Our trip to Dela-Where?

We drove all the way from Tampa to Delaware in 16+ hours and let me tell you, thank God for portable DVD players and snacks. We opted to leave a day earlier than planned and headed out on our journey last Wednesday night. Things didn't start off too great, though. Of course, it was storming (as it does almost everyday here in Tampa during the summer) and with traffic, we were only able to drive a few hours and had to stop in Jacksonville, FL. I know...we didn't even make it out of the state. BUT, we couldn't push the kids too hard on the drive and knew it was time to take a break.

The next day, we drove about 500 more miles and made it to Rocky Mount, NC, which seemed to be a beautiful town -- but with our schedule, there was going to be no sight-seeing... What they did have was an Outback right outside our hotel and after a few beers, our food that took over an hour and a very apologetic manager, we were both back at the hotel with a nice little buzz. (Probably not the best thing to do when you know you still have 300 more miles of driving to do, but at the time, it totally took the edge off!)

On Friday, with only a few hundred more miles to drive, I volunteered so that Ryan could possibly get some rest. I'm so glad I did. We went over/under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which was truly one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. I think it's about 17-22 miles long and I know I spent more than half that time wondering how the heck they built that thing and how smart those people must have been to have even come up with it. But then, after the CBBT was over, it was 2-lane driving for 120 miles and let me tell you what a major bummer that is with two kids that are so over being in the car.

We finally made it to Rehoboth at about 2:30 p.m. and Jason and Courtney greeted us with a fully-stocked kitchen and filled-up pool for the little ones...and there we were, at the destination of the long drive.

Courtney's parents have a house on the bay with a long dock and boat. Lucky for us, we had the chance to get out on the boat Saturday morning. Riley and I had been on one of Ryan's Coast Guard boats, but this was Ronan's first time. He seemed to have fun and didn't fight us when it was time to put the Coast Guard approved life jackets on...



Okay, so Ronan doesn't look super happy in these pictures, but I promise you, he was laughing and smiling. Riley shocked us on this trip, too...the princessy girl we all know and love was holding FISH. Real, live fish IN HER HAND. Courtney's dad was trying to catch bait for some fishing and put what he caught in a big bucket -- which Conner and Riley spent much of their time at, trying to grab some fish of their own and put in their own buckets.

I'm not one for touching anything slimy and I was shocked to see her all about the fish and showing us whatever she could find. Ronan wasn't too crazy about the fish, but he loved to dig, run and play with the big kids and he definitely kept up with them.

We also were able to go to the Boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach and although crowded, was a major source of entertainment for the kids. They have a mini amusement park inside called FunLand with small rides and games and for the small price of $20 (and 90 tickets), we had 4 kids who weren't crying, whining, or screaming. Nice, very nice.

The main purpose of our trip was to see Jason, Courtney and the kids. The other goal was to hit the beach and work on our tan as much as possible and that didn't quite happen the way we wanted it to. Yes, we went to the beach for a day. The kids had a blast. And I got some color.

But as the week progressed, everything started to go downhill. Wednesday morning, Ronan was throwing up all morning and basically became dehydrated...off to the ER we went. After spending 5 hours at Beebe Memorial Hospital, we finally got back to the house and relaxed. (We also played Rummy 500 and I swear, it took Ryan 3 days of playing before he finally understood what he had to do...love you baby...) Ronan was spent and slept more than he has ever slept since birth.

Riley was in good spirits, though. Jason and Courtney took her and their kids to the Sea Shell Shop and bought them hermit crabs. Riley named hers: Rostella and Stephanie. (So random, so random...) Poor Rostella and Stephanie were racing outside of their homes with Conner's hermit crabs -- torture, huh?

But then the next day, we obviously couldn't take Ronan out to the beach and so we opted to hit the Boardwalk again while Jason and Courtney took Conner and Maggie to meet other family and beach it. Just when we thought Ronan was better...Ryan decides he is going to get sick, too. Both my boys were quite ill on Friday and to ensure that Riley and I would be free of germs, we went to Dewey beach with Jason and Courtney. While fun and entertaining, it was still sad to be away from Ryan and Ronan...who I knew would have had a blast at the beach.

Sadly, we decided to start driving back home that night. It took us 3 days (2 nights) again, but it was a good drive. It does make you appreciate your home so much more when you are away. We loved seeing our family and had a great time (with the exception of the ER trip and the illnesses) but man, there is nothing like being in your own bed and in your own house...