Category: travel

Thing 3 and I took a trip to Boston. It was a trip of firsts. We went to meet a new Urban Cousin that just joined the family. It was the first time I went away with only Thing 3 over night. It was the first time flying in an airplane for Thing 3.

Thing 3 was happy to have arrived at our hotel, but not so happy to be wearing his “fancy clothes”

Suburban Grandpa joined us from Florida. He was not happy about the frigid temperatures, and didn’t have the proper clothing.

Urban Cousin was the reason we were all there.

He wouldn’t eat there but liked that the restaurant had his name on it.

Too bad selfie’s weren’t the rage when my Things were little.

Suburban Uncle attempting to break the world record for longest time to change a diaper.

Suburban Aunt enjoyed time with her new nephew.

Lots of cousins.

Thing 3’s favorite part of the trip: a late night snack run.

Eating pretzels in bed! ?Can’t do that at home.

How about a donut for the flight home?

One more selfie on the flight home.

Our annual week at the beach has evolved considerably from the early years. I have to say, this year’s trip was by far the best so far. And by best, I mean the most relaxing. We still had to deal with the occasional meltdowns of a 3 year old who is used to napping every day. But overall it was a great week.

In a masterful display of packing, we had everything a family of six needs for a week in the trunk of the minivan.

The boys raced go-karts. Thing 3 had to stand on his toes to make the 46 inch height requirement.

SuburbanMommy and Thing 4 were all business at dinner.

On a sunset dolphin cruise we spotted many dolphins. Thing 3 insists he also saw a blue whale even though the water was mostly 3 feet deep.

Thing 3 took part in a July 4th watermelon eating contest.

It rained the first few days but it didn’t slow down Thing 4.

The sun finally came out and we spent plenty of time at the beach.

We were thankful to have an extra pair of hands with us.

Mornings began with a walk to the bakery. Donuts for breakfast.

On very rare occasions everyone will stand still and look at the camera at the same time.

No one was very eager to get back into the car for the long drive home.

On the drive home, Thing 1 was already looking at the catalog of rentals for next year.

We’re back from our week in Corolla, NC. It was the first trip we’ve attempted as a family of six.? It was exhausting but a good experience.? For a look at one of our previous trips, see this post on why I call it a trip and not a vacation.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 were very excited to be at the beach.? Here they are bright and early our first morning, bathing suits on, showing off their booties.

Suburban Grandpa joined us for the first few days.? Here he is enjoying a game of Chutes and Ladders with Thing 3.? Note the glass of wine by his side.

Thing 3 normally walks around with little to no clothing.? But at the beach, it seemed to take on a whole new appeal for him.

With four kids, you don’t just get up and walk to the beach.?? There is at least an hour of preparation, packing, applying sunscreen, with many false starts due to forgotten items, and then, finally, lugging all the gear across the sand.

Keeping Thing 4 on her nap schedule was not easy.? We’ve learned over the years to take advantage of nap times whenever and where ever they may occur.

There was a lot of boy bonding and surprisingly little fighting.

We all climbed to the top of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.? Well, all of us except Thing 4 who I carried to the top.? As if walking up 214 stairs in the brutal heat weren’t enough, try it with an extra 24 lbs in your arms.

Speaking of brutal heat, the temperature hit 110 on the deck of the pool one day.? The heat put a damper on some of our daytime activities, especially for Thing 3 and Thing 4.

At the the end of the day we took in the ocean breeze and a swing.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 played some mini-golf.

Probably the best part of the week for the kids was the daily ice cream.?? We relaxed our dessert rules and often had it before, instead of, or as a meal.

Unlike the way he sleeps at home, it was no trouble getting Thing 3 to sleep.? He even slept in a bed with a blanket.

We were lucky to have Suburban Babysitter and her boyfriend join us for a few days.? He was a very good sport and let Thing 1 and Thing 2 bury him in the sand.

The drive back home is always the worst part of any trip.? It took 7 hours to get there but almost 9 hours to get back home because of traffic.? The boys took it well with almost no whining or complaining.? But by the 8th hour Thing 4 wanted O-U-T and the last hour was filled with crying.

Today I introduced Thing 1 and Thing 2 to one of my all time favorite activities:? Wiffle Ball! We played in the morning before it got really hot. Then to stay cool we checked out a new “luxury” bowling alley with some SuburbanNeighbors who found themselves also on a stay-cation after cutting their beach vacation short thanks to hurricane Earl. Thing 2 continued his bowling domination over Thing 1 with a nice score of 100. It’s good for the oldest to not win at everything all the time.

We wrapped up the day at the pre-school/kindergarten open house where we met Thing 2 and Thing 3’s new teachers.? A big hit was the petting zoo in the parking lot compliments of Squeals on Wheels.? It was not good to be one of the animals yesterday.? Besides being poked, prodded, pulled, and dumped on with grass and dirt by the likes of Thing 3 and scores of other kids, it was about 97 degrees in the parking lot with no shade for the animals.

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