Vacation Update

We left at noon on Friday Sept. 14 and returned home about 8pm on Sunday September 23. Nine and a half days away! It was a long time to be away, but definitely a fun time.

Visiting with family, visiting with friends, spending time at the beach, the pool, and just taking it easy. All of it was great! I loved that we got to see so many people in the course of this trip!

The boys travel pretty well, but they certainly do get tired of sitting their car seats for long periods of time. We tried giving them some breaks, but you can only do that so much before you've added on a few too many hours to the trip. So there were some rough moments, but it was all worth it.

That first Friday of travel we stopped in Asheville, NC to stay the night with my cousin and his family. It was the first time I got to meet his two teenage daughters. We had a great time visiting and catching up.

The Saturday we drove an hour south and stopped in Spartenburg, SC to visit with Hubby's aunt and uncle and one of his cousins. We had a lovely lunch and it was fun to take a break and visit with them. The boys got to play with some new toys and were very intrigued by the cat.

We got to Hilton Head Island in time to stop for dinner Saturday, then picked up some milk at a grocery store, got checked in to the condo, and put the boys to bed. We were exhausted.

I posted some pictures last Wednesday and I have several more that I hope to get off my camera soon. The boys had fun and it was great to see them interacting with my family. They also decided that this was the week to start walking!! They still prefer crawling to get around, but we do have walkers!! Peter has gotten quite good. He can stop and regain his balance, he can turn around, and he can walk a fair distance on his own. Ethan isn't far behind. And they love it too! So much laughing at themselves and what they are doing. It's a hoot to watch!

Our trip back was done in two parts as well. We left Saturday morning and headed to Columbia where we stopped for lunch and to pick up some Gamecock gear (watch for pictures). We drove another hour north and met up with my college roommate for an hour of visiting. Then headed to Greenville, SC from there to stay the night with some other friends from college. We had a great time visiting with everyone. We all went to Mass together Sunday morning, took some pictures of the kids all together (their 3 and our 2), and then hit the road for a long drive back home.

Other interesting events of the week:

• Cutting my finger on my razor that first Friday night
• (Wasn't using it, just reaching in my bag for something else. Razor had no cap on it.)
• The touch screen on my phone stopped working 
• (Don't call or text me, not worth it)
• Walking boys!! 
• (Yes, I know I already mentioned that one ... but hey, can you blame me?)
• Enjoying Nutella gelato! 
• (I want to try the pizza cone next time. And more gelato!)
• Watching the boys fascination with babies and animals grow
• The immediate love the boys had with the Cocky pillow pets Peter's godparents got for them. 
• (They both wanted to hold them the whole drive home on Sunday.)
• Trying to find a fast food place that serves spaghetti in areas where there are very few food options 
• (KFC needs to start selling spaghetti, just saying.)

I'm sure there is much more, but it's hard to remember everything. Hopefully I'll be able to grab some time tomorrow evening to get the pictures off my camera and will be able to share a few here soon!

And as much fun as this vacation was, it is definitely nice to be home!