After Asheville we headed to the other side of North Carolina: Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. It is a deceptively large state. It took about 7 hours of driving, with several stops to feed Levi, use the bathroom, change diapers, and grab a snack. By the end of our trip, we had the pit stop system down: I would stay in the car and feed Levi (air conditioning on because EAST COAST SUMMERS), Taylor would take the other three to use the bathroom (usually Taco Bell) or go for a walk and by the time I finished feeding and changing Levi they'd be back, I'd go use the bathroom myself and we'd move on.
One time we had the brilliant idea that we'd buy some ice cream treats and popsicles and find a park to stop at. It was terrible. First, there happened to be a baseball tournament at the park we chose so we ended up sitting under a tree by the parking lot. Within about a minute, one of the kids had been stung by some kind of bug, it was SO hot and muggy so the ice cream melted faster than the kids could eat them, one of the kids dropped their melty popsicle in the parking lot and everyone was crying. Then, by the time we got back on the road there was a wreck on the highway and it added a good 45 minutes to our trip. We vowed never to stop in that town again but honestly I don't even remember the name anymore.
But besides that incident it was a pretty smooth trip. We eventually made it to the beach house and started the week of beach days, swimming, and at least half of our kids in a constant state of no shirt or no pants. Taylor took care of the older kids and I mostly stayed inside and took care of Levi. (But I had air conditioning, a snuggly baby, and a view of the ocean so all in all I think I got the better end of the deal.) The kids loved getting to play with their cousins, going to the aquarium, getting ice cream and going mini golfing with Grandma and Grandpa, and watching fireworks from the beach on the 4th of July.
We finished the week exhausted, right on the edge of sun tanned and sunburned, and ready to come back home for some serious post-vacation recovery.
I recently visited a friend with a 4-week-old and I felt a little nuts when I realized that was how old Levi was for this trip. Yes. It was crazy. Would I do it again? Eh, maybe not. But did we survive? Yep. My mantra for the week was, "Either I'll be tired with a newborn at home or tired with a newborn there." I also had NO expectations for the trip. I fully expected to spend all my time in newborn baby mode so when I did get to sneak out to the beach by myself for a minute or I did get to read my book while baby slept, it was just a bonus. And Taylor was dad of the year. He was lifeguard, activities director, referee, and postpartum therapist all in one. We wouldn't have made it without him. Go team!
And the thing that made up for all the crazy newborn stuff was COUSINS! Oh, so many cousins. In the past 7 years my parents have gone from 4 grandkids to 21 so whenever we get together there are SO many cousins to play with all. day. long. I remember when Will was a baby and we talked about how fun it would be to see all these boys grow up and play together. Well, I blinked and suddenly we're there! I hardly even saw Will and Emma at Outer Banks because they were constantly playing with their cousins.
Emma loved hanging out with the big girls. She wanted to sleep on the floor of the big girl room with Eve and Layla and and let them brush and braid her hair every night. (That's more than she lets me do it without a bribe.)
We gave all the kids glow sticks for the 4th of July and they turned them into "glow-stick backpacks" that they were all week (they even insisted on bringing them home in their carry-ons).
What better excuse to sneak away from the baby than to do a photoshoot of my parents on the beach? The house behind them to the right is where we stayed. It's my family's 3rd time, our 2nd (we had Luke the week of the last Outer Banks trip) in the same house, right on the beach.
And this girl loves the beach. It is her happy place: sand to dig in and endless shells to collect. I had to limit her to one ziplock bag full of shells to take home (instead of the 3 buckets she and her cousin June collected together). She snuck down to the beach with me to take Grandma and Grandpa's pictures just so she could collect some more shells.
Proof that I did, in fact, get out to the beach. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment