Anneliese at Almost 8

We have reached the point in this funny moment in time known as "blogging" where instead of everyday tidbits and daily-slog-minutiae delight nuggets, I find myself only vignetting my babies into words a thin slice at a time. And that's harder than you'd think, or maybe exactly as hard as you'd think, because capturing any human into a slice of a moment in time is... well, hard.

And here we are, with tiny "new baby" turned big girl big sister "middlest baby" Anneliese as an almost-eight-year-old. When I try to wrap my brain around where we were eight years ago this week -- newly a stay-at-home-parent, very pregnant, worried about H1N1, curious about folks getting smartphones, wondering how to picture our only child as a big brother, ending what we then naively adorably thought was the hardest decade in America we had seen in ages haaaaaaomg -- it's almost hard to remember that. It seems like another life. It was another life.

And then there was Anneliese. And now, well, look at her go.

Last winter, she finally lost that janky tooth that busted up her face when she was two. It's weird how it feels like both Anneliese and I spent five years cussing that tooth and missing her baby smile (me), and hating the jank (her), and then when it finally came out, I was, like, profoundly sad. When you have legit feelings about teeth as the end of an era, that's when you know your mom math is some weird sh!t, yo. (Anneliese was uncomplicatedly thrilled to toss it to the tooth fairy and move on with her life, for the record. Gave none craps about the memory and trauma and face change. KIDS AMIRITE.)

Anneliese at almost eight is a bookworm, devouring chapter books and audiobooks faster than we can put them in her hands or ears, and always on the hunt for a new free little library. She has taken in some of my own children's favorites this year (Harry Potter, the Little House series, the Narnia books, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary) which has been super fun (for me). One of her current favorite things is for us to go on a walk together and listen to our audiobooks and hold hands. She won't outgrow this too soon, right? Right?? RIGHT?! (Someone tell me she won't. Lie to me if you must.)

She has also decided sometime in the last year that music is maybe her Thing. She started on violin in orchestra last winter, and also auditioned for a spot in a community choir in a neighboring suburb, and adores singing with them. She is the youngest one, and thinks that singing with big kids all the way up through high school is the best. She spends a fair amount of time upstairs in the closest between her room and Charlotte's, sounding out tunes on the keyboard and trying to match it to her violin, which is super sweet, and also whoa dang loud, and also no you may not start piano yet, my dear, you are already super booked up. (But yes, our band nerd hearts are proud.)

She loves babies and taking care of her baby cousins, and is convinced (and will tell anyone who will listen) that she possesses a talent called "baby magic" that means she can always soothe them, and, well, I mean, let's just say I will be a very sweet mom when her own kid has colic, because that's definitely happening, right? That's how the universe works, last time I checked.

Anneliese and Charlotte have been playing together better this year than ever before in their lives. The closet between their rooms is currently set up like a nursery for all their babies (and I do mean all! their! babies! SO MANY BABIES OMG) and it reminds me so much of Ashley and me at that age that it just squeezes my heart and is exactly what I was hoping their sisterhood would be like.

She and Nathan are still fast friends too, and they all three still pile into her room every Friday night for a sleepover. I'm so scared those days are numbered but I will cling to it and let them do it as many more weeks/months/years of their childhoods as they want.

Anneliese become a bit more shy and a bit more poised this year. She is polite and mostly quiet in a group, yet also social and fun with lots of friends and party invites and stories from school. When she's chatty, she's nonstop - but she's decidedly less chatty than Other People who live in this house.

She switched this fall from dance to gymnastics and that seems to be going well, although it's a new rhythm for our family not to have any tiny dancers at the moment. She also likes crafts and sewing, and (like her mommy!) loves notebooks and pens and is always trying a new pretty ("pretty") lettering.

She loves sunshine and hates cold weather. She considers herself an indoor cat, except for trampolining and her newly-learned skill of bike riding. She adores sleep. First one down every night, and the last one up every morning. And she would nap any day we'd let her.

She is obsessed with spaghetti, especially her daddy's. She loves coconut and almonds and somehow loves popping candy but not carbonated beverages, because, well, people are complicated I guess.

And yes, a streak of rainbow still follows her everywhere she goes.

We love you, baby Beanie. Happy almost 8!

Bluffton

We went to the Savannah area to see my brother Brad!

Yes, on the road again. Just a few short weeks after being on the road for many many many days. But it was worth it, because he has a new house and new job and he lives near the beach! Yay!

Y'all, it rained. Boo.

(Charlotte was basically reduced to abject weeping by the time we left town and she still hadn't seen the beach.)

But Uncle Brad was still sweet enough to take Nathan out to the Savannah harbor where he works, and show him his boat, and the container ships coming in and out, and even let him sit in the captain's chair. Which probably isn't called a captain's chair. That's what they call it in a minivan. I assume on a boat it has a better name? A bridge maybe? Is this even a boat, or is it a ship?

I don't know the lingy loo. I am not boat savvy. WHATEVER BOAT NERDS.

And we spent the rest of the weekend lounging with coffee and snacks and Netflix and target toys, which was just fine even though it wasn't the beach.

On Saturday night my sister came down with her whole family too, and one other brother Collin from Hilton Head nearby, and we threw the kids in bed and drank a lot of Draaanks and played Cards Against Humanity and here is what I have learned about my family while playing drinky card games:

1.) Brad has a super sick sense of humor. Not sick in a good way. Like, sick in a wide eyes way.
2.) Ashley's husband John cannot make a joke without explaining it. CANNOT.
3.) I miss Marky when everyone else is hanging out and he's not there.
4.) Collin's girlfriend has no idea what she's getting into if she wants into this Bumgarner mess.
5.) Brad and Marija were champs to have all of us in their house at once. Champs I say.

CHAMPS, I SAY.

It was a weekend of bad sleep and I came home exhausted, but I am so glad we went. It's fun whenever we can all be together, and it doesn't happen enough. Also, the kids and I didn't mind at all being on the road even more. We have gotten good at it! We listened to The BFG on the way down, and Matilda on the way back, and the kids loved both of them. I had forgotten how either of them ended, and was startled on both counts.

And now I need to crawl in bed and sleep for many days. I am officially traveled out.

September in the Pool

Hey know what's great about North Carolina? We get to wait til late September (the proper time) for fall to really start, and even then it's interspersed with enough warm days that we still get to swim, too.  So we have been spending a lot of time this month out in the pool.

And Mark got a new work phone, and a new LifeProof case for said work phone, so you can bet yer ass I jumped in the pool with that thing and took some pictures, straight away.

I never thought I'd see the day when Nathan, Mr. "I Don't Like the Spray" himself, willingly, happily, swimming underwater.

Also the underwater hand-holding just slays me. My sweet babies. I love my family.

Happy, Churchyard Edition

Our parenting transition back to real life after the cruise was... whoa. (Is it just me, or does time away make it hard to tell if the kids were always like This, or if This is normal, or if our tolerance for This has just changed, or if we needed some space to see that x and y and z parts of This are actually unacceptable? I don't know. I don't know!) (And Nathan has just been flat-out troubling. Respecting his privacy here, by request, by not detailing it -- but it has been complicated and hard in the way that raising children to be good polite decent humans is often complicated and hard.)

ANYWAY.

In the midst of both being overwhelmed by my children and drinking in their sweet presence that I had missed so much, we found ourselves rolling around in the grass outside church after youth choir. And they were playful and sweet and fun.

And it was exactly what I needed.

Everyday Sweets

I was all set to write about yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but it turns out I don't have very many interesting things to say (I barely remember what I did yesterday.... grocery shopping? yeah, that's the stuff of a great blog post -- and I have no real plans tomorrow, maybe we will go to a park with a carousel and ride it?) EXCEPT that I did try a new masters swimming class thing at my gym this morning. I worked hard and it was really fun. Maybe I will have more thrilling things to say about that at some point but for today: giant smiley.

And  with nothing else exciting to report, look at these sweet things that happened this week.

When Mark took the big kids to tee-ball on Tuesday, Charlotte and I lazed on my bed and talked and snuggled and took selfies and oh man she is still just... delightful.

All my babies, thumbs in mouths, watching Mister Rogers per our Saturday evening tradition. You know, just average everyday things that make your mommy stop in her tracks and melt a little.

Whoa. I HAVE THREE KIDS. Sometimes it just hits me all funny and I'm a little in awe and then I smile a lot.

Sea Otters in a Box

Our very fancy next door neighbors are moving out of their big fancy house back to a fancy flat in England next week.  The sad news is they are kind and warm and are good neighbors, and they are leaving (although we aren't, like, close or anything). The good news is that they have two tween daughters with lots of childhood leftovers that apparently (understandably) aren't worth hauling back over the Atlantic.

Which means we get them: clothes and movies and books and art supplies and shoes. Normally I resist extra stuff, but this is all useful! And I only take what I want! So, bring it on. Stuff by the boxful.

ALL THAT TO SAY, the kids are glad for hand-me-down gifts, but they are also pretty geeked about big boxes because... well, obviously.

So. Here are my three kids. In a big box. Classic childhood moment?

Oh excuse me, apparently they are not kids, but a special delivery of sea otters. (Yeah I don't know either.)

VCS: Kindergarten Zebras

Hey while I am catching up on blogging I should totally tell about our VCS week even though it was almost a month ago. (Our church calls it VCS instead of VBS because we can't just... name things like everyone else. I'd give you ten more examples but I'm already bored of talking about it so just take my word for it.)

So, VCS. The popular thing (at least among my own lovely circle of internet friends) seems to be using vbs weeks for a break in the summer where the kids are covered and at-home parents get to relax at home in the sweet sweet air conditioning. And I will do that! I have big plans for that! When they are all old enough to go. But for now, the girls aren't (yes, even Anneliese, who is just a few months shy of four but is still "a two" as far as the school year is concerned) so I figure these are good years to throw myself into the volunteering effort since there are nurseries for the littlest ones whose parents are there helping. 

I have done a variety of helps over the past few years (food, nurseries, music, etc) but this year I wanted to teach (for some reason?) (oh right because I love five-year-olds #fiveforever) so I took on a class of kindergartners (including Nathan! they gave us the option to teach our own kids or not, and I thought with him it'd be fine, and it was) with my sweet friend Jeanine -- who besides being really good at karaoke, which is a skill only sometimes useful at vcs, is a preschool teacher by trade. Because I am no dummy when it comes to picking people to work with. She is smart. And fun. And can whip out an art project or game faster than I can stand there slack-jawed and try to fumble for the camera to capture her craft time wizardry.

I digress.

So, teaching. It was lovely. The curriculum (about a world's fair, teaching a "neighborly" trait every day with a scripture story to go with it, and a neighbor country to learn about alongside) seemed random to me at first but then came together beautifully.

And our class was crazydorable:

We had a great youth helper too!

 

neighborly kids -- washing each other's feet and role-playing the good Samaritan

a craft of Japanese cherry blossoms, and making ourselves
into zebras from Zimbabwe -- there were lots of kindergartners,
but our class was the only class of zebras!

special snack on the last day

I am told frequently (like, whenever I go out in public with all three of my kids) how alike they look. I guess when they're wearing the same clothes, I can kind of see it?

Anyway yeah VCS. That was fun.

Cold Holden Beach: the How-To Guide

We spent our annual Bumgarner spring break at Holden Beach again this year, and since Easter was so early (or since spring weather is just pissing me off these days, one of those) it was unseasonably cold.

If you're ever wondering what to do with a big group (including four small children) at the beach for a week when it's too cold to be at the beach, I have a practical how-to list of ideas:

1.) Bundle up (ish) and play outside anyway.

2.) Snuggle with your adorable nephew.

3.) Accidentally catch a stingray. (!!!)

4.) Learn to share a bed with your favorite sibling.

5.) Read a lot of books. Send a few emails. Make a few phone calls.

6.) Have a family dinner, then eat leftover ham all week mmmmm.

7.) Make cupcakes in ice cream cones.

8.) Bond with your daddy.

9.) Have your sister organize an egg hunt. (Bonus: have her fill some of the eggs with wiggly rubber frogs which will accidentally terrify your middle child and have probably traumatize her enough to never open another easter egg again in her life, like ever.

10.) Turn on your best smile, and the chilly beach will smile with you. True story.

Thanks as always for our fun week, Dad!!!

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.