If you are new to our blog, you may want to start with Beginnings - Part 1 and Part 2 to catch you up to speed on Jackson's arrival on December 11th, 2010 (yup, 12/11/10).
On the 20th, Adam and I got up at 4am at my parents, got packed up, and got everyone in the car to head South to Duck, N.C. by 5am. We arrived in 4 hours + 30 minutes or so of traffic on Rt. 12 the main strip...but by leaving early we avoided the mass traffic that we've hit in the past so this will be our M.O. for future OBX trips.
After arriving early and not being able to get into our beach house until later, we changed diapers, pulled out the umbrella strollers and took a walk to the main hub of Duck and got some yummy Duck, Duck, Donuts! By the time we got back to the beach house, the cleaning crew had just wrapped up so we were able to sneak in a little early to our newly renovated beach house (it was nice before, but the owners did a mass renovation including an elevator! It went from really nice to ridiculously nice).
Our first night at the beach always begins with crabs that we pick up from the Border Station. They are really cheap and since we're big crab eaters a nice treat to start off the vacation.
One of Jackson's current favorite books.
I was really excited to see what types of reactions the boys would have to being at the beach (one for the very first time and the other a year later from his previous visit...as we know just because they liked it in the past, doesn't mean a thing).
Grayson reacted exactly how I expected him to...the water was frigid cold which didn't help things any, but I think he probably would have reacted this way regardless.
He did "enjoy" being held down by the water...it seemed calming for him. (He did get a little braver as the week went on but all in all preferred being held)
Jackson surprised us all...as mentioned the water was really cold (59 degrees on our first beach day). Jackson doesn't do extreme temperatures very well so we figured he would probably be miserable by the water.
He loved it! Most of the time he also preferred to be held, but loved it when the waves would crash against you spraying him (and sometimes soaking him) with cold water. Thought it was the best!
We did a lot of distractions for Grayson...like making piles of sand that he could then destroy and hopefully hold his attention for a few minutes before he got cranky again.
We felt like we got ourselves into a nice routine on the first day...and then Jackson decided that the beach would be his primary napping place (which is A-Okay by us) and altered the routine a bit. His day typically was playing in the ocean, singing songs with Aunt Lacey, then conking out on the beach... Post-nap lunch, and more playing on the beach or in the water. Sounds pretty good to me.
On Monday, we got Grayson up from his nap around 4pm and he just wasn't right. While he's been much more whiny and cranky away from his normal routine and surroundings...he was off...big time off. He kept making this strange noise over and over again which I thought was he was going to be sick and he was feverish. We trekked over to the nearest Urgent Care and spent the next three hours waiting to be seen, getting diagnosed with a nasty ear infection and then getting his meds). We kept him at the beach house the next day and once his fever went away brought him to the back down to the beach on Wednesday.
Our lovely family is gracious enough to watch the boys so we can enjoy a night out for dinner. We love The Blue Point in Duck.
Attempt at a family pic...this is the best one I have on my camera.
Had to share this one since Jackson's face cracks me up.
On Thursday, the weather was fairly crummy and cooler than the previous days. By late afternoon, early evening, we headed up to one of the decks and hung out in the cool breeze.
Friday was our final beach day and all the beach-goers were trying to max out the hours on the beach, everyone reluctant to pack up their chairs and canopies.
That evening we headed back up the beach in some new outfits from Grammy to try to get some nice pictures of the boys together...
Not necessarily an easy task, but we got some good ones of the boys individually...
And that sums up another week down by the ocean. Can't wait to see how the boys do next year!
