We spent two nights and one full day with Janet (Michael's sister) and Josh in Wilmington, North Carolina. We had a fun day of seeing the area in spite of the persistent rain. We took a ferry ride over to the aquarium on Cape Fear. After that we drove around downtown Wilmington, which is a quaint and beautiful downtown, and visited the shops at the old Cotton Exchange building. When we returned home, Janet and Josh prepared a gourmet feast for us (she's a professional!).
Days 10-12:
On our drive from Wilmington to Charlotte, NC we met Susie and Ella for lunch (Hannah was in school). Susie was in our travel group to Vietnam and Ella and Sarah were adopted at the same time from Ninh Thuan. After a great two hour lunch visit we were on our way to Chuck (Michael's brother) and Susan's home for the weekend.
We had a wonderful time in Charlotte and it was a great way to wrap up our vacation before making our way home. Their boys are 3 yrs. and almost 1 yr. and our kids loved playing with their cousins. On the drive to Charlotte Sarah kept saying that she wanted baby Carson to laugh at her. He did not disappoint her either. I couldn't believe how happy that made her.
My sis-in-law Susan and I get along so well. The guys were gracious enough to give us two kid-free shopping outings to the local outlet malls and she and I went to work stimulating the local economy. My favorite was the Pottery Barn outlet, where I bought Sarah a quilt and sham for her new bed - I paid just under $50!
Chuck's new hobby is smoking Boston Butt (pork shoulder) and making his own western Carolina BBQ sauce. It was delicious!
As you can see in the pictures below, Sarah and Joshua didn't get along at all! (wink)
Susie and me with our girls.
Sunbathing outside the restaurant.
Ella and Sarah
My two handsome boys.
Sweet baby Carson and Andrew.
Joshua and Sarah
Helping Uncle Chuck make Saturday morning pancakes.
Hiding out in the pantry.
Andrew kept climbing into the swing.
"Can I have another turn?"
Playing "Puppy."
"Woof!"
Joshua's turn.
Day 13:
Sadly, it was time to say goodbye and begin the journey home. From Charlotte we drove to Clemson, South Carolina. There is a student from our church at school there, so we decide to call on her for lunch. It's a beautiful campus and I was excited to see it again. (Long story short, I made a last minute decision to go to OSU instead of Clemson- you know, back in the day.) From there we made our way to Atlanta, where we had dinner with one of Michael's high school friends. We ended our day in Birmingham, AL.
Day 14:
This was, by far, the hardest day in the car. The kids were pretty restless in the morning. But, an extended lunch stop in Little Rock wore them our for their naps and we made it across the Oklahoma border before they woke up.
Wrap up:
Whew, it was quite a trip! It definitely had its highs and lows. As many of you know, traveling with small children is not an easy task. The actual car travel was a breeze, surprisingly. It was nearly impossible to maintain their exact sleep/nap/meal schedule on this kind of a trip. There were days when we were able to plan things around their normal schedule, but there were many more days when we could not. Sarah has a hard time adapting to new sleeping arrangements, so that also created a challenge. As a result of all the above, we had to deal with more whining and tantrums. We kept having to remind ourselves that we were asking a lot of two small children. It was definitely a good tag team effort between the two of us and it was a wonderful opportunity for our little family to spend so much uninterrupted time together. It was also a good opportunity for our kids to get to be around their relatives. I can't believe how many people we managed to see along the way! (Lunch with Susie and dinner with Michael's high school friend, Erin, happened because of Michael's Facebook status updates.) Now I think Michael and I need a getaway to catch up on our sleep. I think Charleston will do! :)
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