An Epic Summer Vacation (I Will Spare You an Epic Post)

We (the kids and I) had a very lengthy vacation this summer. We left on July 4th, flew up to Boston and then down to Richmond, stayed for a week, and then flew to Florida. We stayed at the beach for a week, drove to North Carolina and stayed a week, and then drove back to the beach for three and a half more weeks. I wrote many blog posts in my head, but alas! Nary a word made it onto my blog. (Actually, one blog post did make it...but, other than that, nary.) Do not be afraid of a massive post since I was silent for so long. I will not do that to you. Here is just a blip of a post about our summer.

*SPOILER ALERT: IT IS NOT A BLIP OF A POST AFTER ALL*

We started out at my parents' house. We hung out there, we went out to eat (we had many Steak and Shake milkshakes) (I don't regret a single one of them), and we visited with friends. We went to a dinosaur exhibit and had a funny picture taken (I will share it with you in the near future), and Grandma and Grandpa were so sweet and bought souvenirs for Christian and Eliana. I am trying to remember if they bought something for Michaela...did you, Mom and Dad? Please inform me! (I am the girl who apologized to my parents for not getting them a Christmas present, only to be reminded that I did, in fact, get them a present. Something is seriously wrong with my brain.)

Christian's souvenir was an excavation kit; he chipped away, gently, and was able to discover the bones to the world's smallest Tyrannosaurus Rex. Then he was able to put the bones together.

Believe it or not, these are the only pictures I have from my parents' house.

A tiny dinosaur on the piano.

Let me just say, it was a roarin' good time, though. Colossally good time! Prehistoric good time!

I don't even know what that means, but it was a very good visit. One night, the six of us ate an entire gallon of ice cream. We had to. There was no other option. That was the kind of crazy fun we had. We watched Dolphin Tale (such a great family movie), we went to a cookout with friends, Michaela went to hear the Patrick Henry speech with Grandma and Grandpa (reenacted each Sunday during the summer at St. John's Church), we discovered Big Red (the soda) being sold in Richmond (THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY), ate s'mores, and just had fun in general. We took the kids to a park one day, and they played a little bit, until the bees and the heat chased us away.

The trip to Virginia was short, but very sweet. I think this trip in particular was nice because we just were. We didn't try to do every little thing that we could, and that was just fine. The kids had a good time being at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They snuggled a lot. And laughed a lot. And what could be better than that?! What we didn't know at the time is that it wasn't the end of our visiting with them for the summer...

Early in the morning for the second time in a week, I headed to the airport with the kids. Saying goodbye to my parents is always tough, but it helped that we were headed to see more family. I am blessed not only to love the family I was born into, but to have married into a family that I love. Mike's mom picked us up at the airport and we headed to the beach right away. We got there just in time to do what everyone loves to do at the beach...

Schoolwork!

Just kidding. That was the second or third day. When we arrived, we ate! Everyone knows that the beach = junk food! If I were writing a Fitness Friday post, it would be Fitness Friday: Fatty Foods. Ha! Mike's mom had to get back to town, but came and visited one other day before she and her husband headed to North Carolina (where we would see them the following week).

Our beach time was different this year.

The kids were on the beach a little, but not like in previous years. Wendy (Mike's sister) and I let them do what they wanted more this year...and they preferred the pool, most of the time. That was okay with us; we sat on the porch of the condo and watched them while we read. Nice! I told her the good thing about having a first floor unit is that the kids can come and go whenever they want. And the bad thing about having a first floor unit is that the kids can come and go whenever they want. We did have to shoo them back outside quite a bit, but they were pretty good about going back out and staying busy outside. 

Guess what? I told you this wasn't going to be an epic post, but it turns out I'm feeling chattier than I thought I would. Who knew?

After a week, we headed to North Carolina in a caravan to see Mike's mom. He had joined us at this point, and would be with us for the week. The kids love going to the mountains. We didn't do much hiking this year (we never managed to get out of the house early enough), but they did a lot of playing in the lake. They love the lake activities! And bonus...no gators!

The kayak and the Versa Board were in constant use. They would paddle around, switch off rides, take another kid over to the jut-out that is just beyond where we could see them, but in a safe place as far as other boaters; it is a great spot for them to tool around. 

They also tubed. Pictures forthcoming (as well as a couple of other things...I didn't want to put EVERYTHING in one post, you know). 

Diana (Mike's mom) cooked for us all, and spoiled the kids with pancakes on several mornings while we were there. The cousins picked blackberries, made s'mores, put on a show, slept in one room, gave the parents heart attacks when on the balconies, and maintained a giant pile of shoes by the front door. It was quite a week.

I know that Diana is always glad to have us visit, but it must also be a relief to have the house quiet and clean again once we go. We packed up and drove out Sunday morning, and got back to the beach between 11pm and midnight. I honestly can't remember. Eliana fell asleep about ten minutes from the condo, of course.

Once we were back at the beach, we stayed put for the rest of the summer (except a one day visit to Orlando). 

Some days seemed long, and sometimes it seemed like the time was zipping by and we were closing in on another goodbye. Some days the kids got along really well, and some days they argued and picked and bickered and griped and complained and whined and plucked any and all nerves that could be plucked, theirs and ours. There were a lot of cloudy afternoons, and a lot of thunder and lightning. That meant there was a lot of time inside. 

We probably pushed it a few days, and let them play out in the grass when who knows if it was really safe or not...but no one got struck by stray electrostatic discharges, so all's well that ends well.

They did get to spend some time with the big cousins (Mike's oldest brother's kids); one afternoon they took over the volleyball net, and had a family game. Pretty fun.

We just tried to enjoy the last bit of summer, as it came to a close.

The day before we left the beach, we met this hairy little guy.

Maybe it was time to head home, after all...

More vignettes to come...and a surprise ending that brought us full circle.