How I Spent My Summer Vacation/The Real Stories from our Trip

Remember yesterday when I said our trip was amazing, well it was. But it had a ton of hiccups. I usually like to classify things - good/bad, easy/hard, right/wrong. It's my thing. But living in a family with four other people has made everything a bit more gray. In the spirit of honesty, here's how some things happened and why I feel the gray category is so important. 

Sugarboo Designs

Let's start with the 7 hour journey. It is normally 5 hours. There were crazy crazy storms most of the way there. My knuckles were bright white on the steering wheel. Our route has an hour where there is absolutely no where to stop. This would be the point were KC woke and started screaming. I wanted to just stop the car and cry, but I couldn't. When we finally found a place to stop, I realized KC's screams were from a reaction to something she had eaten for breakfast. Then I wanted to cry and crawl in a hole. She also ruined her adorable smocked shirt. But by the time we arrived, my parents had been at the house for awhile and everything to prepare for the week was already done. All we had to do was pull in our bags and head to the beach (see yesterday's post). Which almost made us forget the drive.

After our fun outing with mini golf, go karts, and bumper boats, we came home to have lunch (again part of yesterday's post). As I was cleaning off the table, I picked up my camera bag. I started to move it over to the counter when I realized my camera was not securely in the bag and it took a hard fall. It hit the table, a chair, and then the floor. I broke my favorite lens and my camera in two seconds. Later when we arrived home, iPhoto wouldn't recognize my pictures. This is were panic set in. Until Chris suggested a work around and after three days of work and one iPhoto crash, all my photos were transferred!

Our second day there, the people at the house beside us hung a confederate flag. After a couple days they replaced it with an American flag.

The first attempt at these pictures had T in a total tantrum. He didn't want to wear the clothes I picked for him. I promised him he could change when we finished. I said it would only last ten minutes. He whined and stomped. When we finished and I said, "T you can head up to the house and change now." He replied, "nah I don't want to," and wore the outfit the rest of the day.

We took a boat ride around the sound (part of yesterday's post). There were 12 people on our boat and our captain was giving us great lessons on the science and history of the area. After 45 minutes, KC had had enough and screamed for the last 15 minutes (right when we saw our first wild horse). It was pure torture. Everyone on the boat was very nice but I remember telling my family I needed to have a minute. And after that minute my dad and I enjoyed happy hour at our favorite restaurant.

N lost a tooth on the trip! He tucked it under his pillow for the fairy but the fairy and her helper couldn't find the darn tooth anywhere. It was even in a gallon sized ziploc bag! There were lots of guesses and assumptions the next morning on why the tooth remained. 

KC took her first steps at the beach house! She also woke up no less than four times a night. The last two nights she ended up with a terrible fever. She only wanted her momma and we snuggled under a full moon. Chris had been so excited for the full moon at the beach, but when we went to bed it was very cloudy. So at 2:30am I did him a favor and woke him up to join us outside. 

My parents love to eat out. They go to a restaurant for almost every meal. Right now, a restaurant is a workout for us. There was a natural conflict. One night after a long day on the beach my parents really wanted us all to go to this one specific restaurant. I wasn't thrilled, I was really tired (sleeping in two hour increments will do that to a person). We went. And it turned out to be a perfect night. We sat on the patio, there was live music, the weather was beautiful. I kind of wished dinner had lasted longer. 

Since we vacationed with my parents, Chris and I had plenty of moments to sneak away. We walked on the beach alone, snuck out for ice cream, and had a nice date night dinner during the week. It is definitely something I could get used to.

There's one spot on the island we love called "The Point." It's the end of the island where the ocean and sound meet. Usually we stay at a house there, but we booked late and it was taken. Chris wanted to drive down there for an afternoon. We thought it was a great idea, except it's a long walk from public parking to the actual point. Much longer when it's low tide. We laughed about how KC weighed five pounds more each ten steps and how we'd ever make it back. Then we made it to the tidal pools. They are enormous and the perfect depth for a toddler. It was the perfect afternoon (even if we had to walk all.the.way.back).

I can be the best Negative Nancy in town, but having these kids has taught me to concentrate on the positive. Did some things suck, were some things inconvenient, were the kids crazy? Heck yea. But every morning I had coffee with my kids on the deck looking at the ocean. Every night Chris and I sat outside in the rocking chairs listening to the waves. There were game nights with my parents (I lost every time), multiple dolphin sightings, and ice cream every day (I even discovered a new favorite flavor - Ben & Jerry's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz). I hope when I look back I'll concentrate on the good and laugh at what went wrong. I hope I'll teach my kids how to bounce back when things aren't perfect because as the Sugarboo quote says, "A beautiful thing is never perfect."