Okay, here it is...

[I'm going to attempt relaying my many adventures from my recent vacation. My darling daughter is sleeping right now, but in the event that she wakes up early, I will have to finish this later.]

Let me introduce you to the 'characters' that will be talked about:

Grandma- My mother

Grandpa- My father

A. Abby- My sister

U. Tim- My brother

A. Rachel- My SIL

Nathaniel- My nephew, 2 &1/2 years

Evelyn- My niece, 10 months

And of course- Myself, Andrew, and Erica

Saturday
-Erica and I left Saturday morning with my parents. We drove 2 hrs to Delaware, where my brother and his family live. We were able to have lunch there, and it allowed Erica to run around and get her wiggles out. They then drove along with us the rest of the way [another 2 hours].
-We arrived at Chincoteage, VA somewhere around 4 in the afternoon. We stayed in a house that a local hotel rents out. It was a really nice place for our week's trip. It took us quite awhile to get all of our stuff in however. From all that we brought, you'd think we were moving in. But a lot of it was due to the fact that we did all of our cooking there; we planned to only go out to eat twice during the week.
-After unpacking, we went to the pool. It was nice and refreshing. I think it was good for Erica to have a pool visit prior to the beach, just to get her excited about swimming ahead of time.
-Erica went to sleep in a pack-and-play in a room w/ me. She slept good for awhile, then wanted to get out, so I brought her in bed w/ me. [The next night was the same. After that, she was so tired that she didn't wake up during the night.]

Sunday
-We had a slow morning. But we managed to make lunches to pack for the beach. We headed out of the house around 11.
-You actually drive through a forest to get to the beach. It was fun trying to confuse Erica: "Why are all of these trees here? Aren't we supposed to see sand and water?" Eventually you see some water/creeks on the sides of the roads. I told Erica to let me know when she saw a lot of water. It was so exciting to see her reaction when we finally got to the ocean. "More water!!!" was her proclamation.
-Erica and Nathaniel were patient while we set up the umbrellas and blankets. We finally took them down to the water. Erica loved it. She has no fear. She laughs in the face of danger.
-They were both good in that they enjoyed the water and the sand. It was a good combination. We spent time in the water, then up by the blankets. Then down in the water and then back up again.
-It was probably around 3 when we left the beach. Erica instantly fell asleep in the car. So, upon arriving at the house, she screamed bloody murder when she woke up. Of course, she wouldn't go back to sleep in her bed. It took so long to calm her down.
-Abby showed up then. She had to work Saturday, which is why she waited to come down. That night we all went out for ice cream then. Good times.

INTERLUDE

I must tell you about the ice cream store. Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode w/ the Soup Nazi? Well, this place has a lady that we have dubbed the Ice Cream Nazi. Two years ago when we were down, she was there and was quite abrasive. She yelled at us for pulling a chair from one table to another. And one night we tried going out a back door, which was open and led down to a nice sidewalk. She yelled at us about that too. Gee, don't you think there should be a sign saying: "Do not use"
Well, our first night's visit, Rachel brought in Evelyn's stroller. It was a small 'umbrella' stroller, not one of those huge things. And the lady came over to us and said: "You DO know that you cant bring that in here. Didn't you see the sign on the door?" Rachel politely said that she didn't. Upon leaving, we looked for a sign. It was so small that no one would have noticed it... especially since there was another HUGE sign announcing that they have fresh peaches in store now.
Another night, we heard her yell to some people: "If you don't like it, LEAVE!" Not sure the exact context of that, but still... ouch. Not good for business.

Monday
-Again, we were slow in the morning. It became habit for the week. Each day we didn't leave until about 11.
-More fun at the beach. Oh, I didn't mention earlier anything about Evelyn. She wasn't quite thrilled about the waves. But she loved the sand. Wow, did that girl get dirty. But she was just so adorable.
-Oh, at one point I took Erica and Nathaniel down to the water myself. We all held hands in a circle and played "ring around the rosie." [What a morbid nursery-rhyme!] They got a kick out of falling down into the splashing waves. I personally did not fall. Of course it was b/c I didn't want to get that dirty, but my excuse was that it wasn't safe b/c I might accidentally lose hold of them.
-That night we went to a 'pony show.' It was okay, but a bit lame. Erica got extremely antsy after awhile, so I took her out and we just walked around the gift shop. One of the ladies gave her a lollipop, which made her extremely happy. At the end, we did go back in and Erica got to pet the ponies.
-We also went out for ice cream. Yes, we like ice cream while on vacation. Then we came home and put the kids to bed, followed by game-time.

Tuesday
-We decided to take a break from the beach. We wanted the kids to have adequate naptimes. In the morning, the gals went out shopping. Then we came home and went to the pool. It was very relaxing.
-The afternoon was a bit boring, and everyone was itching to go do something. So we decided to go hiking in the park-part of the island. Well, Rachel and I decided. Not a good choice. My mom warned us, but we wouldn't listen. See, on the wildlife part, they don't spray for mosquitoes and other bugs. So it gets really bad. Especially at nighttime. Well, we went to walk the trail that led to the lighthouse. Not even two feet in and we were already being attacked. Poor Erica said to me: "Bugs on my hands!" So I told her to keep jumping around and flailing her arms around to keep them off. Yup, my sister-in-law really got a kick out of me. I was the brunt of many jokes for the rest of the week.
-But so was she; we've decided that she needs to get kicked out of the family. Ten years has been long enough. [They started dating in '97.] Of course we are totally kidding, and she knows that. She's a wonderful SIL.
-No, I have not been ignoring my Hubby. He did not come down until Tuesday night, arriving around 11-ish. He didn't want to take off the whole week from work, plus he had plans Sunday night and also a baseball game Monday night. We played cards until he came, and after he unpacked we continued.

Wednesday
-Another beach day. It was nice to have Andrew around. Erica really missed him, and so she had lots of fun playing with him. And I had lots of fun not chasing her around.
-Back to the house. We all kicked into super-sonic-mode to get ready for our dining out. For some reason I was stupid and did not have the foresight to pack any toys or games for Erica. So she did NOT want to sit at the table during the meal. It was quite nerve-racking. I was just glad to have Andrew there to handle it.
-No ice cream that night. We were too full from dinner. Yum, shrimp!
-Tim, Rachel, Abby and I stayed up to watch "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." There's a special reason why, which I'll get to... Anyway, we were up until midnight or so.

Thursday
-It was stinking cold! So we didn't go to the beach. Instead, we went to the 2 visitor centers there. Both had displays that the kids enjoyed. One even had sea-animals that the kids could pet.
-We also went to an "aquarium," which was totally lame. It was so small, not worth calling an aquarium. But the kids enjoyed touching the animals there too.
-At one store, my dad found a T-Shirt that he liked, and there were kids' shirts that matched. So they all got one. Kinda cute.
-Erica's favorite part of the week: We had lunch at McDonalds! Of course, I'm joking about it being her favorite part, but she really does like the place. [Which I don't understand, b/c we hardly ever go. But she's always saying that she wants to eat there.]
-Everyone went back to the house, but Abby and I went out for sister time. We went to some stores so that she could buy shells and star fish, etc. for her kindergarten class, b/c they learn about the ocean. We stopped by a coffeehouse too for drinks. Nice.
-Drum roll please... HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX!!! The grandparents watched the kids and put them to bed so that Tim, Rachel, Abby, Andrew and I could go to watch the movie. How great is that?!?!?! Is it sad to say that that was the highlight of my week?

Friday
-We went one last time to the beach. I really tried to make the most of the last trip, but it was hard considering the water was SO COLD! I thought I'd die of hypothermia or something. But it was fun.
-Afterwards, we went to the pool to rinse off and returned to the house to get ready for our dining out. This time I wasn't as pleased by my food. Actually, it made me kinda queasy. But, Erica did much better b/c I brought lots of things for her.
-Example: during the many times that the adults played cards, Erica wanted to join in. So, my mom dealt Erica five cards and five for herself. They then took turns laying down their cards. Erica thought this was the greatest thing ever. So, I packed cards for the dinner, and she had fun with that.
-That night we tried pre-packing as much as possible. We also decided that we needed one last trip to the icecream place. Once the kids were asleep, Tim, Rachel, Abby, Andrew and I went and got icecream for ourselves and also some for Mom and Dad to take back to them.

Saturday
-Basically, we just packed and cleaned up. It took quite a long time though.
-The drive home was a bit boring, but we finally made it. Now we just need to adjust to real life. I'm still trying, and its Tuesday.


Congratulations to you if you read all of this. No hard feelings if you didn't. Anyway, I'll get pictures up next. I'll probably put them on my sister-sight so that it doesn't clutter this up.