New Family Pictures

We went on Friday for our updated family pictures. We love them. We even succeeded in obtaining a great sibling picture - makes a Mommy happy! :) I have taken some at home but in Dylan's 17 months and a number of attempts, we never succeeded in a professional portrait.

We really had a nice day. We had an early appointment which is good because it takes us awhile. We love our photographer at Target. She is the studio manager and has taken nearly all of our photos since having kids. She is great! We did a little school shopping for Gavin (less than a month to go to Kindergarten!), took advantage of some sales and coupons and then went to Chili's for lunch. Quite afternoon with little kids sleeping and then a nice family evening. It was definitely one of those days that we were on the positive side of Daddy's shift work schedule. We will be home bound this weekend with Daddy on call but at least we are home and not in the car.

On a personal, very girlie note. This is my first real picture with shorter hair. I luckily was able to squeeze in a quick cut the night before as did Gavin. His hair grew inches at the beach and in the sun. He was sort of scraggly surfer boy. I love me "new" haircut. And really, that is all that matters.

So, of course there are some "blooper" shots. Funny to check out but of course forever to be trapped as digital images. I think that is why I love digital photos. I love looking back at the funnies, duds and "throw-aways".

You can check out all of the pictures on the Target website if you are interested.

Click on the link and then enter Customer Name (NICOLE VITALE): https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0916107652TAR

Myrtle Beach - Road Trip Part II

The return trip was much less eventful. We were all tired which translated to naps. Gavin was the anti-nap as usual despite being tired and quiet and bored in the afternoon. Little kids napped in the morning and afternoon. We left at check-out: ~10 am. I think that the grand plan was to try and do something before leaving but we just were out of gas.

We ended up stopping north of Richmond, VA for supper. Cici's goes a long way for quick and easy. Not the best pizza ever but not bad travelling food. We have come to appreciate the mobile device search-ability. Pete has become a Window's mobile device user and thus a user of Bing. Thanks Bing! We went for a walk after dinner in the shopping plaza and found a cool $5 store. Worked out well for finding some Wii accessories for cheap and good way to be out of the car. Pete was bummed to find $5 boogie board post-beach. Oh well.

Pete was superman and drove the whole way. We made it home in 14 hours including all stops (potty, lunch, gas/potty and dinner) and torrential rain around DC. Not to bad for a day trip home from the beach with three kids.

Myrtle Beach Pictures

Myrtle Beach Pictures

Here is the collection if you want to look through. Enjoy!

Sand, flashlights, fireworks

Oh yah, the beach - sand, surf, etc. Sand also means sand fleas and as it turns out they like certain people more than others, like me. I sat in the tide pool with Nora in the afternoon buliding sand castles and playing with a little girl Lily. We made "mud stew", cupcakes and "yucky soup" for the pretent crabs. It was great. Well, at least until I realized later that day that I had a rash on my lower legs. Large (dime-nickle sized welts) red spots. Nothing above the knee. We checked the kids-nothing. Gammie, Papa, and Pete were good to go too. So, was I have a weird soap reaction as I have had in the past (Tide on the sheets?, new body wash-no, etc.). So, I used a little Cortaid and went to the bed. By morning, they were bigger and there were more. I moved on to topical and oral Benedryl. That seemed to take care of it and my Thursday they were almost gone. Moving on, or so I thought.


So, Friday around lunchtime, the rain that had threatened all week actually made it out to the beach along with a pretty nice storm. So lightening, thunder and quite a bit of rain for awhile. We packed up and moved indoors. Worked out well since the big kids were yet to see nightime all week due to early evening pass-outs on the couch. So, we managed to nap all three kids and a Mommy fell asleep on a couch too. They didn't miss anyhitng but rain. This also allowed for a night beach walk with special flashlights, looking for sand crabs and observing some free yet illegal fireworks up and down the beach. It was fun. Dylan went too. He had his own flashlight. Very cute. Kids had a blast.
So, we got back and I was a busy girl. I was finishing packing, had a late night etc. Well in the morning, I realized that I had been bitten by sand fleas again. Only a few I thought. Well, long story short is that by Monday evening, after traveling home Saturday, at home Sunday, back to work on Monday, I had about 30 bites on my legs. They itched like nothing I have ever experienced. 100X worse than a mosquito. I guess since this was the second round or more, my body was not on board. They turned into hives. I would have given everything to erase Tuesday from existance. I have ended up on prescription antihistamine and steroid to manage these. The itching finally stopped Thursday night. They are still there but no longer a hive and are geting smaller. Nasty stuff.

Fast friends

Travel means being away from our good friends. Gavin was missing Jack and Nathan (preschool buddies) all week. He told me that he was excited to be on vacation but told me a few times that he was looking forward to going back to school. Being away can be a golden opportunity. It always turns out that there are better connections for some rather than others. Nora found friends (girls) throughout the week. Gavin was busy for the most part Tuesday through Thursday being boogie board king so that was OK. With rougher water later in the week, Gavin was a little bored. He ended up meeting up with one of Nora's friends (Lily) big brother - Jackson. Jackson was almost 8 but they were a pair. Fast friends. They played in the water, wandered the beach and had a pretty good time together. Sometimes a little challenging - older boy with a few more freedoms plus parents that were very unconcerned as to the whereabouts of their children throughout the week. I guess someone else was suppose to watch them, feed them. Whatever. Some people are weird.

Friday, we were able to play on the beach in the morning before rain. We had interacted with this family throughout the week and with an earlier in the day low tide we had some nice water playtime in the tide pools. The kids were having a blast together.

Myrtle Beach - beach, pool, schedule

My kids are fish! Or at least they became fish last week at the beach. We lived at the beach. Lots of swimming, wave jumping, floating, boogie boarding, body surfing...you name it. Even Dylan. He loved the tide pools and when there was calmer water trapped at the sand bar when the tide was going out. He enjoyed swimming with one of us too in the waves and "jumping" waves. It was so much fun. Kids wore Gammie out too. Her healing ankle got quite the workout throughout the week.

Before...

After...

We were are to get some cute poses from Nora during the week. She can be such a girl!! Posing princess!

Dylan and Papa were quite the pair for the week. They played in the sand a lot together and had a blast. Dylan and Papa walked the beach too. Dylan is a wanderer. Pete calls him the beagle - always trying to run away. Fun.

Beach Bum and Papa!

In the middle of the week, Dylan and I had been playing in the sand and he got up and started down the beach, walking the edge. I regret not having a camera but sometime, life just happens. Not far down the beach, maybe 100 yards, there is a launch area for banana boat rides and para sailing. Dylan had watching the "boaas" (boats) all week. That along with the advertising planes ("panes"). So, we walked. He was pretty much on a mission. He walked right down the beach, up to a beached banana boat in the sand and climbed up. I laughed out loud. He climbed all over it. When we didn't go anywhere, he climbed down and walked over to a jet ski - "boaa". He walked around it and held his hand. He seemed to know not to climb up. We really didn't talk, I was just watching him observe. So, he started walking toward the ocean when he saw the jet boat approaching the beach but changed his mind when a wave washed over his feet. We then headed up the beach towards the sand. I quickly realized he had spotted the spare jet ski parked in the sand on a trailer. He walked right up to it - paused - puts his hands up in the air and threw them down. [Ah man...I was gonna ride that one.]. So, he appeared to be headed towards repeating the process but I scooped him up. He wasn't a big fan to give him on a "wide" (ride) but he enjoyed my hip ride on the way back. I was pretty dizzy by the time we made it back. What a walk...

I love this picture of Dylan and I (thank you Daddy). We had such a nice time sitting in the shallow water. Dylan held his purple spade shovel for the entire time. He crawled all over me and in the water. We had a really nice time. I just wish there weren't any sand fleas (later...).

Gavin spent three days doing little else than boogie boarding. It was awesome. Papa and Daddy ran themselves ragged take him out and keeping him safe. He had a BLAST! The video is pretty cool. The first part is tough to see Gavin and Daddy out past the break but he quickly flies up through the waves. The little bugger managed to make it to very shallow water nearly every time he flew through the waves. He was the perfect size for the waves, the board, everything. He could really pull the board around. Awesome. It came with a few scares though. He got rolled a couple times. One resulted in some sand burn and another some rope burn (tether). All and all he took it and kept on going...

We followed beach time up with some pool time: a pre-rinse at the the pool entrance with a hose and shower and then the pool (aka further sand removal), then early baths (aka final sand removal) and dinner. Pool time was real fun. They had a lazy river with the outdoor pool (it is actually inside the building but open air (ceiling above you). That pool was COLD!! Then there was an indoor pool (too much chlorine), a hot tub (yah!) and a kiddie pool which was the size of a hot tub, with a foot of water. It was fun. Gavin was swimming underwater with goggles, Nora floated, dove, played, everything and Dylan was everywhere. At the end of the week he wore water wings in there and was floating on his own. It was a way cool. He also enjoyed jumping into the pool or doing butt-slammers in the kiddie pool. he is funny. We would count: one-two-three-jump and he would bend his knees, pause and then walk at you while he said, "bump"!
Nora skipped dinner on Sunday night. She fell asleep at ~6:00 pm and we could not wake her. She got up the next morning at 7:00 am. She wore herself out the first day. She is also giving up her nap which she is ready, but not. She'll be four in October so, OK. But really, she could use a break in the afternoon. We succeeded two days for a nap for her - not bad and everyone was happier. Kids were exhausted all week. Makes for an easy bedtime it they fall asleep at will wherever they were around 7:00 pm. Pretty tough to move Gavin these days though - 52 lb five year old! Nora and Dylan aren't that much smaller. Nora is probably 43 or 44 lbs and Dylan is about 30 lbs.

The kids shared a room and we were a little worried about that. Gavin and Nora have shared when we travel, even a bed so the new addition was Dylan in the same room. I'm not sure he could have woke them if he tried. There were two double beds for the big kids and then we rented a crib for Dylan (best idea and worth every dime). [I did this previously for Gavin in FL. Two great websites: Baby Equipment rentals and Baby's Away. They rent other stuff too - baby gear, strollers, highchairs, etc. Plus the ones in resort areas rent beach stuff. Most of it is a good deal and great way to manage gear, vacation and kids.] We were able to put the crib between the two doubles and have enough room to move around. It was awesome. Normal monitor type stuff for me. Quiet for my parents and us too. WOOHOO!

Bottom, line, schedule never goes away with kids. That is OK, even on vacation as long as you respect it. We had an awesome time while they were awake and made the most of our time. I wish someone would tell that to the kids we saw at Wal-Mart or Kroger grocery at 9:00 pm in the evening. I heard a grandfather type say to a ~2 year old..."Some body's pretty tired..." - um yeah.

Myrtle Beach - the aquarium

There is a great aquarium in Myrtle Beach - Ripley's actually - Believe it or not! hehe :)

Wednesday, we needed a beach break. We needed a sun break. So, after breakfast we loaded up and went to Mrytle Beach and the aquarium. Dylan took a morning snooze on the way there and actually slept in the stroller for a bit.

So, we had a really nice time. Great exhibits and giant shark tank. Moving sidewalk through the tunnel tank. Way cool. Relaxing and organized. We left the Pavilon area and went out to lunch. Seafood lunch out worked out well. Duffy's Street Seafood Shack. We had a really nice morning. Nora burned herslef out pretty good and took a great nap with Daddy. We spent the rest of the day on the beach.

You gotta wear shades...

What's vacation without a little drama? A little crazy? A few boo-boos, a few health challenges? After reading this post, you might begin to think that our vacation was a bust, but it just wasn't. It was awesome. We had a blast. Maybe I roll with the punches better these days. Act more like a seasoned parent, influenced by the addition of the third child - a little boy on the move. Who knows!

Not long after arriving on the beach, Pete and I had the big kids in the water jumping waves. Pete still had on his sunglasses. I pointed this out to him (shouldn't have - tempted fate or something like that). His comment further angered the gods of fate and not long after, he and Gavin got rolled pretty good. After throwing Gavin at me (in deeper water than Nora or Gavin could stand in), Pete actually quickly recovered his glasses. We got to hear about the miracle for a while and how much he loves his $5 Wal-Mart CHIPS-sunglasses. Oh, but he would have been mad replacing them in SC for $12! So, we all smiled and moved on (after I reminded Pete-again-that he had already left a pair of RayBan's in the waters of Myrtle Beach in the past - knock it off).

A few hours later, we were all back in the water. Trading big kids around on the boogie board. Gavin would go as many times as you would take him - literally! Nora on the other hand was being a bit of a scared-ie-cat about it. She would dramatically announce when she got off that water was in her eyes or that she went "too fast" or that she was afraid of the waves. So she only went 2-3 times in a row and then she would go back to the sand, surf, tide pool, whatever. There had been a recent switch and Nora was swimming with Gammie. I had Dylan out past the break so we could float. Gavin was being slung up the beach on the boogie board. Pete was out in deeper water and Papa was in shallow to "catch" Gav. So, then Gammie and Nora get tossed a round a little and Gammie loses her sunglasses in the surf. [Oh man - instant panic - Papa had just told her to take them to the beach. In her defense - she can't see her own hand in front of her, let alone Nora and anything else without them.] I heard her say, "they're gone!" They slipped away through her fingers down into the Atlantic water. Dylan and I moved quickly and lined up behind her (ocean, us, Gammie, beach - straight line) and began walking in. I shuffled through the sand. We all converged and I stepped right on them, caught them with my toes. I yelled out, "I've got'em!". Before I knew it, Gavin was going to Gammie and my Dad was diving under. He unfortunately swam down to the wrong foot and began to fumble in the sand. In the meantime, Dylan is hanging on to my hip and my foot with the glasses is sliding out to sea. My Dad has a hold on the other foot - I'm getting shorter. Through a few kicks and no recovery, Dad must have realized that he had the wrong foot. About this time (what 4 or 5 seconds have gone by), I turn to check the ocean. Yah, know, never turn your back to the waves. I was teaching the kids that one early that day. Well, so true. I mentioned my feet were getting further apart. I had no leverage in order to hold on to the glasses. And here came the wave. I thrust Dylan up in the air as far as I could as I had been doing all day but it wasn't enough. We got rolled-twice. It was short lived, no major undertow or anything like that but he came up coughing, spitting, snotting and crying. Poor baby. Little does he know that he was the hero of the day. Papa had recovered Gammie's glasses from the grips of my toes before we rolled up on the beach. WOOHOO! We laughed, rejoiced, enjoyed the excitement even. Another Tuesday, another day at the beach.

Myrtle Beach - Road Trip

There is no good time of day to travel with kids. Flexibility, patience and low expectations go a long way. We left for the beach at 4:30 (only 30 minutes late) on Friday. Our intention was to drive until ~2 am, stop at a motel and and sleep a few hours with two other planned stops. We drove from our house and we were trying to make it to Breezewood, PA for supper. Well, we did, but about 6 miles before our exit, Nora decided to puke - car sick - empty your stomach -puke. I was sitting in the seat in front of her and luckily I caught the second wave in a blanket, preventing further destruction of the car seat and her. Let alone the car - potentially. It was exciting. There is also only some much clean up you can accomplish with diaper wipes and Kleenex. We managed, and she ate - a lot - for supper at Perkins. I did not. So, we were back on the road plus a giant yellow/vanilla car-tree-air-freshener. I drove...had to. Needed out of the back seat.

Kids did well in the back with Pete and we stopped for a little while ~9 pm for gas, potty break and PJs. Dylan passed on immediately once were back on the road and the big kids too not long after once the movie was over. Then the traffic started (of course we were on the beltway near DC but rain and storms contributed to moving yet bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Richmond, VA. Oh well, we were still making progress.

Pete took over around Richmond and I passed out in the backseat with the kids despite the lingering aroma. Pete woke me up around 1 am near our stopping point (NC/VA border on I-95). We started watching for motels north of Rocky Mount, NC. Well, we choose but not well. EconoLodge and man it was bad. Apparently a party local for locals...not a clean place...not a great luck of the draw. Can't shop in the middle on the night with kids (lesson learned). It took forever to get Dylan and even Nora back to sleep. [omit details!] We fell asleep about 3 am. We woke to Gavin about 6 am (crazy body clock and ability to sleep anywhere). Well, we tried to get out of there ASAP...

Breakfast rocked at Cracker Barrel and we were back on the road by 9 am. Kids did well watching movies and playing with carefully packed car toys. Dylan turned everything into a ball and we were grateful for his desire for a morning nap (wonder why? Maybe lack of night sleep). So we pulled into North Myrtle Beach around noon and went to lunch - to kill time mostly. This appears to have been the beginning of Gavin's hungry phase for the week. Lots of pizza consumption for lunch for him.

We did hit a little luck and were able to check-in early (~1:30). It worked out well. Nora, Dylan and Daddy all napped and I unpacked. Once I was settled, Gavin and I helped Gammie and Papa arrive around 4:30. We had a great evening...welcome to the beach.

For some reason I don't have a picture through the condo towards the ocean. Weirdo. It was a niced place. We rented a three bedroom - kids had thier own room and a room for us and my parents.

We had a nice "oceanview". We found this nice place - affordable as it was not "oceanfront" - whatever.

Picture Update

Finally uploaded pictures from May, June and July so far...so sad. Rough month or so of work and no time to picture play, not taking enough, and hardly any Blogging...I plan to make it up...


Click Here (updated May)->May Pictures, June Pictures and July (Red, White and Water)

An Evening at Idlewild

We were able to take advantage of our Idlewild season pass Friday afternoon and go for a few hours of playtime and dinner. We visited Storybook forest, road rides in Raccoon Lagoon and even some in Old Idlewild. Nora only got to ride the Merry-go-Round once this time, a new low. It is normally more like 7 or 8! Gavin even opted for other rides rather than the Rollo Coaster. He talked me into riding the Scrambler (spider) with him. Yikes, I am getting old!

It is really different this year. Nora was riding solo some and she can. Gavin is very much enjoying being big brother to Dylan this summer too. He likes riding with him, being his partner. Dylan is able to ride this summer too and it is fun. Hard to walk away and let him ride. It was hard with Gavin and Nora too. He was way cute though. No fear, no holding back. Line waiting is on his short list! He has no interest. Oh well, he'll get better.

The kids had a hard time enjoying the boats. The kid in the boat behind them screamed the entire time.

You guys need to watch where you're driving...

Brothers!

Whoa, whoa...
Ah, Nora's first solo ride! Hi Daddy!

The Howler

I love Storybook forest! It is adorable. I love all of the cottages, ladies that are dressed up as characters, the cute fun things to play with. Raggedy Ann and Andy. I have to say that I also love that I can see Nora's fingertips!

Opps, fingertips again. Sweet Dylan boy - good job Daddy. Dylan had a blast checking out the exhibits. I love the Excalibur sword. It always lends itself to adorable pictures of little boys ever trying to figure out how to get the sword out of the rock!

Let's Go!

Come on!

Any Mommy Out There

Lately, I have been reading a Blog by a girlfriend from college. AnyMommyOutThere is enlightening and wonderful. Stacey is open and honest about motherhood, her children, family and herself. I love it. Stacey recently added a new baby boy to her family. Nathaniel Patrick, Baby Nate was born at 12:25 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, 2009. He was 9 lbs 3 oz and 22 inches long.

I have very much enjoyed "watching" her from afar while she was pregnant with her fourth child (third pregnancy, one adoption). The link included goes directly to her most recent post. I loved it and I left her the following comment. I didn't want to forget so I am adding it here to our blog. I know this is not what I normally include on the Blog but sometime it just isn't about the kids!

Oh, but you did just what you said you might not. You gushed, you gave us all a glimpse at the new family in motion, and you were honest. Newborn motherhood is its own animal (good and bad) but knowing this was your last baby is a very different experience. At least it was for me. Some women might not know at the time they are PG that this is it. Some may have their last baby with the intention of "someday", but I walked into my third and final pregnancy knowing it was it. For us, it was now or never. It changed the whole experience, for better and worse.

As I am now 16 months into this "last one", I realize that what I experienced was a deep mourning as I was leaving pregnancy behind. Sounds weird huh? I had a new baby, I was lucky too. I knew it. That was the problem. Despite intelligent adult decisions that were made about our family size and other things, I felt very sad. I would say that I carry this forward a little as I watch my youngest grow. The last time for...smiles...crawling...walking...first words...whatever! Go ahead and pile that on top of newborn motherhood with toddlers in tow and see how your day goes!?!

I am sort of still looking for the ability to simultaneously be in three places at once as a Mom. I want to be in each place equally. Never mind trying to remember that I am married to a man I adore. I’m not sure I do it any better than when I went from one to two and then to three children but I think that we all at least know what is going on. Eventually, a new normal will show up.

The normalcy of the motherhood experiences expressed in this post are profound, honest and hopefully enlightening as others considering embarking on their next or maybe even final child. The trouble most of the time is that the perception of normal is killing the real experience. Can I say that June Cleaver is not my role model?