Beach trips are always a good time. Okay, that is mostly true. They are incredibly stressful and usually not my favorite thing at all. Do not get me wrong, I have a good time, but it is exhausting and when I get home, I feel like I need a few more days off. This year was a little different though. Payton & Logan are getting older and it feels like each time we go to the beach, it just gets a little easier.
When they are babies, there is the constant worry about the sun. The bottles, the diapers, the naps…it is just such a chore (trust me, I got to see it again with my nephew on this trip). Then as they get older, there was the toys and keeping them entertained. Also, if they were in any body of water more than an inch deep, worrying they might drown. But now? They needed a little less stuff at the actual beach (I think we are learning that lesson more and more each year, just take down a few buckets and let them go wild). They both enjoyed jumping waves (obviously we had to be there with them, but it was not nearly as stressful as other times). At the pool, well we will get into that in a minute.
I just had fun, I was able to read a book. Relax.Go golfing with my father-in-law. Hell, we even had more chances to drink some adult beverages this year (it was nice staying up and drinking without having to worry that the kids would get up at 5:00 a.m. and make us all miserable). So yeah, it was a fun beach trip.
Okay, so the pool…Payton and Logan took swim lessons not too long ago. They did well, I mean they were not swimming or anything, but neither was afraid of the water. Well, for some reason Logan decided he was terrified of being in the pool with his floaty on without having an adult hold him. Yet, he would go under the water. Everyone tried to get him to let go of them and just swim with his floaty. After awhile, I just gave up and let him hold on. It was easier than just stressing him or me out.
Payton decided she was done with floaties. She was not getting the swimming above water, but then we got her goggles out and she tried swimming underwater. I think that was easier for her to keep her body flat in the water. Anyways, she started doing it and we eventually bought her some goggles with the nose piece so she could stop holding her nose and use both arms. By the end of the week she was swimming underwater and doing all sorts of cool jumps and tricks. I was very proud of her.
Time to tell you about the drive. We decided to leave after work on Friday and drive for awhile, then get a hotel somewhere and finish in the morning. It was not the worst idea ever. We got on the road around 6:00 and drove until we hit Emporia, VA. It was not a great trip down. We had all sorts of issues with the kids tablets (I downloaded them some movies, but since there was no WiFi, they had to watch them from my Amazon account…it was just hectic). I always avoid driving around DC, so I cut through Winchester and head down that way, catching I-95 near Fredricksburg. Anyways, on one of the highways, Logan was like “I have to pee! I have to pee!” There was nowhere to stop, so I pulled over and let him pee in the grass. He does not have too much opportunities to pee out in the grass and he thought it was the funniest thing ever. Unfortunately the bathroom stuff did not stop there. Payton threw up on herself. It was not much, but she must have gotten a little carsick. Then she fell asleep and…well, she relieved herself in her carseat. Ughhhh. Once at the motel, I did my best to clean her seat and used a towel for her to sit on the next day. The first thing I had to do at the condo though was take apart her carseat and wash all the pieces, then scrub the actual vehicle seat.
The drive back was different. We left at 7:00 a.m. We drove to the North Carolina Zoo (only two Logan pee stops). Yes, we are crazy. We walked around the zoo, then made our way back home sometime after 2:00. The kids were tired and slept until about 6:30 when we stopped for dinner. Then we continued on and they slept until we made it home at midnight. Yeah, I know it is crazy, but it was not that bad and we got to see a zoo that would normally be off our radar.
Anyways, it was a great trip. Minus the pee.
