On Friday night, we got back from the annual Gibbs family beach trip in Litchfield, SC. We have gone there since I was a little girl, and I am so thrilled to be able to make memories with MY little family there now!!
It’s quite a drive, so we split it into 2 days. Last Thursday we traveled 9+ hrs to my parents house in Clemmons, NC. It was quite a trip….1 hour in, Nate needed a potty break for “#2.” And then 30 minutes later, Abby barfed all over herself. No, I’m not kidding. We are still not sure what upset her stomach or if she was carsick, but luckily it was just that once. The bad part was 1) We had to throw away her outfit…there was just no salvaging it. And 2) Though we did our best to clean the carseat, there was a lingering smell of throw-up the remaining 7 hrs. Fun times. The kids were relatively well-behaved, despite there being only 1 thirty-minute nap among the 2 of them. That night Deedee (my Dad’s mom) came over for dinner & to see the kids, but unfortunately, she didn’t quite know who we were. She has Alzheimer’s, so it was sad to see her so out of it L She enjoyed watching the kids play though.
Friday morning, we loaded up the 2 cars and headed to the beach with my parents in tow! We made our usual stops at the fruit stands (for the best peach ice cream ever!) and then made it to the beach around 2 pm. It took awhile to get settled, go to the grocery store, etc. And the rest of the family slowly arrived later in the afternoon….both of my sisters with their men. The kids had fun exploring the house & all the old toys, swinging on the front porch, laying on the hammock, and riding on the golf cart. We had a pizza night and played cards after the kids went to bed (a family tradition when on vacation).
The rest of the week was spent on the beach or in the pool nearby. Relaxing, chasing the kids, burying each other in the sand, reading books, and LOTS of laughing! We got to eat out & have awesome seafood 2 nights; the other nights each couple “took” a night and cooked for everyone.
We had a few special visitors during our beach week…the first was my Dad’s cousin Julie (who partly owns the house), and her kids Anna (9) & Will (12). They joined us on the beach while the kids were napping up at the house, and then later we all hopped on the golf cart and chased down the ice cream truck in the neighborhood. Anna was enamored with Abby, and tried to carry her everywhere. Nate just liked hanging with the “big kids.”
Our 2
nd visitor was a college girlfriend of mine, who lives in Little River, SC about an hour away. (Love ya Becca!!!) Though we only had a few hours together, we got to quickly catch up, as well as watch the kids on the beach. As Becca says, they are a “hoot” these days
J Up at the house, they enjoyed playing with Becca’s fancy camera, and entertained us at dinner by mimicking everything Poppy did. Abby is such a ham, I swear.
The kids’ impressions of the beach:
-NATE: The first day, he was NOT a fan of the ocean. We had expected this b/c last year was the same. He did, however, enjoy building sand castles, digging in the sand, and making Spiderman imprints in the sand. (Thanks Dollar Store!) On day 2, Aunt Bebe made it her mission to make N like the water. And she succeeded!! He “surfed” on his Spiderman float & boogie board, and loved running around in the “shallow end” singing “Splish splash I’m taking a bath” over and over and over and over. It was hilarious. He really did love the ocean for the rest of the week, and even got brave and wanted to “jump waves.” He had water blaster fights, flew kites with Poppy & Daddy, played ladder golf, and surprised us all by wanting to get buried in the sand. And days when we went to the pool, N decided he could touch the bottom in the shallow end – it was 3 ft – and did! He attempted swimming by himself, floating, putting his head under, and loved horseplaying with his Daddy.
-ABBY: I was most anxious to see what Abby would think of the beach/ocean. She was there last year, but only 7 months old and just really starting to sit up. This year, her first step into the ocean elicited a big giggle…she loved it! At one point she was bending over in the ocean, was looking at us through her legs, and almost did a forward roll. Hilarious! She LOVED sitting in the sand and rubbing it all over her legs. Like N, she liked to be buried in the sand and pushing the toy wagon. Towards the end of the week, the novelty of the ocean wore off and she seemed a little scared of it. But she still enjoyed playing in the sand and especially building dripping castles with Mommy. At the pool, she would sing her “happy song” every time Nanny would pull her along in her floatie. She liked jumping with Mommy, blowing bubbles, and sitting on the pool steps & kicking her feet.
Some funny stories/memories from our trip:
1. Every day, it was quite the production setting up at the beach. The first day we had 8 adults and 2 kids, so that required a lot of chairs, towels, beach bags, toys, drinks, etc. And we had to set up the canopy so the kids could have some shade. The first day we got lazy and decided not to stake it down. BIG MISTAKE. It almost blew away in the afternoon (hitting Lora on the head) and in the process, one of the support legs got bent. We staked it down, and “borrowed” some cinderblocks for added support so it wouldn’t blow away. And we decided to just leave it up all week.
Well, the city of
Georgetown had other ideas. We had a violation notice in the morning saying it had to come down at night because it interrupted the turtles mating!? That day, it was super hard to take down, so Mike & Greg ended up walking the whole frame back to the house. This was at least a 10 minute walk, people. Luckily, Bec caught it on her iPhone so everyone can see the Clampitts.
2. Greg hurt his neck putting up the darn canopy one morning (yes, this thing was the thorn in our side all week), and ended up having to go to a chiropractor on Wednesday. Luckily, they did an x-ray and nothing was out of place. He got 2 deep tissue massages, and was sent home with a bottle full of aleve. Luckily he is doing much better now but he had a rough 2 days. Seriously, who goes on vacation and goes to the chiropractor!? Luckily, Mom brought her microwavable lemur/neck brace to help ease Greg's pain.
3. Sunday was both Father’s Day and my parents’ 40
th anniversary. Us 3 girls surprised them with a cake, gift card to a fave restaurant, and a list of 40 of our favorite memories from our childhood. It was nice to laugh & reminisce over some of our crazy escapades!!
I have a million more stories (and even MORE pics!) but the jist of it is, I love spending time with my family, in particular at the beach! I even got to spend a GLORIOUS 2 HOURS on the beach all alone one day, lounging with my feet in the water, reading my book. Heaven.
Can’t wait till next year’s trip!! J
PS – Friday was a loooong drive home. Since N headed to “Camp Nanny & Poppy” for a few days, we decided we could make the 10 hour drive home in one day….since “one kid is easy.” Well, after 3 stops, 2 catnaps, 1 poopy diaper, 4 dvds, lots of dance-offs & throwing toys, and 11.5 hours, we made it! Needless to say, we are happy to be home.
I've had a lot of people asking me the details of our move lately. So I'll try my best to summarize here. The moving company is coming July 29th & 30th to pack & load our stuff. So we will officially be gone as of the 30th :( Then we will be able to unload/move into the house in Tuscaloosa on August 1st. 
