Two weeks ago, we took the girls on an "Ernst Family" vacation...just us...no "built-in" babysitters (i.e. grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins). We also stayed in a "simple" resort hotel room, so we had no kitchen (not even an "ette"), no bathtub, and luckily, our first trip with no bottles, no purees, and VERY LITTLE formula! It was so much fun!!!
We went to Hilton Head for a 2 night trip, and the ride down was the girls' first trip in the car facing toward the front! They loved having easy access to each other, easy views of Mom and Dad, and were finally told about the DVD player in the car!! Baby Einstein's "Baby MacDonald" is the current favorite, so after a
quick nap, we enjoyed "mooing" and "oinking" all the way to the beach! :)
Of course, one of our first stops was the beach...unfortunately,
our girls aren't quite as brave around this water as they are with every other splash of water that they encounter...
Macy got into it a little with her
Daddy, but after a couple of minutes of watching the waves, Makayla maintained a TIGHT grip on my neck and arms until we had moved a safe distance away! We still managed a quick
family shot before I gave in and took her to safer ground. Funny enough, the next day, AFTER baths and a fresh change of clothes,
Makayla did decide that it was time to enjoy the sand. We had planned to go out to grab dinner, but after getting our elbows dirty and going through a whole additional showering process (as I said before, no bathtub!!), the girls were
EXHAUSTED, and we realized that our previous night's
dining plan would be the plan for night 2 as well...vacations used to be a lot about good restaurants, good drinks, and late nights out...now, we feed the girls something easy, find good takeout and bottles of wine for ourselves, and spend late nights hanging out on the deck while the girls are tucked peacefully in bed inside! Ten years ago, I might have seen this as quite the sacrifice. Now, I honestly don't think it could have been more perfect!
On day 2 of our trip, besides spending time in the
sand, surf, and mostly the pool, we decided to
rent bikes from our resort. This was an awesome use of $40 and I think all 4 of us enjoyed this little adventure...except for the part where we had to ride home from breakfast in the POURING rain...unfortunately, meteorologist Daddy wasn't too good at predicting the weather this morning, and I felt like a HORRIBLE mother watching my babies get POUNDED by rain, but we got back to the hotel, ran to our rooms, and put them back in the shower to get warm and then dry off for a morning nap...it was definitely a bike ride that Gary and I won't forget, and the girls were great troopers...but I do think they wondered what the heck we were thinking!!!
By the time naps were over, the weather moved out, and we had a perfect afternoon for grabbing lunch, taking another ride on the bikes, hitting the pool, then having a few "boat drinks" and
hanging by the
pool.
Our trip home was torturously long for all of us, since we came home via Charleston (long story...), but after the 10 hour trip, we were all happy to be back safe and sound.
Since it's been a while since my last post, I had a few other random "around the house" pictures as well...the girls have been spending time enjoying ALL of their birthday presents, and have gotten a lot of use out of their
"splash pad", their water table,
their sun hats, and their tricycles...not to mention their
chairs, bean bags, and all of the other indoor toys that keep them busy!! There's never a dull moment, that's for sure!! They also helped
Papaw make homemade ice cream for the first time, and he was not afraid to make them earn their treat! :)
On a less playful note, we went to the doctor 2 weeks ago for our yearly checkup...both girls are pretty tall, Makayla more so than Macy, and, unfortunately, our poor girls both have very large heads...Macy more so than Makayla...so big that, for the first time ever, our doctor had our nurse measure mine and Gary's heads!!! You guessed it...both of us measured very large!! Here are the stats:
Macy -
- Height - 30 inches (75th percentile)
- Weight - 20.15 lbs (30th percentile)
- Head Circumfrence - 48.5 cm (>97th percentile)
Makayla -
- Height - 31 inches (90-95th percentile)
- Weight - 20.15 lbs (30th percentile)
- Head Circumfrence - 47 cm (>97th percentile)
They both checked out completely perfect, regarding overall health, development, etc! Unfortunately, since then, we had a bout with a random sickness/fever...Makayla one day, a "break", then Macy the next day...and over this past week, we've had a nasty bout with a stomach virus that's still hanging on. Unfortunately, this one has been really rough on the girls, and has caused Gary and I to put in a request for HazMat suits...I shouldn't joke about it, but I have to deal with it somehow!! It's been horrible watching them feel so rotten, and having such a hard time keeping ANYTHING in their system! Thankfully, Grandma and Papaw kept the girls for one night over the weekend so Gary and I could have a quick break, but, unfortunately, they ended up getting a taste of it themselves too...Hopefully we're all on our way to being healthy again soon!!
Whew...I guess maybe all of this craziness helps provide a little bit of explanation why it's taken me so long to post!! As usual, I'll ask for forgiveness and attempt to do better! :) Happy Fall!
