A Great Trip

Freyja and I are back from our awesome vacation with best friend/aunt Heidi, which was fun and action-packed.

We've been doing this little summer visit every year since 2002, with other random visits in between, which means that since Heidi graduated from Beloit in 2000, we've had a chance to see each other at least twice a year, which is so awesome.

It's hard to recall all the individual times, but there have been many. We went back-packing in France and Holland before I studied in Italy in 1999, we met up in Beloit for homecomings and reunions at least three times, and we also saw each other at a mutual friends wedding. She came to visit me in Chicago, and I went to visit her in Williamsburg, VA three times. These are just a few of the trips I can remember off-hand. This past year I saw Heidi four times! I went to visit her, and then two months later she came to visit me in Kansas and helped me move back to Illinois. A month later she came to visit me again for my baby shower, and then she came again when Freyja was two months old!

I should really post some pictures from some of our previous visits!

But, back to this year's trip. I'm struggling to determine what I should mention first, because there's just so much to say.

Despite some of the usual airline insanity, the trip to VA wasn't too bad. Freyja did quite well, with only one minor melt-down on each of the two flights. It had nothing to do with the air travel, which I think she actually enjoyed, and everything to do with the effects of feeding her some spinach the evening before, which I don't think made her feel too well. This food apparently goes on the "only in tiny quantities" list. Ha! Of course, I just wouldn't be your typical mom if I didn't take the obligatory "first time on an airplane" photos, would I? She looks so cute, immersed in her reading!

The first couple of days on our visit were filled with cooking (one night we had hand-made pasta and meatballs, which was super fun...and another night we had Heidi's rockin' risotto, which I love), swimming at the pool, shopping, watching movies, and just general hanging out. Some highlights for Freyja were the crazy new pool float, sleeping in a much bigger and softer bed, playing with Heidi and Justin's much bigger cats, taking baths in the sink, and making big messes (um, I mean...exploring the new house). Yes, Freyja is wearing her swimsuit bottoms on her head in the last photo. Why? Because it's hilarious.


One night we also ate at the restaurant that's Heidi's really nice friend Herb manages. The food was wonderful, and Heidi ordered a hilarious drink, the "Shady Lady", which makes me laugh every time I think of it. I suppose it goes back to some fond memories of college...or something. Ha!

The three of us headed off to the outer banks of North Carolina when Freyja and I were five days into our trip. We stayed in the little town of Avon on Hatteras Island for three nights, went to the beach, and saw the beautiful Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which was really cool to me because I've never seen a lighthouse up close!

Freyja really seemed to enjoy her first time at the beach. She played in the sand (every square inch of her body was absolutely covered in it by the time we left the beach each day!), and I held her in my arms or in my lap and let her feel the tide wash over her legs. I could tell that she was awe-struck by the ocean and the rush of the tide every time she watched or felt it come in. The waves were pretty strong (there were quite a few surfers out there), and it seemed to scare her when I walked her out in the ocean so that the water was waist high, so we just played it safe and stayed back at the edge of the surf.

It was interesting being at the beach with a baby! I spent a lot of time lathering her skin with sunblock because she's just so fair, putting her hat back on after she'd thrown it off, trying to convince her that putting sand in her mouth was not the best idea, keeping her from jamming shells into her mouth, etc. But, it was actually pretty hilarious. Walking on the beach was also more of an effort with a toddler at the hip, but having my sling with me was a life-saver. Freyja slept in it the whole time Heidi and I combed the sand for shells...

We only had two major shenanigans while at the beach.

The first one began with Heidi telling me that she'd driven her four-wheel-drive car on the beach the last time she'd been to the outer banks...and it was really cool...so we should do it again...and ended in us being dragged off the beach by a nice man with a tow-truck. Yay! I guess we won't be doing that next year. I think we both wish we'd taken a picture of that...

The second one involved Freyja smashing her face into the scratchy carpet at the hotel on the first night, which explains the big red strawberry burn on her nose in every photo from the beach. She is totally fine and the scab is almost completely gone already, but there was a lot of crying (by both of us) at first, and a lot of bleeding. I'm sure a variety of wounds are in our future as Freyja masters walking...and then running...and then jumping...and bike-riding, etc. So, basically from here on out.

Well, that about covers it for our summer trip. We had a lot of fun, and I'm already looking forward to next year!