Summer Vacations

I realized that I never did post about our vacations this summer. Caleb and I went to BV for a weekend which was awesomely fun! It was so great to see some good friends! On the way home, we stopped in and visited our good friend, Melissa and met her sweet baby boy Wash. I really need to see him again sometime soon!

At the end of July, Jeff, Caleb and I went to Massanutten for a weekend. We had a great time. We listened to an Appalachian story teller who was just sooo fun! I think I love story tellers. I learned how to correctly pronounce Appalachia ("I'll throw an apple atcha" she would say to help us remember). Her stories were great. She told a bear story, oh no! This is why you should write things down right away, I can't remember what the other two story types were called. Blast! Oh well, they were all very enjoyable. After that, we had s'mores! Yum. We let Caleb have a graham cracker which he thoroughly enjoyed.

We went to the Water Park there and had a blast!! So fun! Caleb even napped while we were there, too. We were there for several hours. Jeff and I took turns with Caleb so that we could go down the water slides. Caleb had fun on the little water slides and in the baby area. He loved all of the water!

Anyway, it was just a fun quick weekend getaway. We had fun just spending time together as a little family.

At the end of August, Jeff, Caleb and I headed down to South Carolina- Myrtle Beach with my dad and three nieces for another mini vacation. We had sooo much fun!! Caleb LOVED the ocean. At one point, we started heading back up towards our tent with my nieces and Caleb let go of my hand and tried to escape towards the waves again. Silly boy! :)

We went and played in this little pool of water by the ocean- in the sand- with my nieces and another little girl and her aunt and grandmother. Caleb was right in front of me and was leaning over playing in the water. The grandmother commented to her granddaughter, something along the lines of: "See that little boy, he puts his face in the water". I did not realize at all that his face was in the water. I just couldn't see it from my vantage, even though he was right in front of me, butt in the air. I quickly grabbed and pulled him up (his head was not under water at all, just his face barely). He coughed a bit and then vomited. I felt so bad!!! I felt like the worst mother in the world. My poor boy was nearly drowning in front of me and I had no idea. He wasn't flailing, he was calm and it really appeared that he was just playing in the water. I held him for a few minutes and then he was ready to play again. He seemed just fine. But that night, I looked up drowning signs and read a couple of articles to make sure that I knew when someone was drowning- and the signs are not what I thought they would be, certainly not what is portrayed in movies and tv shows. I read them to my husband, too, so we would both be able to recognize the signs.

Caleb, unfortunately, was sick our entire vacation. He started right before we left and continued until well after we got home. He had terrible, and I mean the worst, diarrhea. We even took him to an urgent care center to make sure he wasn't dehydrated. He was mildly dehydrated and that night was just so sick, lethargic and all. It was so sad. Despite being sick though, he remained in good spirits during the trip. He had fun playing on the playground, in the baby pool, in the ocean and with his cousins.

Our last day there, it rained, but we went to the ocean anyway. The girls had a blast for a minute, but then got cold. Someone gave us their umbrella and chairs that she had rented and so Kyrah and Miyah bundled up in their towels and sat under the umbrella. I held Caleb wrapped up in a towel under the umbrella as well. Jhaelyn and Papa Barry, as the kids affectionately call my dad, had a blast in the ocean and continued to play. Jeff played some, too and then he was done. All-in-all, everyone had a great time.

The next morning, Jeff, Caleb, and I got up early, packed our things and headed to the beach one last time. We took some family pictures and walked the beach a little. Caleb still wasn't feeling great though, and it didn't take long for him to want to head back. So we didn't stay too long. When we got back everyone else was up and dressed and packing up.

On our way home, I had wanted to make a couple of stops, but since Caleb wasn't feeling great still, we just headed home except for some stops for potty breaks and lunch. It was a great vacation and so fun to be with my family. Hopefully, we'll be able to do it again in the future and more of us can come. I enjoyed spending time with my nieces and dad, too.

Our summer was definitely full with weddings, vacations, birthdays, pirate day, and other fun!! Now bring on the Autumn!!!