A "reunication"

We just got home from our first family vacation. Yes, we've done plenty of trips to visit friends and family, but this was the first time the trip felt like a vacation. Maybe it was because it was to the beach or maybe because we stayed in an unfamiliar place, but whatever the reason we really enjoyed our week in Seabrook Island, South Carolina for the DePalma-Fleming-Menke-Sanderson (aka Mogab) reunion.

We met up with the Sandersons in the Baltimore airport, but we didn't get much of a chance to catch up as we immediately had to board the next plane. Upon arrival in Charleston, Alyssa an Audrey quickly bonded over silly faces. On the drive from the airport to the island, Alyssa repeated over and over "I feel like I'm ready to get out now. I want to go swimming." But it wasn't meant to be that day as that night found us enjoying fresh shrimp and a gorgeous sunset after unpacking.

 

The next morning, we put on our bathing suits and lathered on the sunscreen and headed to the beach. Both girls absolutely loved the water. Alyssa splashed around in her tube and Lauren sat in her ladybug floatie, kicking and splashing. Both girls were intrigued by the clumps of seaweed and crabs in the sand (although Lauren didn't particularly like it when the little crabs crawled over her feet).

After naps, we hit the pool and there was more swimming and splashing. Alyssa got braver with each passing minute, putting her face in the water (thanks to some swimming goggles), jumping off the side and swimming in the deep end.

This is how we spent the week, between the beach and the pool. We enjoyed breakfast and lunch on the porch of the condo, in the shade with a nice breeze and dinner was usually at Aunt Jacquie & Uncle Paul's house. It took until the very last day in the afternoon for Alyssa to finally say "I'm tired of swimming." She absolutely loved it, and she referred to herself (and Audrey) as "fishies". Lauren too loved the water but not nearly as much. She hasn't yet developed any fear of the water really, and Nana was convinced that she would just walk off the edge of the pool into the water if you weren't watching her. Even in the ocean, she'd walk around you and bounce up and down with no real fear of falling in the water.

The girls enjoyed playing in the sand too. They were able to build some sand castles, bury their feet, and even pose with their names.

It only rained one day, but even that day were able to keep ourselves entertained with dance parties, exploring the garage, hide-and-seek, and fingernail painting. While we were there we were able to celebrate Drew's first birthday (and Lauren's and Todd's too!) and visit for an afternoon with Fife.

But really the best part of the week was spending time together. Audrey and Alyssa were pretty much inseparable, and Lauren was very attentive to Drew. As adults, we enjoyed watching them begin to establish bonds and we also loved laughing and talking together too.

On our way back to the airport, we stopped to check out the Angel Oak. This impressive tree is thought to be 300-400 years old. We can't even begin to describe to you the span of its branches and the girth of its trunk. The website says that it's 65 feet high, with a circumference of 25.5 feet. The circumference of the largest branch is 11.5 feet and is 89 feet long! The girls (and us too!) really wanted to climb on it, but that isn't allowed.

The girls did great with the air travel. They sat very nicely in their car seats on the plane and were good listeners when  walking through the airports. Thankfully, neither of them had any troubles with motion sickness or ears popping.

Lauren did have some pretty ugly diapers early in the trip which brought on lots of screaming when it came time to change diapers, but she has since recovered. She also caught a touch of a cold and was struggling with a molar that wanted to poke through, so she totally showed everyone her true colors during the last few days of the trip. The saying of the week was "When she's happy, she's really happy. And when she's not, she's really not." I'm just hoping that everyone remembers more of the happy moments than the meltdowns (and yes, she's going through a phase when she doesn't want to wear pants).

 We look forward to another Mogab "reunication" again in the future! Thanks Aunt Jacquie and Uncle Paul for hosting, and thanks Nana and PapPap and Uncle Wally & Aunt Dena for weathering the tantrums with us and keeping the girls for our day out in Charleston!