So it turns out that there’s not much time for blogging when you start school in early August, pause for 10 days at the beach, and then jump back into school as soon as you return. Falling behind on the blog also means that you fall behind on sorting pictures – over 1200 pictures behind! I finally caught up on the pictures and hope to get the blog back up to date shortly, too.
Our beach trip was CRAZY this year – lots of fun and happy memories coupled with lots of hard and downright terrifying memories. Some of that is life with four kids (including a toddler) to be sure, but there were unexpected challenges as well.
1. The condo was not toddler-friendly at all. All of the door handles are the lever style, which Caleb figured out in 0.2 seconds. Our baby gate could not stretch across any of the openings to effectively block off safe zones. The cabinets gave easy access to the trash, glass dishes, knives, etc. We did not bring an oven lock, and he is very capable of opening the oven. You get the picture. Yes, we rearranged, disciplined, and watched him like a hawk, but his awake times were not exactly restful.
2. Caleb’s nights were even worse. We knew he deplored the pack ‘n’ play, so, prior to our leaving, we did trial runs here for several days. Of course, he slept beautifully. At the condo, the only place to put the pack ‘n’ play is the master bathroom. Some nights he slept; most of the nights he was up for hours. A few times we could ascertain the reason why (loud thunderstorms, a stuffy nose, etc.). Mostly we had no idea why or what to do about it. Because our bed was about a foot from the bathroom door, if he wasn’t sleeping, we weren’t sleeping.
3. Abby came extremely close to drowning in the pool at the condo on the second day of our trip. I do not want to rehash the details of the event – Paul and I have gone over it thousands of times together and in our heads. Suffice it to say, we have no words for the terror and our gratefulness for God’s protection of her. We were within seconds of a tragic outcome. She still talks about it almost daily (“I am so glad I did not drown in the pool, Mama.”), so she is suffering from flashbacks, too. Shockingly, she did not develop a fear of the water whatsoever and swam happily the rest of our trip. Paul and I, however, were very anxious when the kids were in the water (not that we were nonchalant before!). And water and the beach kind of go together 90% of the time!
4. CVS was our best friend. I started out the trip with a terrible cold that turned quickly into a sinus infection. My amazing doctor called in an antibiotic for me (and a second one when the first didn’t work). Caleb had a bug bite on his ear that became badly infected. A trip the urgent care resulted in an antibiotic for him, too. Paul and Caleb caught my cold by the end of the trip. So, CVS became a daily stop for Sudafed, Afrin, Mucinex, ibuprofen, antibiotics, etc., etc., etc.
As you will see below, life goes on! And because we were at the beach, life could still be awesome. You take a Sudafed, drink an extra cup of tea in the morning, squeeze in an afternoon nap, rehash water safety rules…whatever it takes and then hit the waves!
He got away!
About two thirds of the way through our trip, Caleb was finally willing to go into the ocean!
When the sand, sun, and activity got to be too much, Caleb loved the Ergo. He even fell asleep a few times for a much needed morning nap. Quite a treat for me, too!
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