Getting There:
Matt's plan all along was to drive straight through overnight. I had some apprehension about this plan but supported Matt in his decision and planned to stay up all night with him. We both took Friday off so we could pack and get ready to go! That worked out perfectly except for the fact that I had to run down to my office to send an email I had forgotten to do before I left. Carter was a great helper packing the car! He was so excited to go on 'cation.' In fact, he wanted to wait in his carseat until it was time to go! Silly man! I told him he would be in the car long enough. Matt packed the van beautifully and we stopped by Hy Vee to pick up some drinks, went to my mom's house to pick up some things she forgot, I fed Isla and we were on the road by 3 pm.
Our bags are packed we're ready to go...
A little blurry but REALLY excited!
Carter was amazing on the trip down!! Seriously, he couldn't have been a better trooper. Part of it was because we bought him a DVD player so he could watch his movies and he thought that was so cool! Isla on the other hand was not so great that first day. As in, she cried for like 3 hours! Not straight but did have a 1 1/2 hour stretch of screaming that wasn't pleasant at all. You see, Isla is kinda high maintenance and needs to be swaddled to fall asleep or she just wakes herself up. So after our 3 hours crying stint, I figured out how to safely swaddle her in the car seat - basically I just tucked blankets in around her so she couldn't move :). After that she was great!
Part of Matt's reasoning for driving through was so that we could get a big stretch of driving in at night while both kids slept. That was true but it meant we had to be awake :). Matt was great and let me dooze off in the car a couple of times. But by 2 am, I kept looking at how much longer we had to drive and seriously had doubts we could keep going for 7 more hours! By 4:30, Matt felt the same way and we pulled off at a rest stop for Matt to walk around for a bit. The man was exhausted and we were in the deep part of the mountains, which was scary for him because he was so tired. The other bad part about being in the mountains, is that there isn't anything around! We got off the interstate a couple times to find a hotel including Waynesville where we tried to get a room at the creepiest motel but they were full! Luckily, 10 miles down the interstate was a Comfort Inn. So by 5 am, we were all asleep in the hotel room and by 8 am we were back in the car!
Both kids did great the next day but we did have to stop every 3 hours so Isla could eat. That put us getting into Garden City Beach at the very worst time 2 pm. All the houses have check in times of 3 pm so the traffic was terrible. As in, it took an hour and a half to go 24 miles! Yikes! It was a nightmare! Carter ended up having an accident before I could get a pull-up on him. Poor thing! We had nowhere to pull off the road and he held it as long as he could. And Isla was inconsolable. She was so hungry that I got a bottle out and tried to feed her from our nonexistent back seat. Girl was having none.of.it. By that time we were all cranky and just wanted to see the beach already! We finally made it and despite the long travel it was totally worth it!
Our blue house on the beach ~ Sundancer
The Beach!:
Our days at the beach were pretty much the same. We headed out early in the morning, came back for lunch and some inside time while the sun was at its hottest, sometimes napped or went to the pool and headed back out to the beach in the late afternoon. It was so fun to see Carter at the ocean since we have been talking about it since we booked the trip last summer! He was a little timid at first when a wave knocked him over but after Matt took him out past the breakers and he could float with the group he LOVED it!! He was always begging for someone to take him out there. Mostly Matt, Uncle Mark or Uncle Cory went out there with him - thanks guys! A couple of times the waves were just so strong that he had to come in right away and man he wasn't happy about that! Also, the last day Matt and Carter saw some dolphins/possibly-but-probably-not sharks semi-close by, which freaked Matt out so they came in :).
Carter was so well-behaved all week, which was so nice! I know it had to do with the fact that everything was so new and he had a ton of people of play with. Also, I think he was so busy he didn't really have the time to be naughty :). A couple of days he didn't nap and fell asleep in his food at dinner and didn't wake up until the next morning! Isla was pretty good all week too especially since her schedule was pretty off and she was in a new place and sleeping in a new bed. I didn't figure out until almost the end of the week that she preferred to nap outside on the beach! We had a little bed out there for her under our tent so she was safely out of the sun.
The rest of the group had a great time all week. The boys (minus Matt) got rained out of golf Monday morning but my dad and Mark did get one round in later that week. Each family took a turn cooking in the evening and we went out once as a big group and once just the big kids while my parent's babysat the kids - thanks guys! The days were filled with boogey boarding in the waves, sitting on the beach, making sandcastles and lounging by the pool. There was a competitive game of volleyball and 'boom' ball in the pool one day...along with a lot of drinking (sans Grete and me). The evenings were filled with the Olympics most nights and putt putt and ice cream one night. We had a hot tub at the house and probably would have used it more if the Olympics hadn't been so addicting!
My Babies!
Some funny stories:
The girls (Katie, Jo and I) were pretty good at boogey boarding and caught many waves throughout the week. The boys were terrible! I don't know why they just were. Both Cory and Ryan couldn't get the hang out it and Mark only caught one wave. But they all had fun trying!
My mom bought rafts for us to lay on while in the pool. Grete couldn't lay flat on her stomach since she is expecing so she lounged with her top half on the raft while the rest of her was in the water. Carter asked her why she was laying like that and she told him that she had a baby in her belly and she didn't want to squish it. Cut to later in the day when Carter is in the pool and wants to lay on the raft. He puts his chest on it and tells me, "I'm laying like this because I have a baby in my tummy. I don't want to squish it!" He sure loves his Aunt Grete. A couple minutes later though, his baby was out and he laid on the raft on his tummy :)
Carter ruined the sandcastle the first day by jumping on it. Mark asked him about it and he said, "it was an accident." Hmm...
My mom lost her brand new prescription sunglasses the last day we were at the beach when a huge waved hit her and Addison. Mom decided saving Addison was more important than her glasses ;)
Isla was hanging out in her bouncer over lunch one day when Gus decided to crawl over and check her out. My mom was watching since Gus is a little young to understand the concept of 'gentle.' Before I knew it Carter was right by Isla's side making sure Gus didn't get to close. Then when Isla puked her gently wiped her mouth with the burp cloth. It was the cutest thing ever!
Carter loved the beach but he also loved having everyone together. He said to my mom one night, " I want to do this all the time. Be in this big house with everyone."
Speaking of big brother Carter, during one of Isla's crying fits in the car he turned to her and said, "Don't worry Isla we are almost there."
My mom made up a little song the last night at the house...sung to the tune of "Yellow Submarine" it went a little something like this ~ We all live in a blue house on the beach, a blue house on the beach, a blue house on the beach....the kids sang it the entire evening and still bust it out now that we are home
All good things come to an end and before we knew it we were on our way back to Iowa.
Getting Home:
After two full days in the car:
That's all I have to say about that.
"Those that say you can't take it with you never saw a car packed for a vacation trip."
~Author Unknown
"A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia." ~Author Unknown
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