Beach Baby

Well, we got really, really behind on our posts! That just shows how busy we have been lately. I served on our church's task force to hire a new preschool director. Now that we have hired a director, we also are starting up a Preschool Board that I am on - both have taken up a lot of time and the Board is going to continue to keep me busy all summer.

Anyhow, we successfully completed a week vacation to the beach. We left the last Friday in June, and drove as far as Charlotte. We got to stay with my friend Cat and her husband Mike, and her little "bun in the oven." It was great get to see them both, even though we weren't there very long. Eli really melted down after being in the car about 6 1/2 hours on the way to Charlotte. Luckily, we didn't have too long in the car on Saturday.

We were in Oak Island all week with Thom's parents, his brother, Mike, our sister-in-law Susan, and their girls - Maddie and Grace.

Eli was a little freaked out at the beach on Saturday afternoon. But come on - big waves, cold water suddenly splashing your little legs, and lots of noise. When the tide went out, though, we had the perfect sandbar that created a big shallow pool between the beach and the sandbar. It was the perfect place to sit with Eli and play in the water. That he loved and was happy as could be.

It was pretty hot all week. Luckily, I had found this great tent online to set up on the beach. It really was perfect - the sides were mesh so that great ocean breeze flowed through it, making it cool. I set up an outdoor blanket underneath it, and Eli played and napped under it all day. And sometimes he shared it with me, when I got too hot.

For the long drive home, we were able to put some things in Thom's parent's van so the backseat next to Eli was open. It worked very well. When he started getting restless or hungry, one of us could get in the backseat and entertain or give him a bottle. So we actually made it home in one day.

Overall, it was a much needed vacation. And now we're looking forward to going to Hilton Head in September with my family!