The joy of living abroad

Walking through the marina in Swansea this weekend, the Hubs commented that on our next trip there, we'd need to get on the water - take one of the boat excursions offered in the area.

Boo looked at him and said "MY first boat ride was in Paris".

Yeah. How cool is that?

OBX 2010

In my post-college years, I went on cruises with my friends every year. I've been to some beautiful beaches and islands, but when push comes to shove, one of my favorite places in the world are the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina.

My husband took me there a few years before we got married; he grew up going there with his family every summer, and when I went with him the first time, his big brother had recently begun taking his own kids there - continuing a family tradition, if you will.

This year marked our seventh year doing to the OBX as a family - Boo's first visit was when he was only 5 months old!  This year was probably one of my favorite trips, as we stayed two weeks, so we were actually able to spend a bit of time with all of the Hubs' family - and because this was the FIRST year that Boo was actually excited to be at the beach. 

You see, in years past, the Hubs typically had to carry him into the water, and it took him until Thursday or so before he'd really get comfortable with being at the beach. It was too loud for him, to sandy (i.e., messy), and too overwhelming.

So this year, to hear him yelling "wooo hoooo" as he conquered first, the boogie board, and then body surfing, well, it was music to my ears. (And a relief, as the beach is my favorite place to be, and I would be heartbroken if he really did hate it....)

Can  you give me a "thankyoubabyJesus"? Look at that face!

Even more fun when his cousins came to hang out with him, as he got much braver after watching them!

While the temperature was pushing 100 degrees some days, the water was COOOOLLLLD.

I wasn't going to complain. It felt good. Strange to have goosebumps underwater when you were roasting out of it - we'd go in, say "oh sh*t", them come out, sigh with happiness...and then start to sweat. And then back in the water we'd go.

It was pretty, and it was peaceful. The beach was not crowded at all.

Boo took to sprinting down the beach (until we started to panic as he was getting way too far out of sight....) and then he'd run back. Pea thought it looked like fun, too.  Those little legs of hers can FLY.

But of course, her favorite things to do were to jump waves...

And to find shells! She was a super shell finder. No shell was too small or too big for her to delight in.
(or pose with)

As for Boo - he was just happy to be there. And that makes me happy.

Pea's favorite part of the two week stay, however, had to be when her cousins came. She and G-Bug are less than 3 weeks apart in age, but they really haven't had much time together since we live(d) in the Midwest and they live on the East coast.  Any time they weren't on the beach, they could be found in "their" bedroom playing with princess dolls. They were two peas in a pod. Pea sulked when G-Bug had to go home (and she and Boo battled constantly, the first of the trip) to such an extent that I was ready to drive back to Virginia to bring all three cousins back!

Thankfully, they had another cousin on the way. Thank goodness Jake is tolerant. :0)

As for me - give me a good book, my shades and any amount of sunscreen, and I'm good to go. (And if you bring me down a Corona around 4pm, I'll love you forever!)

Housebound

Well, it looks like my poor parents are trapped in my cold, drafty but lovely home yet another day....

As this is the view up the Dingle...

And down the Dingle....

And more snow coming down!!!

No plows on our road...

Gorgeous, so long as you don't need to be anywhere. The Hubs walked to work this morning. I was hoping it would clear up enough for me to collect him tonight, but now I'm not so sure.

In terms of not going anywhere, I'm also feeling terribly guilty that on my parents' first trip to the UK they have seen more of my family room than anything else in England and Wales, have spent more time trying to build a fire than enjoying one.

And then, there is my darling, delightfully cooped up children, bashing at one another's heads. Its entertaining until blood flows. Boo went out to shovel, but the wind had picked up, so he wimped out. (And he was born in Chicago. What the heck?) Add explosive diarrhea to the mix, and its a recipe for disaster.

Am I the one with the "Let it Snow, Let it Snow" sign in the kitchen?

Sheesh.

But....hmm...bet it would make EXCELLENT kindling.

The Sand Man

Sometimes, it is the simple things in life that make a guy happy.

Like digging a hole in the sand...

Note: it is a good idea to keep your three-year-old cousin nearby, so she can go get help when you get stuck INSIDE the hole you dug.

I'm now calling my nephew "The Sand Man". He can dig some deeeeeeep holes in the sand.

Beach Week

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I confess.

But, really, I've been too busy stuffing my face with steamed spiced shrimp, key lime pie, she crab soup, margaritas and beer, and rinsing sand out of my personal spaces after swimming, jumping waves and dodging jellies for hours in the ocean.

I love it!

Let me tell you, it is mind-boggling how much sand is sitting at the front of the outdoor shower. For how small my 3 year old is, she can likely get a job dredging beaches after hurricanes using only her swim diaper! Its remarkable.

Pea, well, she just tickled her beach-loving parents. She tore headlong into the waves on the first day, and was sitting in the sand, digging holes and building sandcastles. For a neatnik, she did amazingly well with the amount of sand coating her body.

In fact, we wore her out so well on the first day, she fell asleep getting her hair braided, which I'm told is less than comfortable. Seriously - look at this:

Now THAT is tired....

The end result is adorable (and totally maintenance free for the week, woo hoo!)

Boo, on the other hand, had a harder time adjusting. I'm still not sure where the fear stemmed from - he loves the sandbox, and he loves to swim. However, true to form, by the 4th day, he ventured near the water, getting wet with help from Hubs.

It was a tad pitiful....

By the 5th day, he was running into the water.

And by the last day, he was getting up after being tumbled by the waves, grinning, and running back to the water.

Next year, I think we need to stay for TWO weeks - so that by the time Boo remembers how much HE loves the ocean, he has another week to enjoy it!

(And, the rest of us have more time to enjoy Carolina pulled pork, shrimp, tuna, scallops, and more key lime pie!)

Road Trip!

In what some have claimed is insanity, I packed up our suitcases, a collection of DVDs, snacks, blankies, Ox, and the kids, and drove from Chicago to Virginia.

On my own.

Day one wasn't too terribly bad: the kids snacked so much that they opted to skip lunch. Boo peed roadside twice (he discovered the joys of peeing outside) - honestly, I think he waited until exactly 5 minutes after Pea zonked out in her carseat to announce his nature call, knowing that I wouldn't want to wake her up...

We left at 5:15, armed with Dunkin Donuts munchkins and the GPS, and headed out. On the Tri-State, I drove through what I later learned was a diesel spill; I knew it wasn't water 15 seconds after driving into it, as the fumes filled the car. They lingered until Indiana, at which time the smell was replaced with the odor of cow manure. Fun.

So....after Bee Movie, two Barbie movies, Cars, and Madagascar, we arrived in Charleston, West Virginia. I took the kids directly to the pool so that they could burn off excess energy. Following that, we wandered across the street to the local Mall for a really (ahem) healthy dinner at the food court.

My apologies to the fine people of West Virginia, but this place was Hillbilly Hell. The girl/boy in front of me wore a rolled up blue tank top, braids, and a trucker cap on his/her head. Below the tank top peeked plaid boxer shorts, and riding loooow on his/her hips was a pair of baggy homeboy jeans, held up by a belt. In the small of his/her back was a badly drawn tattoo of a hand "flipping the bird" (badly drawn because the middle finger actually looked like a thumb - quite a trick!) and illustrated with "F*ck You". Charming. His/her mother must be proud (unless she took him/her to get it...) Oh, to perfectly accessorize this outfit, this person was holding a milk jug about 1/3 full of red punch.

As he/she was leaving, she finally turned fully around, and I realized there were small breasts under the tank top, but honestly, if it wasn't for the "girls" on display, I would have thought she was a boy. A very, very homely boy.

I so wanted to take a picture of the tattoo with my iPhone, but I was honestly afraid.

So after a very interesting dinner, a few dollars worth of quarters fed into some ride on toys, we headed back to the hotel, changed into pjs and climbed into our beds. Of course, Boo claimed to not be tired, so we set ourselves up for a Hannah Montana mini marathon until we fell asleep.

The next morning, after ensuring that the Hubs may never get concierge level service again (my kids are very grumpy eaters in the morning), we loaded up the car. Today, not such a peaceful ride. Boo was not happy about the length of the trip, and 15 minutes into the drive began the "how much further". The incessant questionning lasted all 6 painful hours of the drive...several more Barbie, Cars and Thomas the Tank Engine movies later, we arrived at our destination.

Never have I been happier to get out of a car! It took several days for the kids to burn off all their stored up activity. I'm sure there are many people along Route 64 wondering who the mad woman yelling out the open window was, but we survived.

Now the return trip home from North Carolina?

Oh, lets not even talk about that yet...