"Those that say you can't take it with you never saw a car packed for a vacation trip." ~Author Unknown

This is going to be a long post, so grab yourself a snack and a drink. Here's the link to our album of pictures and the link to the album of EVERYBODY's pictures (password: meadfamily808).

~*~Day 1 - Saturday~*~
We left our house at 2:30am on Saturday (5/23)...I don't think our car has ever been packed that full or ridden that low. Going up hills I had the car floored (it's a 6cyl) and it was barely hitting 35mph.

I drove most of the day since Matt never bothered to go to sleep that night: He got home from work around 10pm on Friday and still needed to pack all of his stuff and finish making some of the strawberry wine he was taking down.

We got there around 3:00 and lugged all of our stuff in to the house; it was nice having the elevator, because we could just load it and drop things off at whatever floor. Of course, I, after sitting for 12 hours, walked the stairs repeatedly because I was tired of sitting still.

~*~Day 2 - Sunday~*~
The weather was awesome. I think we were out on the beach by 10:30 and I was in the water by 11. Silly me forgot to put sun screen on her feet and lower legs and got REALLY BADLY burned; if it had been my arms and back that were burned that badly I would have been going to the emergency room.

We had a lot of fun boogie boarding and just floating around in the water. MIL is as much of a water rat as me, most of the time it was only the two of us out in the water while everyone else sat on their beach chairs and read.


~*~Day 3 - Monday~*~
I was sentenced to the bath tub for most of the day by MIL (an RN). I sat there in cold water with tea bags and wash clothes on my legs, that's how bad my burn was. I kept meaning to take pictures of my legs, but never did...don't know why (but if you look closely in some of the pictures you can see my feet glowing). Not only was I red, but I had purplish spots on the tops of my feet too. The rest of the day I was sentenced to sitting with my feet up.


~*~Day 4 - Tuesday~*~
My burn was doing a bit better, and I was starting to be able to walk again, but my legs still hurt like a mother. I tried to talk to Matt again about the drinking, but he wasn't ready to listen.

In the morning Matt and I drove to the grocery store and to check out a bagel place that my aunt and uncle recommended (it was really good, but I was flabbergasted at the price per lb of their cold cuts - Almost double what we charge, and it was Boar's Head-boooooo!).

We also had our Baby Sprinkle that day. 

We did get quite a bit of stuff: I'll have to take pictures of the stash later, because MIL had to bring it home in her van, we didn't have any room. It was beyond surreal and more than uncomfortable to be having a shower. Even though it was for me, it still hurt just as much as any other shower I've gone to while TTC. It was really hard opening all of those baby things, I had to keep reminding myself that we are going to, FINALLY, have a baby.

In the evening it was the grandkids turn to cook dinner, and it was Matt's grandfather's 80th birthday: Matt and I cooked pulled pork, hush puppies, and cole slaw. It was really good.

~*~Day 5 - Wednesday~*~

We had our massages. The lady arrived around 8:45 and I was in at 9:00. It was nice: Matt was really happy with his massage. She did side massages with me...I definitely like my regular massage lady better, but I think that's more because she's comfortable with me and knows how I like my massages, so she isn't afraid of hurting me. Quite all right, I appreciate this lady's conservative approach.

I honestly can't remember much of what we did on Wednesday, other than spend a lot of time on the beach. The cold ocean felt really good on my legs/feet. I did manage to finish my projects (which I hope to be unveiling soon) and got them all boxed up and ready to mail on Thursday.

~*~Day 6 - Thursday~*~
Matt and I drove down to the south end of Topsail, so that I could show him some of the other houses that I've stayed in. We also got my package mailed out and checked out my favorite gift shop. Matt and I had agreed before hand that we weren't going to spend a ton of money on t-shirts and other stupid souvenirs, instead we bought this... and then Matt bought a t-shirt anyways. When I get around to it, that t-shirt quilt is going to be HUGE! That boy has more t-shirts than I have entire articles of clothing (including socks and underwear)! We also got a small ornament for our Christmas tree (which is what we always do).

In the afternoon we went out swimming and Matt's grandparents really wanted to go in the ocean, but neither are steady on their feet, so we took them out. Matt and his cousin, D, helped them in and out of the water. They really enjoyed it; the only way we got Matt's grandma out was by telling her it was cocktail hour.

We also worked a bit on a sand castle. I didn't end up doing too much of it, but Matt's cousins did an awesome job. I think they spent a good 5 hours working on it. It was still standing when we left on Saturday morning.

~*~Day 7 -Friday~*~
Our last day at the beach: A storm had come through Thursday night and really kicked up the sand and seaweed, which meant that your suit was getting filled with yuckiness. We went out for a bit, but just getting past the breakers was a lot of work. I was out about 30 minutes, before I decided I'd had enough. Matt and his cousins stayed out a lot longer, they were fooling around with an inflatable boat they had boat.


When we got back some of the cousins were "trying" to start dinner, but none of the leftovers went with what was on the menu...seafood (s'rimp and crabs). Back out I went to the grocery store to get some fixin's for salad and pasta (Matt [r] and his brother enjoying their crabs).

While I was gone they started going crazy on the fridge, throwing out a ton of stuff that we hadn't eaten, no one would eat, or had gone bad. They had to do it while the moms/aunts were still outside otherwise we either would've had to eat everything or take it home.

That night we started packing up our stuff and getting laundry done, then it was bed, and soon time to get up and get on the road.

~*~Day 8 - Saturday~*~
Saturday we were up at 6am, and had the car loaded and on the road by 8:30. We drove straight through, except for bathroom breaks and got home around 9pm. It was so nice to be home and in my own bed. I'd had enough of the hard mattress at the beach and sandy sheets (ever notice that no matter how hard you try there's always sand!).

That was our trip. Bye Tops'l Island: I hope to be back soon!