We had an amazing time in North Carolina! Having grown up driving to our summer vacations and not flying to them, there is feel of returning to the "good old days" when you load up the car with bags open and strewn about haphazardly. The fact that you don't really have to organize packing for a car trip is both liberating and infuriating for someone with a certain passion for organization. We didn't quite get out the door at 7am as we'd hoped (does anyone ever?) but rolled out about 90 minutes later and 7 hours later (that includes one stop at Chick-fil-a, obviously) we pulled into the rental house that Babs and Brent had generously invited us to stay at for the weekend with them, their precious puppy Susie, Tia, darling Naya and Ms. Leisl with her two girls, Georgia and Olivia. We also had guest appearances by the sassy Ms. Karen who taught Colin how to boogie board and Ms. Sara, Brent's fabulous daughter. All in all it was a fantastic group!
But before I get started on our fun filled weekend, I thought I'd do a quick update. We took Colin to his pediatrician for a followup appointment after his trip to the ER. The doctor thought he likely had a mild concussion given his reaction but didn't find anything on the ct scan. She did suggest that we let his eye rest which meant no tv/ipad etc. Which means for the 6 hour drive we never even pulled out the ipads. I was surprised by how well the kid did. Again, a flashback to the dark days of the early 80's when we had no ipads or car seats for that matter and somehow managed to survive just fine. Here are the boys super excited to finally get to go into the ice cream door at the pediatrician's office. They've been hoping to get this room for ages!
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| I found Colin in his dad's bbq bin this morning. Like father like son! |
But back to the beach! The kids had a ball playing with Georgia and Olivia and the girls couldn't have been any sweeter or more of a help with the boys. They always had an eye out for the boys in the pool and when Will needed a little distraction from his whining the girls were on call.
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| Dad and Bunny enjoying a little reading. |
I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that knows the boys when I tell you they were up at 5:30 in the morning our first morning. After pleading, cajoling and maybe bribing the boys to go back to bed I finally got up with them at 7am and took them down to the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous! Cool, breezy and with my giant cup of coffee in hand, just perfect. I wish I could figure out how to add videos because there is a precious one of Colin getting his feet wet in the surf the first time. He was surprise and elated and giggling like a wild thing. Here are a couple of pictures.
We made it down to the Carolina Beach boardwalk early the next morning and although it was all closed the boys had a great time exploring and we even found an arcade, naturally we had to stop.
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| Happy Campers! |
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| Case of the grumpies! |
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The best donuts in town! Apparently there is always a line out front and Mr. Brent brought
some warm donuts to the house for breakfast our first day. They were awesome!
Way better than anything I've ever had before. |
We stopped at a near by amusement park to burn off some energy (my daily goal) and the boys had a great time on the go-carts. And naturally we had to hit the links while we where there. Colin is still obsessed with "golf" as he calls it. And frankly he is getting really good. One of these days his dad will get him a few real clubs *side eyes Jim* and take him to hit some balls. Some where around the 16th hole we had some serious behavior issues and Colin and I returned to the car. I assume every parent has had to walk through throngs of families while their child sobs uncontrollably and everyone is just staring at you? Yes? Maybe? Just me? Cause yes, its embarrassing but its better than staying while your child misbehaves I guess.
We stopped on our way home for lunch at the cutest little dinner, Pop's. The kids were enamored with this "waitress" (I'm not going there people) but they also seemed to enjoy the hotdog. Will had his first corn dog and after a lot of convincing arguments about it being just like a hot dog only adding deliciously fried corn meal he decided he could try it. Sure enough he deemed it "yummy!"
I didn't get many good pictures of the kids at the beach because I was mostly in the water with them. I will say I was a little unsure how they would react to the big waves. They LOVED them! Will was slightly more timid and preferred to play in the sand along the water's edge and only go out when an adult was holding him. But we all had to keep pulling Colin out of the big waves. He boogie boarded and if we'd let him he would still be out there "jumping" the waves and giggling. Clearly we need to take him back to the ocean.
It was sad to say goodbye, especially to Ms. Barbara and Mr. Brent's sweet Susie. The kids loved her and Will even asked me the morning we left if we could take Susie home with us. So we may be on the path to our own puppy dog soon, or at least I can hope!
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| A little snooze in the car after a trip to Cracker Barrel for lunch! |
Till Next Time,
Mamma, Frog & Toad
