The Christmas When I Forgot Pants

Well, we had ourselves a merry little Christmas. We did the traveling portion of the celebrations before Christmas this year instead of after, which is different for us -- it made the shopping and prep part feel a little rushed, but once we got out of town and got back, we were kind of glad to be home and settled and relax here, just our little family. It felt like far less frenzy than it does some years.

I managed to get all the way to Huntersville, for four family celebrations within three days, and I packed no pants. Zero. NONES PANTS. I wore leggings and a tunic to church on Sunday, and went straight from there out of town. I had packed a bunch of shirts and sweaters but no pants to go with them, and no other tunics or long tops, and no room in our schedule of gatherings to run to Target, so! I wore that tunic and leggings for daaaaaysssss and the good news is I didn't even burn it afterwards.

Anyway. Pictures of Christmas. My outfit on repeat x1000 is barely pictured. Because I can't stand the sight of it. Because obviously.

Reading on his new Kindle, wearing airplane
slippers and reindeer antlers... #doingitright

Anneliese had been asking for colored streaks in her hair for months,
and then Santa put hair chalks in her stocking! She was... excited.

It might be Christmas if your parents let you ride a scooter in the house.

Charlotte also got a new baby doll (she named it Claire, her middle name)
and an Elsa nightgown which we passed off as a dress-up dress. We are smart. 

That awkward moment when you're trying to pretend-
straighten your hair and your dad keeps photo-bombing you.

Giant wall atlas!
Hey Nathan, your Bumgarner is showing.

These magnatiles we gave Nathan were a hit with *all* the kids. RECOMMEND.

Taking pretend selfies with Daddy. Ahhh child of the new millenium.

All the kids/spouses/grandkids were able to make it to Dad's this year! Whoa!

Anneliese and Grandma

Decorating cookies at Ashley's house with my mom.
I'm not saying my decorating was the best, but... it kinda was.

And then I came home and put on jeans and it was awesome, the end.

A Birthday Pie, a Pinata, and a Tire Swing

We went to Mt. Holly a couple weeks ago for the day, to see my sister and her family and celebrate little Liam's birthday. I can't even believe he and Charlotte, the Bumgarner "babies," are now three. Wasn't it just a minute ago Ashley and I were pregnant with them, bumping bellies and laughing about them being kissing cousins? Stop growing up, babies!

But, three he is, so we went to a big family birthday gathering to celebrate.

My kids both loved and were terrified by the Grices' tire swing. Uncle John swing them really high; the shrieks and laughs were something in between fun and fear. He and Liam seem to have a daredevil gene that my children do not.

Yes, Charlotte is bottomless. I was trying to prevent a poop/underwear situation. Three is fun, y'all.

They also strung up a pinata for Liam and all the assorted cousins, and everyone got to take turns trying to smash it, but not blindfolded because again, three. Charlotte hit that thing exactly as delicately as you'd guess she would've.

It was so very Charlotte. It made us laugh.

And the cutest thing all day -- Liam doesn't love cake, he loves pie. So Ashley made him a birthday pie. So awesome.

He sang to himself. Also awesome.

It was a fun playful day with family and grandparents and uncles, and we had a late drive back but it was worth it. Happy birthday, sweet Liam!

Yesterday Today Tomorrow, v2.0

Yesterday: Mark made a giant breakfast, which is kind of his territory, because he and the kids all love breakfast and it is a special Daddy bonding thing. Sometimes I partake, sometimes not (I do not love breakfast food very much) (oh stop clutching your pearls, I'm fine) but yesterday when I woke up, they were all about to sit down to their feast, so I joined them for one coffee and one non-buttered non-syruped pancake, which I ate like a piece of bread, because that is how I like pancakes. Plain. Like bread.

(I have VERY STRONG OPINIONS on syrup, which I could rant about for thousands of words, but there is no need, because it basically boils down to I STRONGLY DISLIKE IT. Like, I don't even want to smell it on my kids after they eat it. Oh sweet baby you want pancakes? Sure! Now time for a bath and some teeth brushing before I can hug you again.) (Not really.) (Well, kind of yes really.)

After breakfast Mark wanted to go watch a church basketball game, and he was all, suuuuure I will just take the kids, I'll take 'em all! Which means I got to sit under a blanket and drink coffee and read my book for an hour, and I guess I don't really need to say this because hello obvious, but it was GLORIOUS. Alone time in my own house is precious and rare and I was not going to waste it doing dishes or some such nonsense.

After they got back, and after I went by church to take care of some prep work for Youth Sunday this morning, Mark and I got to go on a rare Saturday DATE. My mom was in town last night and offered to get the kids down while we went out. We ate empanadas and drank spicy pineapple margaritas and were home by 9 because we totally know how to partaaaaay when we have a free sitter.  (No, it is because Sundays start early for us, especially this week.)

But seriously, being downtown was lovely and chatting with Marky alone for several hours was fun (we have this opportunity at home almost every evening, but it is more fun downtown on a date because obviously) and it was an easy laughy delicious way to hang out with my love, and I therefore loved it.

Today: I was up and coffeed and out the door and at church at the sparkling hour of 7:30 to help with three services of Youth Sunday, which has a million pieces and a million people and a million helpers but it all came together kind of great, actually. Our youth choir (the part I officially help with) was for real awesome, the best they have sung in any of the years I have been involved, I think.

After church and lunch, Another Nathan (also thoroughly exhausted, you would not believe the amount of effort and work it takes him for Youth Sunday -- and every Sunday, of course) took me downtown to see the composer of the Gospel Mass conduct it in a concert/service.

Okay so here's the thing abut Another Nathan: he gets a wee bit adorably nerdy about stuff like this. I mean, he brought his own copy of the score. To follow along. With a pencil. And also a sharpie. To get it autographed WHICH HE INDEED DID.

See? Adorably nerdy. This is why he is my people, y'all.

And the Gospel Mass was indeed very interesting and cool and beautiful to hear. Also being in church and listening to lovely music and not having to do any of the prep work to make it happen was the perfect thing for a friend date after a busy youth morning.

And then we came home and watched the Olympics closing ceremonies with Marky, and now I am typing this blog post with one eye open because I am tired like whoa.

Tomorrow: will be a normal Monday, I suppose. Gym, school dropoffs, diaper laundry, making lists for the week, playtime with Charlotte, mayhaps some cleaning. Oh! Wait! I also get to go for a tiny bit of outlet shopping (I don't need anything, but it sounds delightful just to wander, and I won't say no to some Harry & David coffee if we're going) and then beer/pizza/trivia at our favorite beer/pizza/trivia place. (We always think we are so good, but then we always lose, in case you are curious about our trivia baller status.)

Hm in reading this I realize it has been kind of an indulgent few days with all the outings and shopping and restaurants but ehhhh we worked hard too, so I won't apologize.

Outlets, ahoy!

Cousin Besties

So, Liam came to visit, and it was kind of awesome.

We all opened presents together with Marmie which was fairly adorable and in case you don't believe me, BEHOLD: PHOTO EVIDENCE OF THE ADORABLE:

Yes, mom got him snow pants. She got all the kids
snow pants (to go with last year's sleds?) but none of
mine looked half as adorable as Liam does here.

After Marmie went home, Liam got to stay, and my kids had a ball having their cousin here. Can I brag on my babies for a sec? Anneliese gladly gave up her bed for Liam to sleep in, and then bounced between my room and Nathan's for her own sleepy needs. She even happily handed over some animals and her favorite blankets for him to hug.

When Liam got a little weepy for his parents, even after facetiming with them, Nathan snuggled him and took pictures with him on my phone to make him smile (it almost worked).

But it is Charlotte who is the biggest magnet for Liam. They are only a few weeks apart in age, and especially after spending a good amount of time with him at Ashley's house a few weeks ago in the days leading up to my Dad's birthday dinner, they kind of adore each other now.

(Aside -- I totally forgot to mention the part of that weekend where Liam led her into the backyard woods and then we got caught in a downpour, and then as soon as I got them clean and dry, I found them in the kitchen, Charlotte pressing the fridge water dispenser ("it's waining!" ... uh no. no it is not) and padding through the flood she had created, while Liam clapped gleefully beside her.) (in other news, no one hire me to babysit two two-year-olds again anytime soon.)

Anyway I like to say they are cousin besties. (It makes me smile to see Charlotte with a special friend, since Nathan and Anneliese continue to be so incredibly bonded to each other, even in the face of a new sibling who has been around two years, which is totally a blog post for another day.) When Liam was sad for his parents, he cried next for Charlotte. They follow each other around, chatting and laughing about things only the two of them understand. Or, probably they don't understand, but maybe that makes it cuter. At one point in the weekend it got quiet in Charlotte's room and we found them like this in her bed:

So, yeah. Cousin besties. And this will always get to be The Christmas When Liam Came.

I kinda love it.

Summer Bucket Did-it List

It was an easy first week of the school year with the girls here at home, since they aren't staring back til this week, and verrrrry graaaaadually. (Well, I say "easy" without accounting for the bickering, which I am about sick to death of, and also the fact that Anneliese has been stuck in The Grandparent Hangover That Will Never End, alternating between delightful and then suddenly sobbing, pushing my nerves to the outer limits of human understanding. And without accounting for the heavy job stuff still hanging around like a wet blanket over our ability to feel relaxed, or Nathan side-stepping a little to find his place, and yeah, suddenly now writing this it doesn't sound like an easy week at all.)

*record scratch*

Okay, well it was a slow week together with the girls, at least. I just couldn't make myself do much besides hang out here at home. After we get through our variety of first days this week and the mmo/preschool schedule officially kicks in, it will bring an era of one-on-one time with each of them, which is yay! for me but maybe not as super for them? So I just wanted us to be home and be together for a few more days. Normally I cherish and protect my afternoon quiet during their naps, but these days I have been pushing errands and appointments for that time instead of dragging the girls along in the morning, and reserving mornings for relaxing and playing.

I just want to BE.

Anyway.

(Mark and Another Nathan have been laughing at me for how often I say anyway. It seems it's not just a written tic in emails/blogs, but an out-loud voicemail disease I can't cure myself of.) (Leaving voicemails in the first place is apparently another one.)

ANYWAY.

What am I blogging about again? I don't know. The end of summer? Yes, okay. That.

It was a good summer, y'all! I wanted it to be, I was ready for it, and I was also prepared to feel over it -- but aside from a few frustrating days, I really haven't. Basically this summer taught me that I want all summers home with my kids, and whatever work I go back to (someday) will maybe need to allow that. Like, the content of the work matters of of course, but the "career potential" might matter less than the schedule. (I have to put that in quotes. It seems so laughable. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up! Still! "Career potential." Ha.) So yeah. Our super summer means that kind of thing has been stewing in my head a bit.

So! Super summer! We did (almost) everything on our bucket list:

1.) Eat hot dogs in the back of a pickup truck. DONE.

2.) Throw water balloons onto the side of the guest house. Oops? Totally forgot about this.

3.) Make surprise crayons. DONE, with side effects.

4.) Go to that place where everyone gets to choose their own restaurant. The mall food court, hell slash paradise. DONE.

5.) Take swim lessons. DONE.

6.) Take dance lessons. DONE. (I will post more about this. Soon.)

7.) Go on lunch dates. DONE.

8.) Go to the beach for the day. DONE.

9.) Read 99 books. DONE. Look at sweet Nathan with his complete and stapled list!!

10.) Make a cake that looks like dirt with worms on it. DONE.

11.) Go downtown and go up in that big tower again. DONE.

12.) Camp in the backyard with Daddy. DONE.

13.) Go to lego camp. Oh y'all. This was a heartbreak of the summer. We found out at 5pm on Friday before his camp started (Monday morning) that it had been canceled due to not enough kids having signed up, which, first of all, what. Not enough kids interested in legos? I don't understand. Also, a little more notice would have been great, considering it was the last week of summer and they gave us no time to make alternate plans and oh my heaven he would have been crushed, so good thing we had added Montreat in and were fresh off the heels of that. Boooo lego camp. This one is definitely happening next summer. (Also if y'all want to see Mark's rage face, which doesn't come out very often, cancel his kid's lego camp at the last minute. Rage face!)

14.) Go to the zoo and ask Charlotte what her favorite animal is. DONE. Her favorite is a dutt! (She calls all birds dutts.) (And dinosaur statues too, apparently.)

what is this, Daddy? this is not a dutt.

15.) Have a dinosaur pool party. DONE, and with gusto.

16.) Dance in the car. DONE.

17.) Have sleepovers in Mommy's room. DONE.

18.) Do a picnic at the airport. Ummm we forgot about this too. I went to the airport, more times than I would have preferred, for less glamorous reasons than I preferred (lots of picking up and dropping off and not enough of me going anywhere myself) but we did not picnic or watch planes and we should have!

19.) List item added by Grandpa: go visit Grandpa! (And other various grandparents and relatives.) So all the kids got to visit grandparents at some point this summer, but Anneliese really knocked this one out of the ballpark with a marathon ten-day trip to three different houses. Which was fun for her, and logistically/driving smart, but too achy for me. Will share more pics of that at some point too. You should see the outfits she (my mom?) picked for some of her outings. Internet gold.

Not on the bucket list but also completed: catch the kitchen on fire, have many Starbucks dates, play in the pool a ton, kill a snake with a shovel, have an incredible trips to Chicago and Montreat, watch the trailer for this upcoming dinosaur movie three hundred thousand times (that youtube link has 371 thousand views, and 300 thousand are from Nathan), eat a lot of post-gym dunkin donuts in our sweaty clothes, and drive ourselves nuts trying to solve The Mystery of the Sticker Mail.

That'll do, summer 2013. That'll do.

Things that are New

Somehow I got very behind and it seems the easiest way to catch up is just to say hey! here are some things that are new!

--- First and most importantly, I have a new computer! Well, a new computer-ish thing. It is a Chromebook and apparently they have existed for some time and I have even seen their commercials but somehow without noticing them or without noticing that it could be something for me. But it is! It's basically a computer that is mostly for internetting. (Um, hello. Me!) Think of it as a cheaper-than-a-tablet, with a real keyboard and usb ports to plug in various accoutrements.

I could sing its praises all the livelong day but I will use it for another month before I give any Official Opinions. In the meantime, just know I am thrilled to have a second computer. (Mark and I were the only people in America still sharing a computer at home. I am sure of it.) And now that Nathan is learning to email, the demand on computer sharing around here is just too high.

Also it has a lowercase keyboard, which is a really small thing that makes me really happy for some reason. Pretty!

--- Nathan lost his glasses for close to three weeks and then Anneliese found them in the back of the van where I had looked a hundred times, because that's how our life is?

--- Mark has a broke ass shoulder. This is kind of old news but I haven't gotten all bloggity about it because we didn't know what was happening and, you know, medical stuff. Not always for sharing. The short version is he threw a softball too hard (yes, another church softball injury) and landed in the ER and then after x-rays and MRI's and seeing an orthopedic shoulder specialist several times, he either has an avulsion fracture (where a piece of the bone is completely chipped off) (sounds bad, but apparently less painful and problematic than other kinds of breaks) or a chunk of calcium buildup has chipped off, and if it's the latter, then what the eff did he do to his shoulder to build up that much calcium, etc etc etc. (I don't understand it all. If you couldn't guess.)  So he has physical therapy twice a week for the next six weeks, to attempt to strengthen surrounding muscles to pull the bad joint back into place and avoid surgery (or something). Fingers crossed. Oh! And his knees have been messed up for years too, so since we're already at our deductible they're working on how to slide his kneecaps back into place better as well. Yay! (?)

--- I took Nathan and three of his friends (triplets!) to Monkey Joe's. Besides one smashed face and a bloody tooth that I prayed was that loose before our outing, it was a lovely easy afternoon with his sweet friends. (Not as violent as it sounds.)

--- My mom came to visit and took Nathan to a special exhibit at our science museum (his beloved "Dinosaur Museum") and somehow they came home with not only a stuffed dinosaur that roars but a bumper sticker! Which Nathan is hell-bent on using as a bumper sticker! On the van! I dreaded the day they would start begging to sticker up our cars but I never dreamed it would involve an acrocanthosaurus.

(Good news Marmie, your new acro bumper sticker is in the mail! Nathan is very excited to see it ON YOUR CAR next month! You're welcome!)

--- People have been knocking on my door too much recently. Yes, this is worth mentioning because I soooooo haaaaaaaate it. HATE IT. Someone knocked before 8am last week. I ignored it and they came back half an hour later. I ignored it again and then when I tried to leave home an hour after that, there was a backhoe in my driveway.

Oh and three men standing in a giant hole in my front yard. Mark and I knew nothing of any of this ahead of time. (Something to do with the house demolition across the street? Gas line work? WHO KNOWS.)  Anyway I guess the knocking guy at least had a reason that affected me. (They moved the backhoe. It was no problem really. I hated the knocking more than the construction.)

But later that day, a lady from the ACLU knocked and asked me to sign some petitions for her. (I only answered because ignoring door knocks earlier had bitten me in the ass with a backhoe.) I almost couldn't form words. Whatever you're for, lady, I'm now against, because you came to my house uninvited to get it. At night. And the dog barked and woke two sleeping children. Seriously does this kind of solicitation work on anyone???

Don't come to my house uninvited and ASK ME FOR SOMETHING. How is this still not only legal but acceptable in our society? I have vented about this before, yes? It is so rude I can't even fathom how normal people seem to find it. If you come over, it should only be because 1- you're delivering something, 2- you're invited, 3- you're a neighbor with a normal neighborly question or neighborly thing that neighbors do, or 4- you're close enough to our family to come in without invitation, which means you just let yourself in, no knocking required. Pro tip: if you see someone cut the wires to their doorbell, it probably doesn't mean they want you to KNOCK INSTEAD, take the hint.

Okay I will go retreat to my new life as a hermit in the woods now.

And not even mention the girl who came by three times within an hour last week (during a blackout!) even when she saw us and heard us inside and knew we were home but not answering, and then when I finally opened the door only to ask her (super nicely, I really was, I promise) to take us off her list since we weren't interested, she launched into her spiel anyway and I could have yanked her backpack off through her nostrils OH LOOK AT THAT I MENTIONED IT.

(Yes, I recognize this might be more my issue than society's. I still hate it.) (Now, deep breaths and moving on.)

--- We took Anneliese to the dentist for her first real cleaning (she has had a million checkups and x-rays for her janky tooth, which is coming back down just fine btw) and she was nervous but did great and it was such a non-ordeal that I had to remind myself for all the times she tries my patience and tests the limits, in some ways my brave little middlest extrovert is the easiest kid of all.

Although I make no explanation for what she or Hattie are wearing. (Fancy dress, rain boots, PJs? Okay.)

And now you're caught up on the new things.

Kings of St Croix (For a Week)

So I think I have been dragging my feet in writing this post for a month (a month! Brad has been married for a month!) for a couple of reasons.

One, because it was an awesome trip. A precious reuniting of Bumgarners, my family of origin, made even better because it also included my own children and my husband and my best friend, and... well it's one of those things that kids of divorced families hope for: that we will all be able to get together and celebrate life's happy moments, and mark occasions, and it will not only be tolerable and civil but... good. And y'all, it was. Really good. So good that I've been holding it close to savor for myself, like if I say it out loud it might cheapen it or make it less real because there aren't enough words or the right words. But it was real, and it was good, so I'm saying it. Right words or no. (I think you'll agree, I always have enough words.)

And two, because that happy-savor feeling is inextricably also linked to this likely being our last trip to St. Croix. Only (already?) a month later, and Brad doesn't even live there anymore. It really was a last hurrah. Who knows, we might go back someday. But without him there, and with so many other lovely places to visit... I don't know, it just felt somewhat like a farewell tour.

Anyway. I am blogging now. Mostly to say that it was super. To tell stories I hope we will laugh and re-tell a bunch more times. (It's the Bumgarner way.) And I'm telling myself I don't care how long it gets. (Note, after writing: !!!) So, a week of St. Croix, here goes:

TUESDAY

We dragged ourselves and three kids and a stupid amount of luggage to the airport at 5am. Charlotte and Anneliese had their first airplane rides! (And Nathan, the first he will actually remember.) It was all a lot of excitement before the sun even came up.

The big kids began an all-day all-week marathon of are we in saint crory? which I still (STILL) (!!) hear in my sleep. They also asked are we up high? the entirety of every flight. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes we are up high.

Another Nathan came too, officially for childcare during the wedding and reception, since it was important for Mark and me to have a grownup night to celebrate, but also it turns out he's an invaluable third set of hands when you're flying all day with three kids (and also we just really like him a lot).

If you're not flying with your very own Another Nathan...
you're doing it wrong.

So after fourteen hours of travel, hot dogs for breakfast in the Miami airport, two jets and a sweaty-hot island hopper prop plane, a rented minivan, enough pneumonia coughing to make me leak pee (note to self: you don't have to tell the internet all your hott secrets, Erin) and the traditional Welcome to St. Croix rum shots they give you at the airport (yep), we finally got to our rental house and it was gorgeous. A main house with a kitchen and living room and big master bedroom and bath, a patio with a pool and a hot tub and lounge chairs and a hammock, and a guest house with two more bedrooms and a deck with what would turn out to be a million-dollar view.

We didn't hate the house, is what I'm saying.

It took less than an hour to hug Brad, eat some pizza, throw the kids in bed and ourselves in the hot tub with rum and coke. (In the hot tub with rum and coke = the subtitle of our St. Croix vacation scrapbook.) (Seriously. Every night.)

WEDNESDAY

We woke up a little bit stunned at our view. WHOA. (Between our three phones and three cameras, I think we took like a hundred pictures of this view over the course of a week. As if maybe we had forgotten we had already taken some the day before? Oh better take another, just to be sure.)

The kids were super excited (and by the kids I mean Marky) to have toes in the sand and water, so we got into mindset: beach.

American Gothic goes Caribbean?

We drove down from our mountain (our mountain! up at the top there we felt like the kings of St. Croix! we might have yelled that once or twice) (from the hot tub) (with rum and coke) to Cane Bay beach, a cute little sandy spot on the side of the road. We had a picnic lunch and swam a tiny bit.

The kids were exhausted, but if you have to be cranky, at least be cranky in paradise, amiright?

After a not-fast trip to the grocery store, complete with boggley eyes at the food prices, and a little smug self-back-patting for excellent pre-trip menu planning, including paying $25 for an extra suitcase to bring lots of non-perishables from home (seriously y'all, it paid for itself, grocery prices there are no joke), we got word that the Bumgarners had descended onto the island. So we went and met all of my family (ALL. OF. THEM.) at a bar on the boardwalk for dinner.

It was like eight at night. Dark. And we took our kids in public. Can we just take a moment and praise my mommy flexibility? Hellz yes I can do island life, what what.

(Charlotte cried the whole time and Nathan freaked out about specks of green seasoning in his mac and cheese and normally-extroverted Anneliese cowered in her chair and barely looked anyone in the eye, if you were curious how it went.)

(Also my mom had apparently lost her purse with all her money and her iPhone and her LIFE in it; it fell out of the trunk of their rental car from the airport, and yes I know that sentence makes no sense but apparently that's indeed a Thing That Can Happen. I remain slightly bewildered myself, even after having heard the story eleventy billion a few times.)

And then we went home and got in the hot tub with rum and cokes. Kings of St. Croix!

THURSDAY

Thursday all the Bumgarners and all the Croatians (Marija's family is Croatian, have I said that yet?) took a sailing trip to Buck Island, which is a national park area off the north coast of St Croix. An island off an island, got that? (I swam from that island back to St. Croix in 2006. It was five miles swimming in the ocean, which I might have mentioned several times because really, you should be impressed.) (My mom and sister did it too. Faster. Be even more impressed.)

Brad and mom on the boat, approaching Buck Island

I should preface this by mentioning that such sailing trips have been Brad's job for the last six years. (I don't know why that's relevant but it seems it.) And technically we didn't take the sailboat but a different one with just a motor but whatever, we went on a boat trip with forty of our closest family strangers.

We drank rum. We snorkled. Well, the kids watched fish through the glass bottom on the boat, they did not snorkel because haaaa have you met them? We saw and photographed a barracuda. We kissed a little underwater.

Mark took a snorkel selfie. Oh yes he did.

Another Nathan freaked out a tiny bit when he first got in the water (he fancies himself not a great swimmer, which is nonsense, but it turns out believing you don't swim well is enough to make you panic when you're trying to breathe through a tube underwater when you've never done such a thing before, oh yeah in the ocean) but after about ten (kind of adorable) minutes of trying to climb onto me, and clinging to my arm with a death grip, and making me promise I wasn't going to leave him (see? awww) he got all kinds of brave, and grabbed hold of a ring and snorkled in that coral like effing Nemo, gimpy fin be damned.

And then promptly joined Ashley in feeling seasick back on the boat. (Note to Bumgarners: rum before snorkel, only makes you sicker... or something.)

Then we sat and ate Subway (like you do) on Turtle Beach on Buck Island, which, PRO TIP, is the most beautiful little beach in the world. (I say this with 100% certainty, I don't care what your 2002 screensaver showed you, in real life this is better.)

Ashley, Liam, Buck Island... all beautiful

Nathan had a grand playtime splashing in the waves with all his uncles. Anneliese asked one relative after another to hold her hand in the ocean. Charlotte spent as much energy as possible not stepping one foot off the beach towel. No sand for our little delicate flower, apparently.

Mark and I jumped off the top of the boat into the water because we are exactly as sexxaaay as the bachelor and bachelorette, so how could we not?

All my siblings! me, Collin, Sean, Ashley, Brad (plus Nathan)

It was such a super afternoon. Seriously one of the highlights of the trip.

And then we went home, threw our sleepy sunny children in bed, and grilled steak kabobs with pineapple (tropi-kabobs!) and... got in the hot tub with rum and coke.

FRIDAY

We had a lovely morning lazing at our rental house. If there is anything much sweeter than three kids in a hammock on a tropical island, I can't think of what.

Nathan and I took a mid-morning break to go to the wedding rehearsal (he was an excited but nervous ring bearer). On the way there, Nathan asked me in his Most Serious Voice: What... is a wedding?

I, um. Are you kidding me with this, child? Why do you think we are on this island??? It's not like we have been talking about it for months or anything. For an incredibly bright kid, he is sometimes hella oblivious. (I'm not sure if that's better or worse than three days into our trip when Anneliese woke up and asked when are we going to saint crory? and I tried not to laugh and cry at the same time.)

with uncle John at the rehearsal
(great spot for a wedding, no?!)

Anyway, later while Mark and the kids napped, Another Nathan and I had a Caribbean version of our normal "friend Friday" -- souvenir shopping and lunch on the boardwalk, complete with wandering chickens and (you guessed it!) rum.

classic St. Croix, two counts

Friday evening we went to Brad's rehearsal dinner, which was actually a poolside welcome party and cookout for everyone who was there.

Nathan and Anneliese's version of "swimming" means
someone else gets wet, so they don't have to.

#photobomb

Oh and there was a rum and coke bar (did I even need to say that?) with lots of kinds of Cruzan rum, sodas, and then we toasted the happy couple with rakija, which is like a Croatian moonshine. It laughs in the face of rum, in case you were curious. Hoo boy.

And then we went home at stared at the wall for a while because omg aren't you tired just reading about all this? Yeah. So.

And also whatever cold/virus thing I had that turned into pneumonia, was hitting Charlotte by that point, so she was very screamy and without medicine and had a hard time sleeping which wasn't un-stressful. So there was that.  But then we got in the hot tub with (more!) rum and coke anyway, because obviously.

SATURDAY

Saturday was the big day, the wedding. (I already blogged about that. It was perfect and beautiful.) But before the main event, Mark and I got a lunch date (remember how we brought a sitter to St Croix? win!) and we ate delicious food (Mark = fish tacos. Me = salad with a fruit and fried chicken on top. Because we are nothing if not predictable, even on vacation) and watched boats in the harbor and wandered around together.

Then we came home and got dressed for the wedding, and made a few (laughable) attempts at getting everyone to look at the camera.

eh, four out of five is a win right?

best most helpful friend in paradise

So after Another Nathan took the kids back to the house, Mark and I got to party and celebrate Brad and Marija. We had a great time with my family, snuck away to make out on the beach for a bit, overstayed our chance to catch a taxi home (yikes!) but caught a ride with some of Brad's friends back up the mountain to our house. It was all very... not us. In the best possible way.

(And then rum coke hot tub you know.)

SUNDAY

We made plans to meet up with any Bumgarners at the Carambola beach, which is Ashley's favorite on St. Croix (and also where she and John got engaged).

how many Bumgarners does it take to build a sand castle?

hold my hand in the ocean! hold my hand in the ocean! hold my hand in the ocean!

we have no idea why he did this pose/face in photos all week... ?

It was such an easy and fun and relaxing morning. Oh except the part where Charlotte cried forever. (Poor bronchitis baby on vacation.)

And the part where Mark got stung by sea urchins. Which he handled exactly like you would expect of Mark -- a shrug and a grin, while limping away. (But the nettles! They have reverse barbs! You can't get them out til they just... dissolve into you! The St. Croix remedy for this is to soak it in rum, and NO I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP ABOUT ALL THE RUM; rum is a Very Big Deal there.)

After the beach, we rinsed and dried and changed as best we could (we told Another Nathan that changing out of a swimsuit behind an open car door in the parking lot of a resort he's not staying in? yeah that basically makes your Bumgarner transformation complete) (Mark has pretty much been a Bumgarner for years by now, obvs) and then drove clear across the island (only twenty-six miles, but hours) to see Point Udall, which is the easternmost tip of the United States. It was beautiful. (And not just because of that adorable toddler wandering around.)

Nathan and Anneliese marked their territory. Literally. (Anneliese was like a dang puppy trying to sniff out the best patch of grass to pee in, and then proclaimed it her silly grassy potty so, yeah... stay classy, Bumgarners.)

Point Udall also afforded the only photo op for all six of us on the whole trip. When we were sweaty and post-beach. Aren't we hott? And hot?

Mark and Another Nathan needed some guy time so they hit up the one casino on the island while I took the kids to a park nearby and let them play. While the dudes gambled and played slots, the children filled discarded beer bottle caps with sand, and dumped it on picnic tables. (Para, para, paradise.)

Then we went had our farewell dinner in Christiansted, complete with ogling of the sea plane landing nearby, and the grand finale rum drink -- something with all the Cruzan rums mixed together. I have no idea what it was called. But it was delicious.

last island dinner; say bye-bye St Croix...

last Christiansted sunset

And then we did what any normal people would do when we got home -- finally take showers and relax in the air conditioning.

Haaaaaaa just kidding we had rum and coke in the hot tub.

And we maybe got a little silly and maybe jumped with maybe less swimwear than we should have had, into the cold pool (it had a swim up bar! with bar stools!) and maybe placed faux-debaucherous bar orders but eh don't judge, if you can't be a little fun and naughty with friends at your vacation villa, then when can you be? Kings of St. Croix indeed.

MONDAY

Our last morning was spent mostly packing and lounging by the pool at our house. Brad and Ashley and their spouses came over to say bye. We ducked into town to see the Christiansted fort for a few minutes of history.

Christiansted harbor, from the fort

things that make me melt:
one last father-son hammock nap

We lingered as long as we could and then we headed to the airport. Sad face.

Even sadder face was when we were stuck in Miami forever and ever for an increasingly delayed flight. I think we were there so long we ate two dinners. But the kids watching a dvd on the floor of the airport was fairly adorable in a new millenial kind of way, yes? Them whining and collapsing all over the grownups afterward, somewhat less so.

And saddest face when we landed in Raleigh at 1am with pounding headaches, tantruming children, still wearing Caribbean weather t-shirts in below-freezing weather.

But at least we had a gabillion pictures to look at! I have whittled them down to a healthy handful of favorites, if you want to see more of our awesome house and such -- click here.

Important takeaways:
1.) It took me all week, but I got to be the best of all of us at driving on the wrong side of the road. THE. BEST.
2.) It took him all week, but Another Nathan tried all the (Cruzan) rums.
3.) The first and only time Charlotte fell asleep on any flight was after we had begun our final descent on our final flight into Raleigh, omg child.
4.) No smoothie will ever taste as good or tropical as the ones we bought off the food truck by the roadside farmer's market on the island. Sketchy, sure. But all kinds of delicious.
5.) I freaking love Marky and and my family. Like whoa.