Outerbanks Beach Trip 2011

Well, after a 15 hour drive back to Indy we are home!  Dennis and I had been dreading the drive to and from the beach, but it went better than we could have imagined (not that we would jump to do another 15 hour drive anytime soon).  On the way there the boys were great, they colored, watched a couple shows, and slept.  On the way back was a bit more eventful.  Logan vomited not even an hour in to the trip, we think he just put too much of his breakfast in his mouth.  Then Dennis got a speeding ticket.  Except for Logan getting a bit fussy and restless the last 2 hours and Evan getting cranky right before he fell asleep, the boys were pretty good.  We didn't even hear "are we there yet" too often.

As for the beach trip...we had an awesome time as usual, though it seemed to fly by even quicker this year.  We went out to dinner a couple times, but other than that we just hung out at the beach house, spent everyday by the house pool and went to the beach.  All 3 boys loved the beach this year.  They all enjoyed building sand sculptures with Dennis.  They also all loved the pool this year.  Colin has become a fish in the water, swimming the length of it underwater and jumping in over and over again.  Logan enjoyed sitting in the float, and Evan swam all around with his life vest on.

Evan with Grammy

It is very important to me that my boys have a close relationship with their cousins, like I did growing up.  Moving so far away from all their cousins, this is going to be a challenge, so I am glad we have our annual beach trip to allow them a chance to bond with their cousins.  The boys were really great most of the vacation, because they had so many kids to play with.  I actually felt at times like I hardly saw Colin and Evan because they were busy playing Foosball with their cousins or coloring.  It was great to see them having so much fun.

We stayed in an 8 bedroom house this year.  With 12 adults and 12 kids, it made for a fun trip.  We were also excited to see Holly and Pete's new baby, Cameron.  Colin, as usual, loved to hold him!  That boy loves babies!

Everyone in this picture is part of our group, and several of us are missng!

A funny Evan story....Our niece Farrah, turned 2 during the beach trip, so we had a birthday party for her.  The kids all played some games, including hot potato.  When the music stopped they had to peel one layer of paper off of the potato (since there was no potato in the house, my sister used a banana).  Who ever unwrapped the last layer than got a prize.  Well, Evan was the one to win and when he unwrapped it, he got a huge grin on his face and said "I won a banana!!!!"  I said, "Wow, you love bananas don't you?"  And, he smiled and nodded his head.  Of course then Carol said you also get to get another prize.  But, later he told me, "My banana is the best prize ever, and the silliest!"  When we were 6 hours in to our drive back home to Indy, Evan got real sad and said, "You need to turn around and go back, we forgot my banana!!!!"  Luckily, Carol said she will hold on to it for him, for when he visits next time.  That seemed to make him happy again.

It was a wonderful vacation, and we are already talking about next years trip!  But for now, we are back in Indy and back to reality.  We are spending today unpacking, buying school supplies for Colin, and ordering uniforms for Evan.  School starts in one more week!  I can't believe how early they start here!