Two + Three = Crazy: Goin' to Carolina!

We have just returned from Marin's First Vacation! It was a great trip!

For about 20 years now, my family has been going to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for a week during the summer. I have traveled to a lot of places, but something about Hilton Head makes it one of my favorite places in the whole world. It may be the canopy of trees that envelops you as you turn onto Plantation Drive on Sea Pines, where we stay. It is possible that I am comforted by a wave of memories from many summers spent there with my family as I grew up. The beauty of the lush green landscapes

and the smell of the sea air are familiar to me from the second we step off the plane. Or perhaps it is the iconic candy cane striped lighthouse at the end of my favorite harbor that enchants me. Mostly likely though, it is the company that makes the island so magical for me. There is just nothing like family all under one roof.

I loved when I was able to share the island with Jason for the first time a few years ago. I was pleased that he seemed to be as charmed by it as we all were. It helps, of course, that it is packed to the brim with award winning golf courses. It was especially meaningful to bring Marin there this year. I loved watching her discover a new place. And she was a champ in the heat! Her hair curled up and frizzed just like Mommy's, but she didn't blink an eye in the 90 plus degree weather. Marin took being pushed all over the island, and staying up way past her bedtime almost every night in stride!

Of course packing for the trip this year was about like organizing the Olympics. Marin does not travel lightly. Jason would argue that neither do I, and since I was in charge of

packing for her, she ended up packing five bathing suits (with matching cover-ups of course) and 15 hair bows. Plus, baby Tylenol, nail clippers, aspirator, and thermometer "just in case". Then we had to have the "car seat: rent or bring ours" conversation. Same with the pack n' play. Do we ren

t one or bring ours? And if we rent a pack n' play do we bring our own sheets? We ended up bringing our own on both. It was easy to pack, free to check and after all, why buy a pack n' play if you are just going to rent one every time you need it? We had everything packed excluding my things, which I began packing five hours before we had to get up to leave for the airport. Not one of my smartest ideas. Needless to say, the night ended with me sitting on my suitcase to get it to close, Jason rolling his eyes at me, a whole lot of "Do you really need that" and me explaining that if I birthed a baby, I could certainly pack a suitcase. Jason thought I packed too much, I thought he packed too little. In the end we all got there, and no one was over the weight limit. Whew. My marriage might have been in jeopardy if it was. :) And for the record, yes I DID need those shoes!

Our routine in Hilton Head becomes a little predictable to a sense, and perhaps that is a comfort to me as well. Every morning my dad and I wake up well before anyone else in the house and take a walk or a bike ride together. In the

early morning the island is quiet and the tide is low. It seems in those precious moments spent together the two of us could solve the global economic crisis. We discuss everything from dinner and golf courses, to careers and the future of our family. Those walks with my dad are some of my favorite hours of the whole year. It was such a nice treat this year to have Jason take over

with Marin's morning routine so that I could walk with my dad. I kept thinking I would take her with me one day, but she was always so wiped out from the previous days activities, that she slept in almost every day.

The rest of the days are filled with bike rides, pool time, jumping waves at the beach, fresh seafood dinners as the sun sets, concerts at Harbour Town that take my brother and I back to being small children under Greg

Russell's live oak tree and wicked card games every night- boys versus girls, of course. My mom and I are usually the last two up at the end of the night... until we can't keep our eyes open for one more second.

You should see Marin in the water! She splashed around and kicked her legs like she was born to do it! Water would splash up in her face and she'd just giggle and smile from ear to ear. When we held her on the side, she'd scoot her little

bottom forward and lean in so that she could get back in. If she could have, she would have sprung off the side and landed a cannonball like the

big kids.

Marin listened intently to Greg Russell as he sang the kids' songs that Jake and I know from memory.

We kept waiting for her to nod off but she sat wide eyed and watched either him or another child

clapping along. She sat at the head of many a dinner table and caused very little interruption to any of our dinners. And she didn't make a sing

le peep during her first plane rides, resulting in her being awarded her first "wings" from the flight attendants. Everyone around us was singing her praises at the end of the flight. Still, we were prepared with an arsenal of milk, formula, toys, bribes, and Grandma- in case it had gone any other way.

In fact, Marin had such a great time on her first vacation that she didn't ever want the fun to end. Naps were essentially non existent, unless we were in the car, or could "trick her" with a quick stroller ride. Just when her little eyes would close, she'd pop them back open again and look around like, "What did I miss?!!" Luckily she slept hard and long most nights.

It is always a treat to have the seven of us together. I love watching my family enjoy Marin as they do. She is definitely not short on love, that is for sure.