Emerald Isle

Oh hey there.

I realized this blog can sometimes become a once-a-month post for Addie's updates.  Oops.  I'll try to do a bit better.

This past week I couldn't write though, because we were on vacation!  Like, the kind where you go FOR SEVEN DAYS, take off work, pack a ton of stuff, drive to the ocean and your biggest concern is whether or not it'll be sunny.  And making sure the baby doesn't get sunburned.  Emerald Isle is super low-key - basically just houses and a grocery store, so we cooked in every meal and just relaxed.  Danny came up with a really funny description of the area and population: "Less Kelly Slater and more Kenny Chesney."  Makes me laugh, but very true.

While we DO get to make a couple trips a year to Florida to visit family (which is awesome), we haven't done a vacation like this since our honeymoon.  The best part was sharing it with our friends the Schubert's.  It was kind of like a farewell tour, since they are soon moving north... way north. ugh.

We somehow managed to fit everything in their minivan.  (Danny, we need a minivan)  4 adults, 3 babies, 3 pack and plays, 2 BOBs, and a zillion other things.  The drive was great, especially the part when the guys wouldn't stop for gas and the "Miles to Empty" display screen read "0" for an undetermined amount of time.  By this point the babies were really tired from the long drive and I was picturing us crawling through a hot desert, seeing mirages and trying to shade the children while searching desperately for a drop of gasoline. (to their credit, this did not happen, and we made it to a gas station.  lucky.) While we were a little skeptical when we pulled up to the rental (we found it on VRBO.com), it turned out to be a sweet house and just what we needed.

This was Addie's first trip to the beach.  Well, technically it was her second, but the first time she screamed the entire trip was too little to enjoy it.  Turns out, 6 months is a little more appropriate than 6 weeks for a long trip, and she did fabulous.  Once we were there, dad made sure she had plenty of time to get acquainted with the sand and water.  She was apprehensive at first (I think the loud waves were a little scary), but soon warmed up and by a few days in was loving it.

Our days were beautifully unstructured.  The house was across the street from the ocean, which we learned was crucial for the kids.  I can't imagine packing up everyone and driving to and from the beach.  Other than time on the beach, we went for runs on the beach, spent time on the deck,

devoured Hunger Games,

watched cable TV (!!!), and played games with Cindi's "strict strict rules".  I think now is a good time to publicly announce that I won Settler's FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.  Ah, victory is so sweet.

And now, without further ado, I leave you with cute babies and beach pictures.