The I 77 time warp...

Every year the drive home from Hilton Head gets longer. Yesterday we spent 14 hours traveling. 14 hours.... There was a stop at Chick Fil A for lunch and Bob Evans for dinner, and one potty break. Traffic was backed up and we went over a mountain. It rained and that slowed us down. We got home and Mike started opening two weeks of mail. Fun statement from the insurance company saying they did not cover my radiation.... take a breath.... in the amount of $98,000. Don't worry, we are not liable. If we were it wouldn't matter, who has that kind of money? Vacation, despite the exhaustion of being with a toddler and sand being everywhere was really wonderful. We have had a quiet day at home. Mike mowed, I went to the store, Michael took a good nap, clothes have been washed. Some highlights of vacation... 1. Seeing alligators in their natural habitat at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge 2. Driving in circles in Savannah looking for the Juliette Gordon Low home, only to realize on our fourth pass it was covered in scaffolding and tarps. 3. Driving over the mountain, seeing a battle field. 4. Having great family time. 5. Being able to talk about real concerns with a good friend and her getting it.

Letting Michael stand on the air conditioner to watch Libby and Mike swim.  Realizing later on that this second story window opens...parenting fail. 

Scooping at the beach.  We scooped a lot of sand. 

The kids had a lot of tents.... :)

Vacationing

It dawned on me this morning that this is the longest I have ever been away from our house... It is being stayed in as our dog is too old to travel for boarding, or even staying with family. Last week was wonderful. We live in such a fast paced world that it was good to just visit. Kids stayed in jammies, we drank coffee, and giggled way too much. Shannon was as always the impeccable host. I just wish she had reason to stay with us so I could return the hospitality. Libby and I spent the day at Williamsburg last Wednesday. We did it without tickets and while we had a good time we have all but planned a return trip over spring break with tickets. The only thing I can compare it to is a historical Disneyland. Regardless we felt we missed out on the learning parts. I still feel I made the right choice as one day would have been a poor use of funds. Our beach week has been interesting thus far. Michael has been very busy, so relaxing really isn't part of the plan. I wore my prothesis in the water (as the lady who sold them to me said I could) I have been squeezing salt water out of fake boobs for three days now. We went out to dinner Sunday evening. Libby choose Greek and our food was good. Michael was not content so we took turns going for walks. In regards to our condo, it is nice. The complex itself is nice too. The walk to the beach with all of our stuff and Michael is a bit much. They advertise a shuttle, but by the time we wait for it we could have aleady made the walk. We are on the ocean but behind a tidal marsh. I think we have decided that next summer we will be on the water... as in out the door and on the beach. We do get to look at some multimillon dollar beach front homes.... they rent weekly starting at $11,000..... We made the choice to stay in last night. I made a creamy tomato shrimp sauce that was delicous.... shrimp had been caught yesterday morning. We had corn on the side, a reminder that somethings are still better in Ohio. I would post pictures, but there is no SD drive on the computer I am using.