Vacation

We had such a great vacation and i'm actually sad to see my family leave. It was interesting watching my parents play the grandparent role to my son, and my sister loved being auntie L.

Surprisingly it actually took baby N a few days to get used to them - he cried the first few times my parents held him. Once he warmed up he gave them lots of smiles and was 'talking' non stop. Trying to work out what he's going to call my parents was funny. J's parents are Grammy and Pop Pop and my grandma is Nanny. My mum really didn't want a Grandma kind of title as it makes her feel to old. As they live in Spain now they finally settled on Abuela and Abuelo. It's weird to know that they won't see baby N that often and probably won't have the kind of relationship that i had with my grandparents.

NC was so beautiful. We rented a great house right by the beach and spent our days sitting by the ocean. Baby N has a really cool tent to keep him out of the sun and he napped and played there. Mommy was even captured napping in the tent (see pic below). It was hotter than hot so we stayed close to home most of the time, but the town of Duck was pretty cute and we had a great dinner out. The best bit about having my family along is that we had some alone time too!

The drive was pretty brutal and we're in no rush to do that again any time soon. Although after that, the other drives we've taken since then have felt like nothing! We drove down in one go and it took us around 12 hrs, with lots of stops. N really didn't appreciate that much time in his car seat. For the journey home we decided to split the trip and stopped for an over night in Baltimore. We had a great time at the Aquarium there. There was so much to see and it took longer than i thought it would. After more than 3 hrs i was done and we hadn't even seen it all. We then enjoyed lunch by the inner harbor and headed home.

Now reality is starting to set in and we're gearing up for work :-( Trying to work out the schedules and talking about what routines we need to start. N is coming to work with me on Wed for a little while. It'll be a good introduction for him and the little man, who i suspect is going to have a hard time adjusting to not being the baby any more. Think that the person it's going to be hardest for is Mommy! She's already trying to work out how she's going to keep herself busy while he's at work with me ;-)

OBX

So we are all here in beautiful Duck, NC with S's mum and dad and twin sister. We loaded up two cars, most of the packed stuff was Baby N's items. We are so lucky that we were able to fit in the car! The nine hour drive took about 12 hours! We made a bunch of stops because N didn't want to stay in the car seat as long as we hoped. Then of course we hit major traffic going near DC/Maryland and then once we hit the main drag for OBX. By that time, it was raining off and on. we all had pretty much had it. However, once we turned the corner and saw the house...wow, what a great view of the ocean! We were two houses in and could basically crawl out of bed into the ocean. The house itself is very lovely. There are three bedrooms on the lower level and one on the upper level. There are wrap around porches around the entire house! The only thing it is missing that some of the ones on the beach have is a swimming pool and a hot tub!!

So far we have hung on the beach, did some exploring and shopping and have taken tons of pictures. Very relaxing and chill. N. looks adorable in his swimming gear (even though he spends all of his time in his little tent!) As typical, he is so chill when outside and surrounded by nature. He seems to enjoy the sound of the ocean. Time is flying by. Actually it is so hard to believe it is August and summer is winding down. Before you know it, we will all be back at work and transitioning N. to a new routine.