The kids did so much better than expected on our 6 hr road trip out - I don't think we even had to pull out the movies until the ride home! Good job kids. You da best.
We stopped for lunch on the way and poor little cooped up Millie was so excited to be out of her carseat that she went a little crazy. And I just knew in my heart people were looking at her, reading her shirt and thinking, "What are those poor idiot parents doing to themselves?" You know, because here in the south states that aren't Utah once you have one of each gender or three kids (which ever comes first) you're usually done. I had a lady at the gym last week look at me, look at my kids, ask "are those two yours?" yep... "and you're having another?" yep... "Was it an accident?" Not that its any of your business, but I'll humor you - yep. Doesn't mean he's not wanted!
We pulled into a public beach access parking lot once we reach Kill Devil Hills and let the kids loose. They were super excited to be on the beach and see the ocean - Millie was pretty captivated!
It started to lightly rain while we were there, which was kind of cool. But then the waves were a little higher than he'd planned and Jonah got the bottom of his pants wet which obviously was a catastrophe. So our stay was cut short. Turned out alright though, because soon after it started pouring pretty hard and the wind picked up, so we decided to check into our hotel.
Our hotel had a pool, so we were able to kill the hours before bedtime by swimming. It was heated, too, so that was a nice bonus! There was also a hot tub - and I know pregnant people aren't supposed to get in hot tubs but I had to get in for at least a minute. For whatever reason hot tubs aren't really a thing down here like they are in Utah, so it had been too long since we were in one!
The next morning we drove up to Corolla, hoping to see the wild horses. But we chickened out of driving on the beach because we're not super sure how/if the 4WD works and didn't want to chance getting stuck. So we decided to park and try to walk up the beach, and that's when things got... irritating.
We saw what looked like dead jellyfish all along the beach - but I guess it could be anything since we aren't exactly sea folk. But whatever they were, they were disgusting!
This is the part of the trip that went a little south. As we were walking up the beach trying to get to where the wild horses roam, the kids decided they'd had enough. They hadn't slept too well at the hotel the night before, which didn't help. When we first got out of the car it was cold, so we were all wearing our big winter coats. But then the sun started warming up, so we were carrying our coats and buckets full of shells and shovels and Millie decided to kick her boots off and scream to be held and Jonah didn't want to carry his bucket anymore and whine to us about wanting to go back home every thirty seconds. So Kade and I got a little frustrated and I kept thinking about family vacations I had gone on as a child and how my mom would grit her teeth and her eyes got scary wide and my dad would ask himself why he ever took us anywhere fun when we didn't appreciate it, and threaten to turn the car around and make us sit in our beds for the rest of our lives, or that he would drop us off wherever we were and we could walk home. And I wondered to myself why I thought my kids would act any differently than I had as a kid...
Anyway, that day Kade and I vowed to each other that our next beach vacation would be just the two of us while the kids stayed with the grandparents. So I guess some good came out of it.
After that fiasco we decided to have a picnic in a park, where the kids could play on the playground and Kade and I could sit alone without anyone whining at us for a little while. The park had a dock/walkway thing off of it so after we were done eating we decided to check out the sound. Which is the water between the outer banks and the mainland.
Then we found a beach in Kitty Hawk and stopped there for a while. It was high tide so there wasn't too much beach, and the waves were pretty crazy, but we all had fun.
Kade, staring pensively into the ocean, contemplating his future as a Physical Therapist. Well, actually I told him to post like that so he was probably just thinking about how corny the pic would turn out.
Before we left on this trip I asked Kade if we could go to the ocean sometime when I wasn't pregnant, and he laughed because we both realized we went to the beach up in Washington when I was about 6 months pregnant with Jonah, then we went to Myrtle Beach a couple years ago when I was 7 months pregnant with Millie, and here we were again, planning another beach trip while I'm 6 months pregnant with #3. I guess the ocean just speaks to my weird pregnancy hormones. Draws me to it, or something. I don't know. But I do know this: the next time I'm on an oceanside beach it will be during the summer, I'll be laying out on a beach towel soaking up the sun, and there will be no kids in tow. Cross your fingers!
I wanted to get a quick family pic while we were there, but it never worked out. Mostly because the kids were either too busy or too ornery. But we did get Jonah to take a pic of Kade and I! So at least we have that.
I've often made fun of Kade, because his most said phrase (by far, the entire time I've known him) is "I can't see a thing" whenever the sun is out. He says it's due to his concussions, but Jones and Millie haven't had concussions and they're the same way. So on the drive home, heading west into the sunset, I glanced over and Kade has his black hoodie wrapped around his face. I thought it was funny. Both the kids do the same thing with their blankets. Weirdos.
So anyway, that was our trip. It went from great, to ok, to disastrous, to better, and back to ok. And now we have some great memories, fun photos, and a ton of seashells! One day we'll forget all about the terrible parts, but for now, we're never taking our kids anywhere ever again. :)
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