A Day at the Museums

We're in DC for the weekend and have had a wonderful time so far. Me and my 3 boys met up with my brother (who lives near DC) and his 3 girls for dinner Thursday night. It was great to see them again and the cousins had a great time playing together.

On Friday we went into the city to visit some of the museums. We saw the Air & Space, Natural History and American History. We really wanted to see the Art museum too, but didn't make it Friday. (We thought we might try to visit it Saturday after the rally, but that was a crazy idea - with 200,000 people around the mall after the rally, it was impossible to do anything). Charlie didn't actually see the Natural History Museum, but that didn't seem to bother him too much.

Carter was also very comfortable while visiting the museums.

My brother from NY came down on Friday and joined us for some museums, hanging out and the rally on Saturday.

It was fun to get to see 2 of my brothers and my nieces. The boys did a great job exploring the city and we all had a great time. We are already plotting everything we would do if we came to visit for several days...

Road Trip

Long post, but scroll down for pictures if you don't want to read it all...

Casey thought I was crazy, but I actually wanted to take the boys on a road trip by myself. I wanted to visit my brother in New York, but I also wanted to take the time to visit some friends from college, and trying to arrange for a trip that length with Casey's work schedule wasn't possible, so I decided to go alone. The logistics and details kept changing - I had planned to leave on Monday or Tuesday, but on Friday I worked out a plan with my dad to leave on Saturday, the very next day, very short notice for me. When we went to Florida last October, I meticulously planned for the road trip portion of the trip everyday for over a week prior to the trip. But I must have absorbed all that preparation, because I basically "winged it" for this trip and we did fine. My dad joined us for the first half of the trip.
Along the way, we met up with Anne, one of my college roomies (and the friend who first coaxed me into blogging). She had just visited us a couple days before and the boys were already great fans of her adorable baby, so they were super excited to have dinner with her. Then we travelled on to Harrisburg PA and stayed at a hotel that night.
The next morning, we drove around and I showed Coulson the hospital where he was born and the apartment we lived in. (A few weeks ago I had pointed out the hospital where Charlie was born and Coulson was curious about the hospital where he was born, so I was hoping to sneak in a trip to Hershey on this trip.) He was impressed with the hospital, but visibly disappointed with the apartment building. Then we went to our old church and saw some old friends. Casey and I helped this church get started about 9 years ago, so it will always be special to us. Then I took the boys to my favorite free tourist attraction in Hershey - Chocolate World! We enjoyed the short ride about how chocolate is made, especially the free Hershey Kisses at the end. After that we met up with one of our friends from medical school for lunch. Unfortunately his wife (who was with me at the hospital when Coulson was born) and daughter were out of town that weekend, so I didn't get to see them. Then we were off to my brother's home in NY.
We had a great time with my brother and his 2 kids. We stayed for 4 days (well, we took a one day break to visit NYC). We enjoyed his small town life, walking to the park and the country store for some ice cream, eating yummy healthy foods (well, I don't think the boys ate much of that strange healthy food, but they did load up on Cheerios in between meals, oh, they did chow down on some fresh local black raspberries and blueberries), playing with chickens at a friend's barn (my niece is a bit of a chicken whisperer), swimming in a cold stream and playing soccer with the cousins. It was great to be with my niece and nephew again and give them some auntly hugs and kisses.
My dad and I and the boys took the train into NYC one day because I thought Coulson would like to see the Statue of Liberty. It was a great day. We found a parking spot at the train station and made it on the train, awkwardly but successfully navigated the subway system with a double stroller, got the in short line at the ferry for Liberty Island because I bought tickets online the night before, Charlie took his nap in his stroller while we toured the Ellis Island museum and we made it to my friend's apartment in Greenwich Village exactly at 4pm, which was my uneducated estimate of when we might get there. Charlie even got to chat with Spiderman at Battery Park (where the ferry for Liberty Island docks).
I had a great time with my friend and her 2 kids. I knew her when I was in high school and she was in graduate school. She graduated from my alma mater and was probably the biggest influence on my decision to go there myself. I hadn't heard from her in years, but "found" her on Facebook, so it's been fun to re-connect with her. Coulson and her 4-year-old son had a fabulous time inventing new Super Heroes together.
My dad left our journey to visit his brothers on the other side of NY and I started my journey back down South. On the way, I stopped in the northwestern suburbs of Philly to visit another old college roommate and her family. Actually, her husband was Casey's college roommate (for 3 years! I guess they got along well) and the reason I met Casey in the first place. I was in a class with his roommate and he introduced me to Casey (twice, because I apparently didn't remember him from the first introduction). Anyway, we spent a day with them and their 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter, playing at the park, eating ice cream and swimming. It was a relaxing day and I had a wonderful time staying connected with good friends.
On the way home, we took our time, stopping at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, playing at the rest stops and taking a short detour to visit Casey at work. Coulson was missing his daddy so much, it was pathetic in a sweet, loving sort of way. So we stopped in to see Casey and even got to watch the helicopter land to transfer a patient to another hospital.
Then we went home. Finally.

Guess it turned out okay after all...

Well, we're back home again and we actually ended up having a great time despite Coulson's injury. His cut shouldn't get soaked in water, but little splashes here and there were okay. Since he wasn't much of an underwater swimmer (note the usage of the past tense! I'll try to update his swimming skills in my next post. Also, note to Nanna and G'pa bud - you should bring your bathing suits this weekend) keeping his head mostly dry didn't stifle his swimming habits. We continued to have a great time at the ocean and in the pool.

We got body boards so we could "catch some waves" and both boys (but Coulson especially) enjoyed going out with us deeper in the ocean to "jump the waves." Charlie loved playing in the sand, especially if we would dig out a big hole that would fill up with a little water and he loved jumping in the hole, or simply sitting in the hole. When we would leave the beach and wash off his feet, he would cry and whine over the tiniest bit of sand still remaining in his shoes, but on the beach he would literally roll around in the sand and shovel it on top of his head. So I didn't offer much compassion for the few grains left in his shoes.

Another interesting aspect of this vacation - I actually enjoyed the ocean. My prior position was that I liked the smell and sound of the ocean, but not the water or sand. My ideal beach vacation is the pool at the hotel right next to the beach. But as a testament of my love for Casey, I have tolerated these sandy beach vacations, even as my kids threw sand on me and in my hair and in my soda can and in my book and then climbed into my bare lap for hugs and cuddles. Let's just say I love my husband a lot. So anyway, if you've ever gone to the beach with me, it will shock you to learn that I actually got in the water, waded past the waves, used the body board, played in the water with the boys - it was great! The water was not cold at all, and that made all the difference. I still didn't like the sand, that hasn't changed.

We also enjoyed mini-golf and ice cream. My brother and his family also happened to be vacationing at the beach, so we met up with them one night for a good all-American all-you-can-eat-fried-seafood buffet and then some 3-D Dinosaur Imax shows. There were some thunderstorms, but only in the evenings. A very nice family vacation!

And the vacation takes a turn (well, a spin) for the worse...

So far for the first 2 days, the weather has been pretty nice, actually, mostly perfect. Casey is attending a conference for the first few days that we are here and yesterday he was busy with workshops and tests to keep his board certification current. But the boys and I had a great time on the beach and at the waterpark that is part of the hotel complex where we are staying. Coulson used to have an aversion to water, especially water in the face, so our experience at the beach has been somewhat ambivalent. He likes the idea of the beach and he gets excited and knows it's supposed to be a fun thing, but in reality, he never really liked the unpredictibility of the ocean and he quickly got bored with playing in the sand unless he had a friend to play with him. But he's been making great progress in the water in the past few months and enjoys getting his face wet (when wearing goggles).

So now, at the beach yesterday, he was like an entirely different kid - he ran into the ocean and jumped with the waves, wading in waist deep by himself. He got completely knocked over by waves 3 times. 3 times! That means he went back into the ocean again after he got knocked over - the old Coulson would have given up after the first wipe out and not gotten back into the water. And at the waterpark, he got completely wet and we played with the spashing water., but I still couldn't get him to go down the water slide. (By the way, Charlie is also fully enjoying himself and doing well in the water.)

And of course, as the kids are having a blast in the water and Casey finally gets finished with his work stuff for the day and is putting on his swim trunks - it thunders. So Casey didn't get to enjoy all the fun. But this morning he skipped his meetings and did get to enjoy the boys on the beach and Coulson even asked if we could get a boogie board.

But tragedy befell our family vacation when we went inside for lunch. A tragedy that will change the course of our vacation and put a damper on all the great progress Coulson has made in the water. In the living room area of our hotel condo, there is a chair that spins. Right next to a coffee table. Need I say more.

If you're going to get a gash in your head while on vacation, at least do it when there are 50 emergency physicians at a conference on the first floor of your hotel. For some cuts, instead of stitches, doctors can use a special glue called DermaBond to close the wound. It's pretty handy stuff and ER docs who have been lucky enough to get their hands on a spare vial like to keep them in their first aid kits. Casey has already had occasion to use some twice - once for my niece's forehead and once for Coulson's chin. But of course we didn't bring any. So Casey went downstairs to the conference and they made an announcement during lunch asking if anyone had some DermaBond. Success! So Casey patched him up.

But here's the fatal flaw - He's not supposed to get it wet for a week! And we can't put sunscreen on it! Hmm, no water and no sun. And when we vacation at the beach, that's what we do - maybe a game or two of mini-golf, but other than that, we don't spend a lot of time at the touristy attractions or shopping, so we are re-strategizing our vacation plans. Casey is thinking that maybe after 3 days he could get it wet...(Just don't tell anyone that we aren't following doctor's orders....)

Vacation! Time for Fun in the Sun!!!!...???

Here's the weather forcast for Myrtle Beach for the next week:

Thursday:

High - 87, Low 76

Friday:

High - 88, Low - 75

Saturday:

High - 87, Low - 74

Sunday:

High - 84, Low - 74

Monday:

High - 85, Low - 72

Tuesday:

High - 84, Low - 71

Wednesday:

High - 83, Low 71

Thursday:

High -85, Low - 73

Guess who's vacation ends on Thursday morning! :-)