avery was upset and cold and the towel around her was wet.  I realized my beach bag with my camera and our video camera bag were in puddles, so I had those on my lap.  Ned was under the regular umbrella, and I have no idea what we thought we were going to do, but once we heard thunder we had to go.  Ned covered Sam up in the jogger and I carried Avery and my beach bag.  We had to wait for cars to stop for us to cross the road...there were actually people who did not stop for us.  By that time I saw my dad coming with a big beach umbrella and I did what any wet, stressed mother would do...cried.  I had it together by the time our short (long-feeling) walk was over.  Sam was completely dry and happy and proceeded to take a long nap (so I may have contemplated more rain storms), and Avery was fine too.

After that fiasco, we got lunch from The Good Life again.  I went to the beach for a little while during naps, then Ned brought Avery over.  Holes and snowmen at the water's edge kept her entertained.

My parents were with Sam but I sent Ned back so that they could come over.  I ended up having him wake Sam because he had napped so well and I wanted us all to be together.

We stayed until after 5 then went in and ordered Papa John's.  Once the kids went to bed, we worked on getting as much packed as we could.

Avery was up at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, so we put her in bed with us and let her watch TV.  Sam slept until almost 7 a.m. which put me behind since I didn't get up.  It was kind of a mad dash to get a lot done with 2 kids before going to breakfast.  We ate at The Jolly Roger and then went back to finish packing up.  I put Sam down for a short nap, and we had to wake him to eat before we left.  We stopped for gas and ice, and he didn't enjoy that.  He then fussed off and on for awhile, and then it turned to crying.  I knew he needed to sleep, so we stopped and I gave him his pacifier again and his duck.  I'm uneasy with the duck in the seat, but I really don't think it's a problem with the angle of the seat.  He took a short nap and then fussed off and on, but thankfully he never cried.  We stopped for lunch about 30 minutes from home because Avery had to potty and Sam needed to eat.  We were glad to arrive home a little before 2 p.m.  The rest of the day consisted of napping (not the adults), unpacking, a grocery trip, and lots of laundry.

We had such a wonderful time at the beach.  I had very low realistic expectations for this trip because I've never traveled with a 4-month-old.  Some would say that's pessimistic, but it's easier for me to be pleased when things go well than be disappointed when they don't.  We certainly weren't sunning ourselves and drinking tropical drinks, but I can't imagine a beach vacation any different or better than what we had.

The Beach ~ Thursday and Friday

I promised Avery that we would get up Thursday morning and get "bonuts" (donuts), so of course we woke up to rain.  I didn't want to drag her out, so Ned braved the rain and got the bonuts.  Duck Donuts did not disappoint and has been added to our already large list of places to eat at the beach.  I pulled out Avery's inclement weather surprise, and she enjoyed dressing her doll while we waited for the rain to end.

The skies cleared, so Ned, Avery, and I hit the beach.  My mom didn't want to go, so she kept Sam.  I was kind of losing my patience with her at this point because she usually loves being on the beach, but she kept insisting she didn't want to go out.

Avery took a nap after lunch, and Ned stayed with the kids while I enjoyed the beach.  My dad came out for awhile also.  I realized my shoulder was getting tender and looking a little red, so I headed in.  I figured it was from the sun shining over the back of my chair.  My entire back was quite red upon inspection, so evidently our short walk on the beach that morning required sunscreen on my back.

Meanwhile, Sam wasn't enjoying any attention at all.

This girl was lacking as well.

Thursday night was date night, and Ned and I had a delicious dinner at The Black Pelican.  We did a little shopping at the outlets before calling it a night pretty early.  Luckily, we were on our way back when my mom texted and said that Sam had woken up and she couldn't get him back to sleep.  She and my dad tried and could not put him back down.  He was calm when I got home, and I was able to get him to sleep.  Wonder weeks, sleep regression, whatever, this nighttime issue is getting old.

We woke up to sunshine Friday morning, so Ned and Avery hit the beach with Poppa.  My mom ended up sending me to the beach again while she stayed with Sam, even though the plan was for me to bring him over once he woke up.  Avery was so proud to be flying her kite when I came over the dune.

I stayed with the kids that afternoon while Ned went to look at the boats at Pirate's Cove then went to the beach.  We then got ready for our traditional meal at Capt'n Franks that night.

I have about a zillion outtakes of these two that I want to do a post with soon.  Let's just say I earned my corn dog and Pepsi that night.

We had a good dinner with Sam getting fussy right at the end. Avery was thrilled to get a blue frisbee with her kids' meal to go along with the orange one from last year.  She played on the playground before we left, then she and I threw the frisbee in the yard once we got back.  Ned went to the pier and fished for a little while once we got the kids to sleep.

The Beach ~ Tuesday and Wednesday

We woke up to cloudy skies Tuesday with off and on rain.  Avery's busy few days caught up with her, and she slept until almost 8:30 a.m.  We just hung around in the morning trying to decide with to do, which resulted in doing nothing.  Ned went to get his fishing pole fixed and brought lunch from The Good Life.  Things never taste as good as you remember them when you're pregnant and craving, but my favorite sandwich was still great.  My mom strongly encouraged us to get out after Avery's nap and offered to keep Sam, so we took Avery to the aquarium.  The end of the day was a great time to go.  We enjoyed checked everything out and had a snack outside before we left.

Avery went to the aquarium to see alligators but was not so sure about the first one we encountered.

Alligators aren't so bad when they're enclosed, though.

Oh the excitement when the touch tank had Boo Boo Starfish, or Bo-arfish as they're called.

There were divers in the shark tank, and one spent a lot of time interacting with Avery.  She thought it was the greatest thing ever and tried to call the person back when they finally swam away.  It was too dark for me to get any pictures, though.

On our way home, we picked up Wendy's for Avery and my mom and got seafood take-out from Awful Arthur's for everyone else.  Bubbles on the deck rounded out our evening.

We had more rain Wednesday morning, and again my mom encouraged us to get out while she kept Sam.  We love our little Buddy to pieces, but his need for frequent naps and my anal inability to veer too far from a schedule makes it hard to do long outings.  He loved the attention from Lolli and Poppa, and we loved the time with our big girl.  We left in the rain and headed north to Duck.  It wasn't raining there, so we enjoyed some shops on the water and then had lunch.  Avery napped when we got back, and my parents left for Duck to do some shopping and have dinner.  The rain had stopped by then, so we decided to go to the beach for a bit.  Avery has been asking about hair bands for weeks, so I attempted her first pigtails.  While hair fixing is NOT a strength of mine, the pigtails should have looked better.  Avery decided part of the way in that pigtails were not so fun, but we weren't going back then.  Fixing them was out of the question though.

Avery and Ned had a fun time on the beach.  I would love to know how many miles Avery ran while we were there.  I think she could run on the beach all day, stopping periodically to jump and splash in the ocean and eat some snacks.

Sam went too and hung out some in the stroller and some on the blanket with me.

We were going to cook shrimp for dinner, but we realized we were short on time, so we got sandwiches from The Good Life again.

The Beach ~ Sunday and Monday

We had a great vacation (with kids, trip is probably a more appropriate word) on the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week!  We are back home, mostly unpacked, shelves restocked, laundry partially completed, and pooped!  Since there always tons of pictures to accompany such a fun time, I'm breaking our week up into several posts.

We left Sunday, July 8th for our week at the beach.  I think no matter how much you get done the night before, there is still to much to do the morning you leave.  We made it out on time and traveled to my parents'.  We like to follow them so that we can all eat together.  This also gave me another chance to feed Sam before the longest portion of our ride.  Once we left there, Barney DVDs kept Avery fairly quiet so that Sam could nap, but he didn't sleep for long.  This leg of our trip took a little over 2 hours.  We stopped once for a screaming attack from Sam, and then the tears came and went for the last 30 minutes or so.  At one point he had gotten all quieted down, and Avery had to growl because we went past the Grave Digger.  Needless to say, everyone was happy to see Sonic.

Even though my parents' little Lily wasn't with us this year, we still carried out the Sonic tradition, which I think is just as beneficial for restless children as it was for Lily.  We then had another 30 minute or so ride to the beach, and we checked in a little after 1 p.m.  Sam took a short nap once we got there, but I don't think Avery did the same.  Ned and I ran to the grocery store for a few things, and we had dinner at the cottage before putting the kids to bed.  Sam continued to struggle going to sleep at bedtime and Avery had some tears because she's still scared of storms at night.

Sam and Avery were up early Monday morning, but everyone slept through the night so I didn't complain.  My dad cooked breakfast and Sam took his big morning nap.  We headed to the beach once he was up.

(What a difference between point and shoot and SLR.)

By the time we got everyone ready and to the beach, Sam was just about ready for another nap.  He is one who prefers his sleeping space and a nice swaddle for sleeping, so I didn't have big hopes for napping on the beach.   Thankfully, it was cloudy, so I didn't feel bad walking at the water with him, and that and some bouncing finally got him to sleep for a short nap.  We came in for lunch and naps, then Ned and my dad went back to the beach while my mom and I stayed with the kids.  I dozed on the couch for quite awhile because I was just feeling exhausted.

Dinner that night was at our favorite, The Lone Cedar.  It was delicious as normal, and I was so pleased that there were no issues since this was the only meal I really wanted to go well.  By the time Sam was ready to get out of his seat, I was just about done eating.  When they sat us at our table, they put a starfish on it, and Avery was convinced it was Sandy the Boo Boo Starfish from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  She was also convinced it was hers, and it was not.  Luckily, the gift shop had a very overpriced Boo Boo Starfish for Avery to make her own.  And then who could turn down a Boo Boo Starfish book from a local author?  She ended up with several of these books before the week was over.  We walked out by the water before heading back and putting the kids to bed.