But, I digress. This year Ian hosted the event at our house (it usually rotates between the 6-8 guys involved) and no women are allowed. This means that Riley and I had to vacate the premises. We're entirely okay with this. Who the heck wants to be in the same house with 8 guys drinking beer (and scotch) while eating as much junk food as they can in 72 hours? Not me.
So, we headed west to visit with our good friend RayRay and her little guy G-man (you may remember Gregory from earlier posts). We had a blast visiting from Friday through Monday. Rachel had just closed on owning her new veterinary practice and it was great to help her relieve some stress. There were only a couple times that she got called out (if you know the Tice's, you understand what an amazing feat that is!) and we actually had quite a bit of down time to enjoy catching up.
We managed to head over to Hendersonville, NC for the 63 Annual Apple Festival. It was crowded, and we only stayed about an hour and a half or so, but we enjoyed the sights, ate a delicious funnel cake (nothing like fried dough to make mama happy) and bought some of the best Macintosh apples I've had in a long time. Maggie and Lee, Matt's parents, were able to meet us down there, so we got some visiting in with them as well.
The weekend was rounded out by a nice morning walk with the kids, picking pears off a tree in the horse field and enjoying awesome home made dinners and wonderful conversation with the best girlfriend in all the world.
We were sad to leave on Monday, but knew we had to get back. Daddy was missing his little girl and there was more to come in our fun filled week ahead.
No sooner did we get home, but I had to wash clothes, re-pack our bags and get ready for another four hour trip. This time, in the opposite direction. That's right, folks. We got to go to the beach! For two and a half days, but what the heck! It's the beach!
Some friends of ours that have a little girl near Riley's age, Hannah, invited us out to the shore to spend some of their vacation time with them. There was supposed to be a bigger crowd, but Ian couldn't get the time off and other friends were forced to decline the offer. We certainly missed all of them, but had a blast hanging out with the Leuver clan!
We left late Wednesday night and got into Duck, NC around 10:45pm or so. Thursday was rainy and the surf was crazy strong. It was like a hurricane was coming or something with the wind blowing the sand around and the waves were almost up to the boardwalk. So, we wound up heading into Duck to the Scarborough Faire shopping center. Fortunately for us, it was a nice, leisurely walk from the house. We were perfectly situated between the beach and the shops.
It was amazing how little had changed since I was a little girl and my family used to vacation in Duck. Many of the same stores were still there in Scarborough Faire. There was the old bookstore, the Christmas Store and The Fudgery! Who could forget the Fudgery? It smelled and looked just like I remembered. I bought a pound of fudge (for the nostalgia of it all, of course) and relished in the memories it brought back.
The girls were hysterical all weekend with their antics. Both of them proved to have strong opinions and constantly battle for control of the best toys. Who knew that a little pink stroller sized for dolls would be the envy of them both? For being cooped up inside, they were both well behaved and entertained each other pretty well. Although, there were times when Hannah gave us this strange look that seemed to ask, "What kind of hell beast did you unleash on me?"
Friday found us some sunshine, but the water was still too rough. We got down to the beach for about an hour before the girls got tired of playing in the sand. They were both terrified of the water (I don't blame them, that surf was still crazy!) and we soon found ourselves back at the house and in the pool. Riley was a water lovin' machine! She wanted to jump into the water from the side. Constantly. I almost couldn't keep up with her and I swear Liz has some new gray hairs because of her daring displays. She would literally just walk right off the side. Whether or not you were watching. Finally, the girls went down for a nap and the adults were able to lounge by the pool and read for a bit.
We had a blast, and can't thank the Leuver's enough for letting us crash their family vacation!
Now that we're back home, it's been nice to relax and stay home for a change. The kiddos are growing up way too fast and it's hard sometimes to keep up with it all. Enjoy the pictures of our crazy week in the next post!
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