Back to Reality

Well, we're finally back from two full weeks in Hilton Head. I'm still shocked at the warm sunny weather we were blessed with most of the time. On Friday it was chilly and rainy so we spent the morning at The Ssandbox, a children's museum. The girls had lots of fun and were kept busy a good amount of time. We also played games, played with stickers and play-dough and Rowan and Lily both got temporary tattoos of butterflies on their hands. We also all started the packing frenzy. Once the kids were in bed, we played an everlasting game of Phase 10 (Susan finally won). Saturday morning we packed the cars and then headed to the mall so the girls could run around a little bit and eat before we all left for long trips home.

On the way home, Rowan was a trooper. She slept for almost 2 hours and then watched a little bit of a DVD on the way home. We sang lots of songs and there was a little whining, but, really, I was quite impressed. Susan had it a bit rougher flying with 2 babies. On flight #2 the girls had a crying competition and Susan was thrilled to finally be home last night at 8. My mom and the rest of the ladies just got home at 8 tonight. They had a long drive which lasted a few hours longer than the way down, though no one really knows why.

Here's a fun list of things from our vacation:

10. Number of full days Rowan and I were at the beach without Lance.
9. Number of women staying in the condo in week #2. Yes, three were babies, but it was still pretty crowded considering we all tried our best to be quiet while the kids were napping.
8. Average time the girls went to bed, leaving us plenty of "adult time". However, in an effort to keep the noise down, instead of chatting and playing games, we checked our e-mail, blogged, listed to a very quite TV and, in week #2 Mom and Donna listened to two books on CD. Susan and I really appreciate our two-story homes and may try to look for a 2-story condo if we decide to do another trip with kids anytime soon.
7. Number of people plagued with a nasty, but relatively short-lived stomach virus (for the record, in order, Matt, Lily, Ally, Susan, Judy, Mom, Michelle).
6. Number of baths Rowan and Lily took together. The two were just so cute splashing, talking and playing.
5. Number of books I brought along, sincerely planning on getting in some great reading. In actuality, I probably read about 100 pages of one book total.
4. Number of times Rowan somehow played in the toilet--such a disgusting habit I hope does not continue at home.
3. Number of full days all three of us (Lance, Rowan and myself) got to spend at the beach together. Also, number of decades I've been alive!
2. Number of rainy days we had (not bad at all!!!)
1. One wonderful vacation and a perfect way to celebrate my thirtieth birthday!

Also some fun tidbits from our vacation: Rowan now likes to wear a ponytail in her hair, thanks to Susan. She looks like such a big girl! Rowan went pee-pee on the potty three times today, thanks to wanting to be just like Lily. Rowan also started saying a lot more words including Susu, Lily, Matt, beach, dig, beach bag, Deedee, Aunt and the list could go on and on. She even said "Love you, Daddy" on Susan's camcorder and said "No thank you, mommy" to me. She is to the point of repeating virtually anything you ask her to repeat.

Today we slept in a bit and spent the afternoon watching Lance's outdoor soccer game. It felt like fall and Rowan loved playing with soccer balls on the sidelines, cheering for daddy ("Go, red", "Go, Daddy" and, randomly "Go, Roger"). She also loved that Roger's kids came for the second half so she played with Hannah and Matthew. The whole way home, Rowan said "Hannah, Hannah". We had a quick and easy sweet and sour chicken for dinner and are now enjoying Rowan's peaceful sleep while I blog and Lance takes a test for the job at Hope.