On to Wilmington

The next stop on the vacation tour '09 was to my brother's house where we were able to settle in for the week. Ok, settle in is probably a misnomer. We hit the ground running with 3 boat trips and a couple of runs to Topsail Island where my best friend and her family were staying. I don't even remember the order of events, so I'll just comment on the pictures. Vacation's supposed to be one big blur, isn't it?

Riley and Rena enjoyed playing in the driveway, practicing their art skills with sidewalk chalk. I was mighty impressed that Rena wrote dog and cat all by herself. When I asked her what A-N-E-R spelled she looked at me funny and said, 'Rena'. Ah! How did I miss that?

This was a sandbar that had formed in the marsh near an inlet. HUGE sandbar. We came here twice. What a great place to hang out for the day. Of course, you have to be outta there by high tide! But in the mean time, there were lots of sand dollars to find sand to play with and water to splash around in.

Rachel contemplating the boat ride.

Rena enjoys the breeze.

My brother looking fit and fab as he approaches the big 5-0.

Miss Riley, always the fashionista.

Rena sorting through her bounty of shells.

A little post beach yogurt break.

Some bubbly fun.

This is how Rachel spent most of her beach days. My brother was worried that she was missing the party. I had to inform him the she is the party.

Soaring high. Seagulls seem to be able to spot small children as an excellant source of food from miles away.

This is the life.

Running with the gulls.

The sisters go exploring.

Next was my favorite island. We anchor on the sound side up in the marsh and then we can hang out there, or traipse across the little island to the ocean. I choose ocean! Great beach, warm water, calm ocean, blue skies. What more could one hope for.

Everyone brings their kids and dogs. Lots of friends show up. At first, I thought that it was cruel for the kids to be burying this dog. Poor dog. Then I realized that the dogs were lining up for their turn!

This was one BIG dog. And he's just a puppy. He wanted to play, but I think his size freaked the other dogs out.

Blair spent a little quality time in the waves with his girls.

I'm trying to feed my 'gluten-free-you-eat-too-much-crap-you-can-eat-that' spouting brother a nutter-butter. Maybe that'll shut him up.

This little boy hit the jackpot. 3 beautiful girls AND cookies!

Cousin Ryan snuggling with Rena.

a little game time on the beach.

This is Riley. But it looks like Rachel to me...since she's the one who's usually asleep.

I took the girls up to Topsail one day to see my friend an her family. She was here from Boston, so it was a perfect opportunity to see each other. Plus, I hadn't met her son. What a fat little cutie he is. I was dissappointed that I didn't get to hold him, but I think he was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people around him. We got to hang out on the beach for awhile and catch up. One day, I'll get to go to Boston again, and then I'm gonna give him a big squeeze!

Vacation 2009

So here were are starting our third day of vacation and I'm exhausted already! I would love to say I'm kidding, but I'm not.

It started with the house. I tried to get the house cleaned and everyone packed before we left. The harder I cleaned, the more the girls messed up. Plus it's just a big house with alot of stuff. I swear I don't know how people keep a clean house. I would have to strap the girls in the car and work for hours to get it the way I really want it. Not gonna happen. But hopefully we didn't leave any trash inside (uh,oh, now I'm starting to have doubts) or food laying around to rot and get stinky. Nice thought, huh?

Then I had to make sure the dogs were taken care of. The labs didn't get to go on this trip. It's just not nice to bring 200 pound of dog to someone else's house. Max however, did get to come. My dad and I figured he's about 98 years old and with age come privilege. Max got to come with us as far as my Dad's. Daddy will keep him for me while I'm at my brothers, which makes me happier than leaving him at home and quite honestly, it's easier than taking him to my brothers, where he's not welcomed.

So, house taken care of, then dogs, now it's time to pack. This seems to be a never ending task! How much stuff do we need. Good googly-moogly! Clothes, shoes, toys, sunscreen, lifejackets, bathing suits, food, towels, computer :) phones, cords, bikes...lets just say except for the labs and some pictures, we have no reason to return to Georgia.

So now we're off. We left at 12 after planning to leave at 10. And we got here at 8. That's a long trip, especially with 3 little girls and one old dog. Oh, and we were in 2 vehicles. I drove with the twins and the dog, and Blair drove with Rena.

So once we got here, we ate dinner at my dad's. My brother, his wife and one of their sons met us at Daddy's. Then we checked into a hotel and went to sleep.

the girls love their cousin, Mason.

July 4

This is one of my favorite days for a couple of reasons. One, it's my birthday!

(we're all laughing because I said whoever sings the best gets the biggest piece of cake. My brother misunderstood and thought I meant the loudest, so he won, if I'd really said the loudest.)

Two, I love fireworks. Three, I get to spend it with my family. We usually go the the 4th of July festival in Southport, NC where they have a big parade, festival and fireworks.

Well, this year, we weren't really into the whole parade thing. Rachel and Riley complained and whined so much while I was trying to watch the parade, that I finally took them and left and let Rena and her daddy enjoy the rest of it. We ate a little festival food...seriously? $4.00 for a hotdog?...drank a little lemonade, made a quick run through the arts and crafts festival and then headed back to my dad's - Grandaddy's. We swam in the pool for a very short while, ate plums from his plum tree,

my brother and his family came over, we all ate dinner and then my family headed back down to the waterfront for the fireworks display. I actually tried to talk the girls out of going because I was seriously tired by this point, but I'm so glad we went. I really do love sitting on the bow of my Dad's boat watching the fireworks over the ocean. Then, we had a very short, but very long drive back to the hotel. Traffic is a nightmare and it's really hard to believe all those people were down there watching the fireworks too!

Today's agenda? Heading up the beach to my brother's and out on the boat for a little sand and water time.

Hopefully I'll be able to upload some pictures to share soon.

Hope you all had a nice relaxing 4th.

Summer Trip - Third and Last Stop - Wilmington

So, we headed back down the coast of North Carolina for our final stop on the summer trip - my brother's house. This is a busy household. Randy and Carlyn have 2 teenage boys, Ryan and Mason. Plus they have tons of friends that are always stopping by. I love being here. I know lots of their friends and I always feel welcomed here. They live near the marina where they keep their boat and going 'over to the island' is my all time favorite summer thing to do.

Blair and I parted ways about 2 hours into this trip because, really, it's a workweek for him. So I have the 3 girls and the 2 dogs. My father met us at my brother's so he could take the dogs for me. He wanted the dogs bathed before he took them to his house. I offered to pay my nephews a few bucks to bathe them and they jumped on the opportunity for easy money! I couldn't keep my dogs at my brother because there isn't anywhere to keep them and my brother and Max don't get along....long story but really it just comes down to the fact that my brother has trouble following instructions...that whole problem with authority thing. So, imagine my surprise at this little scene.

That's right, that's my brother brushing Max after bathing him! Evidently the boys weren't doing it right, so Randy had to step in. I'm so glad I had my camera with me! Doesn't Max look like he's having a great time? LOL

The dogs enjoyed the freedom of the backyard while they could. They're not going anywhere. They both want to be wherever I am. The girls enjoyed playing with their cousins, Aunt, Uncle and Grandaddy.

(My Dad's shirt cracks me up. On the front it says 'We're all here because... ' and on the back it says 'we're not all there.' Oh my God, boat people crack me up!)

At some point, we realized that both of my Dad's children (that would be me and my brother) and all of his grandchildren were in the same place, so we decided to take advantage of the photo op. Now, none of us are great at following directions and my girls aren't exactly the easiest to get a group picture of, but thank God for digital. The series of shots cracks me up. We are obviously having fun trying to get the shot, dogs are wandering in and out of the picture, everyone is talking and my dear sister-in-law graciously agreed to be the photographer. Nice shot Carlyn! (click on the picture to make it bigger)

After dinner, Daddy headed back to his house with my dogs and we settled in for a little wine and conversation. Randy engaged the girls with a game of, oh, I don't know, let's call it "People in the Mirror". The object of the game is to see if 'those' people are still in the mirror. You do this by crouching down on the couch and then popping up to look. It was great entertainment for everyone involved!

(They're still there!)

So, this was Tuesday the 15th, and Rena tells me her tooth is loose. What! She's only 4! Are you kidding me? Nope, it's loose. Really loose. I check her other teeth to make sure they are all in place. Fine. She ends up loosing it on Saturday! It all happened so fast. Good thing the tooth fairy didn't have any trouble finding us. (Picture coming soon!)

Now because we aren't in North Carolina often, we have to make the most of the trip. I have an Aunt who lives about an hour away so we decided to go to Wallace to see her on Wednesday. I love going here and I hope my girls do too. Aunt Jewrell's house is this tiny little thing that she's lived in for as long as I can remember. She has a really nice little yard that the girls can play in and this is small town living at it's best. We went out for lunch and then we hung out with Aunt Jewrell on the backyard swing, while she told stories about what it was like growing up in Duplin county. I could listen to these stories all day. I stayed as long as I possible could, but I had promised to make dinner, so we did have to get going.

Thursday, I decided to go back down to my Dad's, check on the dogs and then take the ferry over to the aquarium at Ft. Fisher. Daddy went with us, brave soul that he is. I thought this was a great way for the girls to spend a little more time with their Grandfather. We could have driven to the aquarium from the north, but I wanted the girls to have the ferry experience. It was fun! Miffi (my father's wife) had given us crackers to feed the seagulls. (Thanks so much Miffi. That was great!) Obviously the gull know the complete ferry schedule.

(You see that bottle in Riley hands? It's a Sundrop we bought before we got on the ferry. She wouldn't share it. Do you know Sundrop is LOADED with caffeine? I didn't!)

Unfortunately, Riley, who needed a nap, had a complete meltdown (see Sundrop 'disclaimer above) about the time we got there. She HAD to be held or she pitched such a fit I was afraid they were going to ask us to leave. My dad was mortified. If I wasn't so damn tired, I probably would have been too. Rachel and Rena were having a good time though. Riley recuperated about half way through, thank goodness. Then we hit the gift shop and where my children evidently couldn't hear the words "Don't touch that" despite the fact we said it over and over. We managed to get out of there with a few souvenirs and then had a little snack before we headed back to the ferry.

(this alligator was eyeing Rena like she was going to be his lunch! She's just hot and sweaty in the tropical climate of down east NC)

The seagulls obvious knew that we were a good source of food. They followed us from the aquarium snack bar out into the parking lot. Rena had one last chip in her hand from the snack bar and THEY wanted it. They stalked her. She was weary of them. "Throw it Rena, throw it!" She did. They called in reinforcements and waited. Alas, they were out of luck. No more food.

We headed back to catch the ferry. We were the last ones on! How lucky for us that we caught it, because it was the last one out.

Friday we loaded up the boat and despite a brewing tropical storm, we headed to the island. It's not far at all from the marina. We anchor on the sound side and can walk across the island to the ocean. Perfect. The water was great. The girls had fun feeding the minnow and catching sandfiddlers. Carlyn's sister, brother in law and their 3 children were there too. Once the twins took a nap I walked over to the ocean with my brother. We had a nice little walk and we got to talk about some personal things. Later we cooked out and ate some burgers. Perfect I tell ya!

That night another friend showed up with his 4 year old daughter. So, there was my brother's family, my family, Carlyn's sister's family, Randy's friend and daughter...4+4+5+2. Wow. That's alot of people. But we had fun. Saturday, Blair joined us as did the tropical storm. It rained off and on all day, so none of our beach stuff got dried off before we had to pack up and head home. Yuck! Boy did I have my work cut out for me when we got back home.

We headed back to Georgia on Sunday. I was so thankful that Blair had come back and met us at Randy's. It sure makes traveling easier when there is another adult along.

All in all it was a great, albeit busy trip. So, until next summer. I'll be waiting