Because of her school schedule, Rachael couldn't join this year, but, surprisingly, Tim was able to! And, he brought a friend of his from medical school, so we still had a full house. Bill, Barbara, Tim, and Azad all trickled into Durham Friday night-Saturday morning of our vacation week and got on the road (along with Claire) after lunch on that Saturday to get checked into the house. Lily and I stayed in Durham, waiting on Brad to get back into town from Boston (yes, he has traveled ALL SUMMER) Sunday morning. After we picked him up bright and early at 8:00 am, we made our way to the beach and got there before lunch. (It may not be the Gulf, but, man, is it great being less than 3 hours from the beach!)
Playing with Uncle Tim!
I feel like Lily is listening for words of wisdom here.
Urology resident on the left, cardiothoracic resident on the right. Apparently, they work long, hard hours and need naps. Who knew? ;)
Our first two days were beautiful and sunny and appropriately beachy. Which was great! And then they were followed by two days of rain and gray. Bleh. Thankfully, against my usual inclination to take fewer games and toys, I'd given into impulse and packed a boatload of things. Strategy games for the grown-ups, toys/movies/games for the little girls, and a few puzzles. Not the same as romping on the sand and splashing in the ocean, but better than twiddling our thumbs, right?
Brad and I squeezed in a date night, thanks to babysitters who were willing to play endlessly with the children, so we headed to the Mexican restaurant that we've eaten at on our date nights for the previous two years. It's SO NICE not to have to schedule babysitters. Why did no one ever tell me how stressful the whole Babysitter Dilemma is? Oh my word. I was not prepared for the difficulties of Acquiring and Scheduling Babysitters.
We only ended up going out for dinner once (thanks to a fantastic kitchen + an incredible picnic table on the huge back porch) on one of the rainy days, but I snagged some good pictures while we waited on a table!
Here are a few shots of how big our picnic table on the porch was:
I would also like to point out that Azad let Lily do/have/eat/take anything and everything she wanted. Obviously, she loved him the most.
The table extends from here to that far back railing. It's huge.
And this is the view from the picnic table, so obviously, we ate outside as often as we could.
And here's Lily BOSSING a piece of corn-on-the-cob. She has two teeth, guys. Two. Both on the bottom.
And thankfully, we did get some really good beach time!
Tim and Azad made this massive sand castle for the girls to destroy. The girls LOVED it.
On our last night, we went to a local ice cream shop that we really like. Good ice cream + a giant screen onto which they project family-friendly movies! It's the cutest and oh-so-fun.
Trying to get a few pictures on our way to ice cream.
Lily (and Claire) among the lilies!
He ACTUALLY gave her whatever she wanted. She would point to ice cream, and he'd ask for a sample of whatever she pointed to.
And then he shared his ice cream with her.
Don't get used to it, Lily.
Thanks for the ice cream, Grandpa! Don't mind my post-sugar crazy eyes...
We returned to Durham on Saturday and went to church all together on Sunday, followed by brunch and trips to the airport.
Azad sat down...
...and Lily knows where to go to get all the things.
Sweet shots with Gran while waiting for our table.
The girls really love having an uncle. It's too bad he lives so far away...
Pre-naptime story.
We had a wonderful trip, rain and all. Thank you, Boswell family (and Azad) for such a fantastic time together! Until next time.
