Beach Birthday

For my 31st birthday Gary and I were thinking of heading back to Asheville like we did last year. Plans weren't real firm on childcare for the weekend, so I decided that I wanted to take the kids to the beach! For Christmas Gary's parents had given us a portable dvd player with two screens, so we hooked them up, packed the van and headed to the shore!

The kids did great on the way down. They watched "Ah-whoa-wa" otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty. Gary and I kept thinking that the movie sure was long, but it starts over automatically! So they watched Aurora twice - at least.

When we got down to where we could see the ocean between the buildings, I was telling the kids, "Look! Its the beach!" Then we heard Eli cough and gag! Yep! He puked up everything in his belly. We were riding down the road, so all I could do is watch as he puked. We finally pulled over and got him out. Gary is the master puke cleaner in our family, so he cleaned up best he could while I undressed and re-dressed Eli. Meanwhile Caedyn is sitting in her carseat begging for tv and telling Gary, "Daddy it stinks. It smells like puke!" I am with Eli in the back of the van about to puke myself, and Eli is half-naked and shivering. It was about 30 degrees outside as I am stripping his clothes off and wiping him down.

After our 30 minutes detour we loaded back up, started a Dora dvd, and went to find the hotel. I was sitting between Caedyn and Eli. Every time Eli would make any noise I would put the trashcan up to his face. He kept telling me, "No Mama!" I would ask him if he had to puke, and he would nod. Then I would hold the trashcan up to him. He would cough and fake puke in the can. It was funny! We just assumed that Eli had the same virus that Caedyn had had the week before, so I thought that he would be puking every 20-30 minutes like she had. We were SO lucky! He was done with puking for the weekend. Of course it took all weekend for us to get his carseat sans puke! We washed the cover, hosed the frame down, and wiped and Lysoled the whole thing. Now, it is the cleanest carseat we own!

With the fear of vomit hovering over us, I stayed in with the kids that night while Gary went to get food and groceries. We had chinese and put the kids to bed. They did well in the same room. Gary slid the bed over so that there was room for the porta-crib. They both slept like champs both nights!

In the morning we hit the beach and the pools. The beach was cold, windy, and foggy that morning. We picked up some shells and ran from the surf for a little while before we went to the pools. There were several indoor pools, including two lazy rivers. Caedyn is still doing well with her swimming. She loves to swim "by-herself" with her swimmies on her arms. I keep telling her that she can only swim with her swimmies. I am afraid she will get a false sense of her ability and try to swim on her own. Not that she would have that opportunity, but still! She also likes to jump in, and we had to act like we were catching her. She remembered how to climb out on the edge by herself, so she jumped over and over again. Swimming was definetly her favorite part! Eli was much more tentative in the water. He clung to us the whole time, and freaked when we let go of him. (He had swimmies and a ring around him.) He liked playing Motorboat, Motorboat and he tried jumping off the side a couple of times, but he probably could have done without the pool completely. Still, I can't wait until swimming lessons this year! I wish we had free access to a pool this summer. It was such fun!

We went back to the room for lunch and naps. Then we went bowling. Our hotel had a bowling alley and our room package came with a free game! We didn't know what to expect with the kids, but they did really well. They even had little bowling shoes for them. The bumpers were programmed to come up for Caedyn and Eli, but not for me and Gary. Gary helped them push the ball down the lane each time. Eli ended up winning the game! We are NOT bowlers, but we had a ball. Eli LOVED sitting on this center block that lit up and changed colors. There were some sort of controls, and Caedyn thought that she was steering the ball with those controllers. Eli seemed like he thought he was flying a plane or something. He was really focused on the contols. They didn't do anything at all - thank goodness. Caedyn enjoyed standing on top of the block and dancing. She was too funny shaking her bootie!

By the time we got done with our bowling, it was past our usual dinner time and the kids were starting to get cranky, so that nixed our idea of going out to eat. So, we dined in again. The kids had spagetti and meatballs and Gary went to get California Pizza for us. That was my first California Pizza and I wasn't overly impressed. It was good, but did not meet up to the hype.

On, Monday (my birthday and MLK day this year) we went to the rooftop resteraunt for breakfast. It was a gorgeous view of the ocean! Then we hit the pools. Gary enjoyed the hot tub while we waded in the kids lazy river. Caedyn did a lot more jumping and swimming. Eli was along for the ride again. We went back to the room for baths, showers, and to pack up. Then we loaded the van and went to walk the beach once more. The weather was much better than the morning before. The sun was out and the wind had died down. The temp was about 50 - 55 degrees. We picked up more seashells, and Eli threw plenty into the water. We had a great time, and there was no puke on the way home!

I had a fabulous birthday. It was one of my favorite celebrations ever! (Pictures are forth-coming, but the kids are up from their naps now!)