lessons from the beach

We got back from the beach last Saturday, and while we were glad to get home to see Patrick after an entire week, we were sad to leave the wonderful place that is Oak Island, NC.  Here's a few things I learned while I was there:

--The DVD player in the car is AMAZING for roadtrips!  When the movie was on, there was complete silence, except for when Kendall would start singing along!

--No matter how late the kids go to bed, they still will get up at the crack of dawn.  (Props to Harland and Michael for making breakfast for them on most of the mornings!)

--When you stay up till 1 or 2 in the morning playing Settlers of Catan, you will definitely need a nap.

--Black swimsuits are NOT slimming when you're 35 weeks pregnant.  (Granted, this is a side shot of the belly, but still!  YIKES!)

--Sand + ocean + friends = hours of entertainment!

   

--Berkeley is a lot more like her dad than I realized.  While we were playing miniature golf, she actually THREW her club because she was mad that she couldn't get the ball in the hole!  (I seem to remember Patrick doing the exact same thing. . . more than once!)

--Ice cream makes EVERYTHING better after sweating like crazy and getting really frustrated while playing mini golf!

 

--If you want your daughter to pick up a new vocabulary, let her spend a whole week straight with only the influence of BOY children her age!  Case in point:  One night as I was tucking Kendall in bed, she said, "Mom, what's a weenus?"

--I need two other women to trade off cooking dinner with me YEAR ROUND!  Fabulous!

--It only took Berkeley one day to realize how much she loves the ocean!

--Lathering up the kids with sunscreen multiple times every day and then showering all the sand and chlorine off at least twice every day is quite a process!

  

--I am not a huge fan of going far enough out into the ocean that I can't see what I'm stepping on.  Thankfully, the girls had a couple of surrogate dads for the week to help out with that!

--Even though they have their moments, Kendall and Berkeley really are great friends.

 

--If you're going to go to the beach without your husband, make sure you go with some really fun friends!  Thanks for a great week, guys!  When are we going back??

--Oh, and one last thing I learned while I was at the beach via a telephone call from my doctor's office in Charlotte:  I HAVE GALLSTONES.  (Sorry, no picture of this one!)  Looks like I have a cholecystectomy to look forward to sometime after I have this baby.  That means removing my gall bladder for those of you who aren't doctors out there!  WHAT FUN!  (And in case you're wondering, this is what caused the attack that I blogged about back in April-- and I've had a few more since then.  So Lauren and Steph, you were RIGHT!)