Time Warp

I feel like I am just coming out of WalMart and two weeks have gone by. I say that because whenever I enter WalMart,I am always amazed at how much time I end up spending/wasting in there - it is the time warp store. Life has created that same reality for me recently.

It is all due to summer vacation, so totally worth it. I spent the week leading up to our vacation working too much, telling the kids on an hourly basis that it was not quite time to leave for the beach (note to self, do NOT tell kids about upcoming future vacations until the day before), shopping, packing and unexpectedly dog sitting two young, energetic dogs that made Troy look mature and refined. Anyone who knows Troy is probably gasping right now.

Our two guests, Toby and Duke, or Beavis and Butthead as we liked to call them, spent the week with us while their parents honeymooned in Mexico. They spent almost every second of the day wrestling - serious wrestle-mania a.l.l. d.a.y. l.o.n.g. Duke, the Golden is a puppy and apparently had never been swimming before because when he tumbled into the pool head first, he had to be rescued by a fully clothed Holly. We laughed so hard - who has ever heard of a drowning Golden Retriever?? She was nice enough to support his body while he paddled his feet and quickly got the hang of the whole swimming thing. Well, from that point on, we could not keep him out of the pool. He found the Golden Retriever within and was non-stop for that point on - he even jumped in at 6 a.m. one morning.

Let me just tell you that just because Duke was in the water and Toby was not does not mean they could not continue their wrestle-mania. Toby chased him around the perimeter of the pool and the two would exchange playful bites and growls when Duke would briefly stop on the steps to catch his breath. Like you see here:

They definitely brought a new shade of "lively" to the house. I am willing to bet they crashed hard after the week-long party at the lively house. I know Troy did.

After the week leading up to vacation, we finally headed to "the North Carolina beach," as Evyn calls it, or Cape Hatteras as the rest of us call it. I will be back with many pictures, but this was us upon arrival:

This was the biggest, bluest house in the neighborhood complete with 12 master suites, a theater room with two rows of reclining seats, a workout room and lets not forget the pool and adjoining tiki bar. The best part... we were vacationing with Big Daddy "Puffy" Martin and his lovely wife, Sweet Sue, their kids, our cousins, their cousins and a few random but equally cool friends. You never really know how a large group is going to get along, and I had some small concerns, however, it was peace, love, harmony, sand, sun, a lot of alcohol and more love. I think it is safe to say that it was our best family vacation ever - it was definitely the biggest family vacation ever.

Anyone ever seen Bear and the Big Blue House? I still have that theme song running through my head. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the big blue house....