We're baaaaack ..... (continued)

The Boys.... and Twinkletoes The Warrior ....

The drive to the OBX was rainy and quicker than usual this year. I guess because the normal 4th of July weekend beachgoers in DE, MD and VA were waiting til the sun came back out before venturing out that particular weekend? Who knows? All I know is we wound up on Hatteras Island a full 4 hours before our house was ready! At least the rental agency has a pool and snack area that we were able to utilize (and we got lunch up the road) while we were waiting. Since the kids are waterbugs this didn't faze them in the least. The Husband, though, he's a different story. I don't think he got of out the truck once while we were waiting. Ok, maybe while I was putting my bathing suit on. I wonder if he even peed?

Saturday, we didn't go to the beach so on Sunday a.m. the Paleontologist was jonesing to go, even though the weather channel said scattered showers through 3 o'clock. At 11 we ventured out anyhow, if nothing else, just for something to do and to shut that kid up! It wound up being a beautiful day and we didn't get any showers on the beach.

The Dino Kid is not afraid of the ocean at all, which we learned all too quickly. Before we could even get the beach chairs out of the truck, he had already swam across the tidal pool, crossed a section of beach and was playing IN the ocean water, beyond the first breakers. Hello? Whose kid is this? Who was the crazy mother who wanted him to have swimming lessons so that he wasn't afraid of the water? Holy COW!

Monday - beach. Tuesday - beach. Wednesday - the 4th of July - BEACH again. We really do love it there. The kids can't get enough of it. On the 4th, we didn't leave the beach until after 5 o'clock. I think we got there at 10:30 that morning. The tide was great, the water was warm and we only saw one lady get hooked on an abandoned fish hook. YUK! (Yes, everyone made sure that I was not around for the scene so that I would not pass out as had been done in years past. I'll tell you the story, only if you ask nicely.)

To celebrate the 4th of July, we went to the Pelican's Pad. A restaurant? Nope. the house where our family and friends were staying. They have a bird's eye view (no pun intended) of the fireworks and we were having the same dinner from Corky's that night so we just brought ours on over and called it a party. Everyone had a fantastic time - kind of like old time. Miss those days and I'm not even that old! We had to carry Twinkletoes out because she had fallen asleep on the couch. How she slept in all of the noise is beyond me! Let's do it again next year!

Thursday - the day from hell. Started off beautifully. We had to drag the kids out of bed to go on a day trip to Ocracoke Island. (I'm sure I've misspelled the name of the Island but that is what it sounds like!) So we drive 1/2 hourish to Hatteras to hop on the free ferry to the island. Wait in line (shop at the shops while we're waiting) for about 45 minutes then drive onto the ferry for a 40-45 minute ride. Dino Boy pooped in the only bathroom on the ferry. With his dad, of course. I was stuck in the truck. We were so close to the edge of the boat that I couldn't even squeeze out of the door. I should have known that was a sign ... the door, then the poop - to make matters worse, he came back with no underpants. He said he felt better after that (the kid hadn't pooped as long as we had been there) so all was good in never-never land. We drove onto the island. We missed the first restaurant (i thought it was good last year, but this year we were looking for something different -- and that would seat our 27 people!) We went down to the other end of the island, near a marina and tried to park in public parking. No spots open except for one extra long one, which had a guy pacing the length of it. Not sure that he should be able to do that, especially since there were three trucks (of our party) which had not been able to find a parking space and we all could have fit easily into this spot. Anyway, we wound up parking illegally on the side of the parking lot. What else were we supposed to do? There is no parking in town. Each store has 3 or 4 spots that they threaten to tow you out of if you're there for more than 30 minutes. What kind of shopping trip is that anyway?

Woops - got off the subject a little didn't I? Ok, so we park, walk about 1/2 mile to a cool outdoor restaurant where we have eaten before. Let's start with this: our waitress SUCKED. I'm not sure you get the full hint, but she was really, really bad. So because of this, our afternoon went this way: Dino Boy got sick. Turned all pale, said he needed to rest his head on the table, then got shaky and puked all over. Then, had the runs to top it all off. And, did you remember that I already told you he was al'fresco? No underpants? So - I tote him of to the Ge-rody (there isn't even a good enough word to use for this type of yukky, smelly - eeeech.) so there we are with all of the Lil Guy's wipes and I'm washing out shorts in the grody sink. Did I mention I felt like it was 110 degrees on that island? No air passes through the village! So we clean up, Dino Boy feels and looks much better and the waitress FINALLY brings his dr. pepper. A little too late, don't ya think? And the husband and Twinkletoes have vanished. They trekked all the way back to the truck, came to pick us up - stopping traffic to let us into the truck - and off we went. We weren't really quite sure what was going on. We did know one thing for sure: we needed to get fluids into this kid and fast! On that note, we stopped at the local market and I went in for gatorade, soda and apple juice. He had to drink at least one of these. He was so adamant about going to the "pirate store" which is Teach's Hole, that he wasn't giving up. I figured if we could pump some food and water into him, he'd be good but I can tell you that there was no way I was getting back onto that ferry with a sick kid. Not until I was sure he wasn't going to pull another stunt like that,especially on the ferry.

So, we waited FOREVER at a mexican place on the island for lunch. It must have taken the girl 20 minutes just to come take our drink order. Can you imagine how the Husband was reacting to this? (I just secretly think that the waitress at this place is related to the waitress at the outdoor restaurant that we had just come from.) We got our food after about 45 minutes. The husband didn't even order anything but I was not leaving another place without food in all of our bellies (you know, like we're starving or something). After lunch was finally over because, I swear, we were there almost 2 hours. For lunch. And we were seated immediately because there were only 3 other tables occupied in the entire place when we got there. Ok, got sidetracked again. After lunch, we went to Teach's Hole, the pirate store that Dino Boy wanted to go to in the first place. He needed new pirate equipment see. He got a sword (I think it may be broken already), a treasure chest, and some type of pirate game that has "dubloons" as pieces and some type of strange dreidel-looking dice. Twinkletoes - yes - she was on the trip too. She was beginning to whine by the time we got to the store (I know what you're thinking - not her! But, yes, she was starting to lose patience with the whole day's events as well.) She picked out some sort of miniature turtle, a small velvet purse with "treasure" inside and a mermaid doll that has a purse with a dolphin in it. Very cute. I picked up a 1st reader Pirate book for Dino boy and Twinkletoes. I still haven't given it to them. Guess I should probably do that in this millenium. Oh yeah, we also got shark's teeth.

We had decided that it would be safe to leave the island after this excursion. But, after jumping in line for the ferry both of the kids decided to pitch fits because they wanted to go to the beach! That is how we historically have ended our trips to the island - with an afternoon beach trip - we usually find the coolest shells and the waves aren't usually too bad ... so, we caved. (I think we just wanted to relax at the beach as much as they wanted to play). We got out of line for the ferry and drove to the beach access. On the beach, I had my first cell phone signal of the day and was able to get in touch with D to find out where they were and C to find out where they were. I really should put G and V's cell numbers into my phone, then I could have bugged them too. C was leaving the island because they were pooped and Mr. H was tired. D and the gang were almost at the beach access. So we met up with them there and hung out for a bit before leaving the beach -- and sitting in a long line for the ferry back to Hatteras Island. The ride home was uneventful, we were pretty used to the whining in the car by then.

That night, however, was a different story. We all had dinner - the kids had chicken nuggets - again. I can't even remember what we had - take out? It's escaping me. Anyway, we finally got the kids in bed and started to get into ours when Tim heard Dino Boy cry -- he puked. chicken nuggets and whatever else he took in since we got home - all over the BED. How disgusting. So I was on puke patrol. There are many other things that I could imagine myself doing on vacation rather than cleaning up puke. But, because he turned so pale, again, I called the doctor's office. They have a warm line setup through CHOP so I was able to talk to a body and explain to her what was going on. After she ad me look at his tongue and make him move his head up and down and side to side, she said it sounded like a heat/sun stroke, with some mild dehydration. Nice. Only us, right? Some people say it isn't a party until someone cries - I say it isn't a vacation until someone pukes. So, while I have this doctor on the phone, I casually mention that Dino boy has had terrible bloodshot eyes for the past two days. I think that it is irritation from the ocean and the pool water but she says that would disappear over night in most cases. She suggests that it is ... sunburn. On his eyeballs? Yes, sunburn. So all you moms, put sunglasses on your kids when they're out playing this summer. I'm sure that it has to be dangerous. (Not that my kids have been wearing sunglasses since, but their goggles for the pool are UV protective - I'm anal. Yes, I've been told quite a few times.)

I'm not done - we're still on Thursday. While I'm on the phone with this doctor, Twinkletoes starts to whine (someone should give this girl some cheese) so I left the room and went into our bedroom for all of two minutes then I heard the husband yelling for me. Holy cow - now they're BOTH puking. So, we cleaned her and the bed up, keeping our fingers crossed that they were both done for the night since we were fresh out of clean sheets and blankets. (I had enough laundry to keep the washer occupied for DAYS.) And, they rested. All but the husband. I think he was up half the night with worry because both of them were sick and worried that we were going to infect the rest of the gang. But - we're on a week later and I haven't heard of anyone else puking (except one friend's kid on the way home - I'm hoping that was motion sickness.)

As a side note: as I type this trying to download some work to do for the husband, the kids and he are tying Dino Boy's tooth to a piece of string and a doorknob because they cannot wait another day for the tooth fairy to come. This kid is not afraid of anything! He now has lost his second tooth - this one at the hands of his father instead of me - we're even now. Hope the tooth fairy remembers to come tonight. And, i just heard Twinkletoes tell her Dad that she "would never, ever want (you) to do that to any of my teeth" Nothing like traumatizing a 5 year old.

Back to the story - Friday - we laid low for most of the day - going to the beach way after lunch and staying a little late - but not too bad. While we were home in the morning, I made a mac 'n cheese and we had that for dinner. We hit the road at 4 a.m. to head back. We made good time, again, and were home by noon.

I cannot believe I almost forgot. The Husband got hooked through the side with a fish hook. That is a story for tomorrow's blog.