Hurrication 2010

We came. We saw. We evacuated.

That is all we can say about our attempted girl's trip this year. Me and my college roomies get together every year for a relaxing weekend. This year, we opted to drop the "relaxing" and "weekend" part of the tradition and spend a week at the beach with our kids. Still fun, but definitely not relaxing.

Josh and I flew down together on Sunday morning. Although, Josh has been on a plane before, he was only 8 months old and his obsession for "things that go" had not yet fully taken hold. Therefore, riding on an airplane was nothing short of (and I quote), "the most amazing thing ever." He was absolutely fabulous on the plane. It is no surprise, Josh is an active little guy, who does not know a happy medium between fast and slow and quiet and loud. So, I was nervous, but he was great. I was so proud of my little man.

We flew Southwest and the nice flight attendants and pilots were only too happy to welcome Josh into the cockpit. He got to press buttons and everything!! Josh colored a nice Toy Story picture for the pilot as a tip for keeping us safe. I think that makes them even, right?

We got to the beach a day early so we could hang out with Aunt Betsy and Granee. Granee and Josh had fun surfing. Josh showed off his "super rad moves" like his "triple lip" on the boogie board. I am not lying, these are actual Josh phrases and moves.

I can't make this stuff up.

We enjoyed our traditional meal at Snoopy's for dinner by the water the night before Gayle and Betsy left. It was a great time.

On Monday evening, our college crew arrived with their kids. Josh was BURSTING with excitement to see Matthew and Isabella. Within minutes of their arrival, the kids were in full play mode and were shortly in their swimsuits and headed to the pool.

We stuck all the kids in the bunk bed room. They had so much fun playing pretend house and jumping from one bed to the next. There were a few falls from the top bunk, but no broken bones, so all is well. Josh got these awesome sunglasses from Sara and insisted on wearing them to bed one night. Why does everything seem more fun when you are in a bunk bed?

About three hours after they arrived, we got word of a pesky hurricane headed our way. Awesome. After much deliberation, we decided to make the best of our day on Tuesday and plan on heading home 3 days early on Wednesday. UGH!!!!! Mother Nature! Actually, it was more the thought of being stuck inside a condo with torrential rain, possible tornadoes, and no power that drove us to abandon ship. We were all okay with 20 foot waves and flooding, but no power with five kids???

Surely, we could not survive such a disaster.

We did get a brief glimpse of the beach on Tuesday morning before the storms came in. When I say brief, I mean brief. I think we were on the beach for about 20 minutes and 10 of those minutes were spent fighting a losing battle with these a swarm of seagulls intent on stealing our goldfish snacks. There's a sea full of fish out there, birds! Go get your own!!!!

Although it was a flop, the short time spent with our friends at the beach was still worth it. The kids had so much fun playing and NOT sleeping, and the moms got a chance to catch up on months of girly talk. ANY time with these ladies is not wasted. We pick up right where we left off... TEN years ago!!!

This trip taught me one thing about our annual girl's trip. We must never, ever, ever, tempt fate and change things up. We must stick to the

"relaxing girls weekend" as per our usual plan.

I mean, SOMEBODY needs to keep those spas and margarita bars in business, right?