Let's start out with the worst of times before we get to the best of times. When I took the boys to visit North Carolina my dad suggested we take a trip down to the beach for the day and visit the aquarium. That sounded like a good idea to me since we don't have ready access to the ocean here in Utah. My sister Amber reluctantly agreed to make the trip, having some valid concerns of taking 6 small children on a day trip crammed in the car for hours and skipping naps. Nevertheless, go we did. We should have seen the writing on the wall when Gabe threw up the morning of the appointed trip, but we just postponed it till another day.
On the way there there we had some complaints from various children about car sickness and Amber pulled over to see if Gabe wanted to throw up. False alarm but what she didn't know is that she got something in her tire when she pulled over. Ten minutes later Gabe threw up in the back seat, thankfully getting most of it into a sand bucket for us to just toss out. His enthusiasm for the beach was undeterred and wanted to continue on the journey. Ten minutes after that however we heard a noise and the air pressure went out of Amber's back tire rather quickly. Amber pulls over mumbling, "I knew we shouldn't have come" and we proceed to wait for the next hour in the hot sun for AAA to come and change the tire to the doughnut. When we finally reached the beach it had been 4 hours since we left, instead of the planned 2 1/2. My dad who came with us in a separate car spent the afternoon buying and replacing the doughnut with a real tire so we could make the trip home. Now for the best of times.
Gabe LOVED the water and so did Mac. Couldn't get enough of it, although his nervous mom could.
Sweet David on the other hand was a little more reserved and preferred to play in the sand under the tent.
All the children enjoyed a picnic lunch followed by Doritos at the beach. They were a real treat considering the amount of sand that was consumed with the chips.
The aquarium was wonderful. Well wonderful for the children at least, and let's be honest, that's why we made the trip in the first place.
Cousin Owen posing in the giant crab statue.
Oh, friend-emies
Back to the worst of times. Since the children were tired and hungry the return trip from the beach was almost as bad as the one going. We had a mis-communication about dinner and so we were subjected to 2 1/2 straight hours of crying. Much of it from the little girl that only had Doritos all day, but the rest of the children chimed in as well. Let me tell you, BIG sigh of relief when we pulled in the driveway that night. Ahhhh, fond memories.
You were brave souls! Needed some of Aunt Jen's snacks. I use to be like car sick Gabe until I started keeping pretzels in the car.
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