We are now back from our back to back trips...We drove down to the beach the day before our house rental was to begin as it was going to take most of the day to get there.
1. Left Sat. Jul 2 at 6:20 in the morning and glad we did because traffic started up by our house around 7am. We ended up taking a lot of back roads after witnessing a motorcycle cartwheel off the freeway. I was apparently one of the first to call 911.
2. Ate a dinner of fried foods. Fried corn on the cob (yummy), 4 kinds of fried seafood, and then hush puppies. Elapsed time from being seated to being finished eating: 30 minutes. Fastest dinner ever.
3. Den took the kids to the hotel pool at 8am for a dip before heading to the beach. Inspired several other kids and reluctant parents to a similarly early swim.
4. Brunch with old friends of Den's where a dead manta ray lay unbeknownest to us in a fish tank. Then the resturant staff tried to get the ray out and lost the net in the tank. Called in an expert who ultimately removed the dead ray. Entire episode took the entire 2 hours we ate and talked and tried not to stare at the dead ray and net. Eddie talked about it the whole day, wondering what they would do with the dead ray.
5. House ready early. Checked in and headed for the beach.
6. Beach, beach and more beach. G'parents came with us to the beach quite a bit and the kids loved having them around. Got the kids boogy boarding. J LOVES the waves. Eddie prefers playing on the sand and chasing minnows in the tidal pools, but both thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I am happy to report no shark sitings.
7. We did have dolphin sitings. Both only about 20 yards off the beach at low tide and also at the inlet where we had dinner one night. Got to watch them chase down and catch some fish. There were literately fish flying out of the water and dolphins were doing a Sea World show for us less than a hundred yards away after their dinner. Apparently it was a regular feeding area for the dolphins.
8. Checked out the Charleston acquarium. It was a nice size for a 1/2 day and had some interesting programs. We rushed through in order to get to...the beach! Nice cafe, not so good gift store.
9. Tried unsucessfully to rent bikes to run the kids around the island. Mental note: do not visit the beach over the July 4 week again.
10. Drove back all day Thurs.using almost exclusively back roads. Only thing we think we left behind was Eddie's brand new swim shirt. :( Friday morning, packed up for Wisc. flight that afternoon.
1. Arrived into Wisc. at 11pm on Friday. Was the most peaceful 2 hour drive from the airport we've had since kids came into the picture. The kids fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive. Might need to do this again.
2. Sat. we Visit Pioneer Days at local museum where g'ma volunteers. Eddie was fascinated by the well and pump here. Out of the picture is the windmill. The cool thing about visiting a place like this with g'ma is she can tell you first hand about having a windmill pump on her family farm growing up and teaching in a one room schoolhouse. It's like talking to a living, breathing, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Hard to say if the pump or this tractor ride the 100 yards to our car was more of the highlight for the kids.
3. Sunday, my round up of shopping while Den took the kids fishing, where they were skunked.
4. Monday, visit to the local doctor to treat really severe rash on Eddie. The rash was slow coming and we had been treating it with all sorts of over the counter products, thinking if we gave them a couple days they would work, but after not sleeping and severe swelling and rash, we had an 8am apointment. After consults with our friend the dermatologist and our pediatrician back home, got Eddie on a treatment plan of 3 perscription meds and 2 anti-itch meds as well as our friend Ben. Poor kid was in misery and basically didn't sleep for 3 nights, yet trooper that he is, continued to be in good spirits.
5. Flight back, we got a ride on the electric carts because Eddie's rash made walking difficult. Once we landed back home, I called the peds while still on the plane and got an apointment for that afternoon.
Disappointed that Eddie felt so poorly on our trip, as he had been looking forward to the visit.
Difficult to get back into the swing of things...I'm ready to plan the next trip!
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