Tales of a Fulltime Mom: Jekyll Island

This past weekend was our second official camping trip with our group of friends. You may recall that last November we had gone up to Ocala National Park and practically froze to death. Our worry was that it would be the opposite this time. Our setting was Jekyll Island, a small island off the Georgia coast, about an hour north of Jacksonville. Our group consisted of the Isidros, Bergherms (minus Bruce), and the Cochrans.

The plan was to leave Friday afternoon and be there until Monday afternoon so that we could enjoy the long holiday weekend. However, when Duncan got back from a conference in Kansas City on Thursday night, where he had been since Sunday, he realized he had a ton of work to do and thus would need to work on Monday (today). Our plans were revised to leave come back Sunday night. Then, as we looked at the weather, things weren't looking too good. Because of Beryl, a tropical storm, there was a 30% chance of rain on Saturday and 70% on Sunday. There was a lot of back and forth about calling it off (I didn't want to drive 3.5 hours with the kids and then be stuck with a bunch of crummy weather) but after some arm twisting by the Isidros and Cochrans, who were still firm about going, we acquiesced.

The drive up wasn't bad although Brady was in a bit of a grumpy mood. I'm convinced that his top teeth are about to come in (not sure why it's taking SO long. He got his bottom two three months ago). After a rather short nap, I was all set to put a DVD on for him when I discovered I had left the cord at home and the player was dead. Costly. That was a long two hours to kill. Anyway, we arrived at our campsite at about 6:30, the last ones there. We had a group campsite which means that our tents were all pretty close together and we had one central fire pit area. We set up quickly and during that time I probably got bitten by bugs about a dozen times. Indeed, that was definitely a drawback about the camping. Poor Aubree who swells up with any little bite, is absolutely covered. Calleigh is pretty bad too, actually. They have their doctor appointments on Wednesday and the doctor will be getting quite an eyeful.

We decided to head out for some pizza for supper and found a little restaurant right next to a fantastic playground. It was such a tiny place that we ended up just ordering at a window and eating at tables outside. That worked out pretty well because then the kids could just play while we ate. It was really good pizza and we stuffed ourselves since we knew we couldn't take a doggie bag home.

Waiting for our pizza.

Getting the kids to sleep proved to be a challenge. I made the mistake of letting Brady fall asleep on the way back from supper and that seven or eight minutes or so was not good. He wouldn't/couldn't fall asleep and Duncan ended up having to drive around for him to fall asleep. The girls both had fallen asleep on the way there that afternoon so they were awake until I think like 11:30. It was warm in the tent but I had gotten some battery operated fans which cooled it off enough to make it comfortable. Finally we were all asleep, at long last, but then at 3:30 Aubree cried out for her binky and that was just enough to wake Brady up. It makes things just a little tough when you're only a few feet from the next tent. I was afraid I was going to have to go into the van but I nursed Brady a little and he finally went back to sleep but not after crawling to the end of the mattress and falling asleep there in some strange position. So I had to sleep the rest of the night with him down at my feet.

Sabbath was a glorious day. The forecast of 30% chance of rain should have been 0% because it didn't rain at all and was just beautiful. After a breakfast of eggs/potatoes/sausage links provided by the Bergherms and Cochrans, Duncan took the girls for a bike ride down a nice path. Later we headed to the beach where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and great fellowship. One the way there, Brady fell asleep and had a nice long nap so I spent much of the late morning/early afternoon in the van with him. Calleigh LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the ocean. It was funny because she had told me before hand that she didn't like the beach but boy, but apparently things changed since she last was at the beach some nine months ago. She, Braelyn, and Blake spent hours in the waves. She's probably told me at least two dozen times how much she loved it. Aubree, not so much. She seems to be very intimidated by the waves and barely wanted to go in. She did love playing in the sand though. At one point, she had a major meltdown when I was trying to get her hands cleaned for lunch. I told her to go clean her hands off in the water. She didn't want to do it alone so I had to go with her. Then, we walked back to our stuff and to dry her hands off, she rubbed them in the sand thus starting the process all over again. I think she did that three times and by the end of it, she was crying almost hysterically. That's what staying up until 11:30 does to you, I guess.

That's our spot under the black canopy.

The three Cochrans fell asleep much to our envy.

Daddy forcing Aubree into the water.

Helping Allen build a teepee

Taking a little break with Daddy to try and calm down.

Brady had no fear.

We were in charge of supper, along with the Isidros, so we did hot dogs and I made a pasta salad. Afterwards, we went back to the playground to wear the kids out. I kept Brady awake on the way back this time and he went right to sleep. Aubree soon followed and after Calleigh watched a movie with Braelyn, she went to bed too without any problems. So much better! The adults sat around and chit chatted and looked at the weather some more. We saw that it was definitely going to rain on Sunday so we decided to leave in the morning instead of waiting until the evening. Then Allen brought out the midnight (or 11:00 pm) buffet which consisted of things I don't eat so I happily enjoyed some of Jennifer's cupcakes that she had brought. The kids didn't wake up at all (well, Aubree made a few noises and fell off her cot twice but I put her back on without disturbing anyone) but that didn't stop me from waking up every little bit thinking that they were going to wake up. Every little sound, you start to cringe wondering if that was going to do it. Our site was backed up against the road and someone drove by a little after we had gone to bed and it sounded like they stopped and revved their engine and then went speeding off. It was so loud and I was sure it was going to wake up Brady. Sometime during the middle of the night, I woke up to find Duncan wide awake, all stuffed up. It seems the little 5-inch fan he had next to his head had caused a problem. He ended up going to sleep in the car for a bit.

Brady loved the playground!

He climbed all the way to the top!

Tangie and Jennifer

Heather and William

The next morning, it still wasn't raining but things looked like they were starting to turn. We quickly had everything packed up and departed a little after 10:00 after a nice pancake breakfast. We had barely gotten off the island before it started raining and has pretty much been doing that here at home since then.

So, all in all, it was a fun time. The weather worked out while we were there and the island is a really pretty setting. The only thing we wished were different was the sleeping. It sure will be interesting over the next few months to see what happens while we are at campmeeting and in Nova Scotia.

Daddy took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's last night so I could unpack.

Exhausted. This is about two minutes after they went to bed Sunday night.

Last week is now a blur. As I mentioned, Duncan was gone for the majority of it. Here are a few things that we did:

Last Saturday was Aubree's actual birthday and we spent the evening at Ron and Elaine's and had some cupcakes and opened presents. The big gift was a pair of bikes. Aubree has never been able to peddle a tricycle so we were astounded when she picked up riding the bike right away.
At church earlier, Calleigh enjoyed sitting in the chair while everyone sang. Meanwhile, Aubree wouldn't even sit in the chair in her class. Calleigh had told me to make sure to tell Miss Deanna (her teacher) that it was her birthday because they aren't allowed to talk about themselves during class.
Sunday I went to a baby shower for Heather Cochran while Duncan did Daddy duty.
Sunday evening after Duncan had left, we decided to go to the green playground to ride bikes. Calleigh suggested we see if Robi, our neighbor, could come but I said maybe we could just plan for a play date later in the week. Well, when we got to the park, low and behold, Robi was already there for a birthday party. Calleigh could not believe it. She kept marveling at how Jesus had performed a miracle.
Monday, no recollection.
Tuesday we went to the hospital for Brady to get his blood taken again. We're trying to see if his t-cell count has gotten better so we don't have to go to the immunologist. He did pretty well given the circumstances although they had to do both arms and he has a massive bruise still on the left one. I haven't gotten the results yet.
Wednesday, Elaine accompanied me to look at a house in Altamonte Springs. I liked it but I don't think we'll proceed since it was a little more than we wanted to spend.
Thursday we shopped to prepare for our camping trip. Duncan's plane was delayed and he didn't get home until after the kids were all asleep. For some unkown reason, Calleigh came into our room in the middle of the night and I heard her say "Daddy! We have a new kite to take camping." I guess she was glad he was home.
Friday morning I was in Brady's room on the floor with him when Duncan walked in. Brady saw him, gave the biggest squeal, and crawled over to him as fast as he could. It was really quite precious. He loves his daddy!