Beach Bums

We have just been hanging out at the beach this week, and we've been having fun! It's definitely been different traveling with both kids without David, but it's really gone pretty well. The trip here was fairly uneventful. Both kids did fine in the car.... except for when Aubrey chunked a cup at Jude's head and nearly knocked the poor child out. He was SCREAMING and literally had a knot on the side of his head. I was SO upset because Aubrey had already thrown a few things at Jude trying to be playful, and I had told her to stop several times. So when she threw a hard cup at him and knocked him on the head, it was definitely time to pull off the road for a spanking :( Fun times traveling with kids! Jude never would go to sleep after that little encounter (I can't say I blame the poor kid -- he probably would have felt the need to sleep with one eye open!), so it was kind of a long trip for him. He was a little trooper and only fussed a little bit. Aubrey was good, too, she just got bored.

The thing that I was most worried about when I was thinking about this trip was how the kids were going to sleep. I knew that if they both refused to sleep and were up all night, I would be on my own. Thank God, that has not been the case. I actually waited until the total last minute to try to borrow another pack n play to bring with us for Aubrey to sleep in, and I was kind of in a panic the night before we left trying to figure out what we should do. Aubrey still sleeps in her crib, and David didn't think letting her sleep in a non-contained bed for the first time while I was on a trip would be the smartest idea. So, I decided to just take her entire crib apart and bring it with us. Yes, that's right, we packed up Aubrey's bed and brought it to the beach. Ha! It was a bit of a hassle trying to get it put together at 9:30 the first night, but my mom and brother managed to get it together while I talked to David on the phone ;) Aubrey has been sleeping GREAT in her own bed, so I think it was worth the hassle :) Jude had a rough first night -- I ended up sleeping on the FLOOR with him for about half the night. (I was afraid to put him in the bed with me because I thought he might roll off with no one on the other side to block him.) I was originally sleeping in the same room with him, but after that first night, I moved to a different room, and he's done MUCH better being in the room by himself.

This trip has been VERY low-key, which has been nice. We had no plans coming into the trip, and we've just been playing every day by ear and making plans as we go. We've been going to the beach, shopping, and eating out. Perfect beach vacation, in my opinion :) The kids are totally off their schedules, of course, so they've been a little fussy and "off" at times, but I think they are really doing great. I did tell David to be sure to get plenty of rest while we're gone, because I'm going to need him to take over parenting duties for a little while after we get home while I recover. Haha! I'm half kidding -- the trip really has gone well, and we're having fun being together! :)

PS -- I was going to add a few pictures to this post, but I can't get them to upload. Grrr. I'll just have to wait until we get home, I guess. I haven't taken many pictures anyway, sadly. My hands are usually too full of one or two kids to worry with the camera, too ;)