Our Trip to NC

Last weekend, the girls and I took a trip to NC to see good friends/former neighbors The Todds. Thinking Stefan would be working massive overtime (which he hasn't really) I planned this trip as a break for me and the girls. I'd be able to "get away" for a bit and Lexi would be distracted from Daddy's absence by seeing her friend, Mary, whom she has not seen in over a year but misses terribly. Stefan did not work, but it did afford him the opportunity to ride his bike a few times.

Our trip began on Thursday morning. The girls and I left the house around 10:30 a.m. to pick up Jennifer, who would be riding with us. Daddy returned from servicing lawns to bid us farewell and Abby even said "bye-bye" happily to him as we left (surprising because she is such a Daddy's girl). We picked up Jennifer and headed out of town. Thankfully, Stefan had bought a GPS for the business the day before and I was able to test it on the trip. Pretty cool! It definitely proved it's value, but you'll read more about that later. Anyway, we made it through ATL and down I-20 a bit before Abby had her first twinges of a meltdown approximately 120 miles into the trip. We used the GPS (who I named Garmindy because it has a female voice) to locate the nearest McDonalds and were directed right to it. We grabbed some lunch, let the kids play on the playland for about 45 minutes then we were off again. Abby, of course did not want to get back in the car, but we needed to put more distance behind us.

Finally, after much effort, we got the girls buckled safely back in their seats. We made it about another 150 miles before Lexi asked for a drink. Once Abby heard this, she too wanted a drink. We used the GPS to locate another McDonald's, but there wasn't one for about 20 miles. So we chose to search for a public park for the girls to run around and found one in Camden, SC (ironically, there was a McDonald's as part of a gas station just off of the exit, but there was no playland. GPSes can't always be counted on!). This is the "Oldest Inland City in SC" as was stated by multiple signs throughout the community. There were reenactment sites and a lot of history in this quaint town. We finally found the park. It is a square shaped park with beautiful shade trees, a gazebo with a fountain, canon replicas, the perfect little play gym for the girls, and it was all surrounded by colonial-style homes with to-die-for foliage. It's so charming. The girls had a quick snack and played for about 45 minutes, then we were off again.











When we left there, we were on our final long stretch of the trip. Abby did start fussing after awhile, but we pushed her the final 50 miles before we stopped. We met Jennifer's friend at a McDonald's in Dunn, NC that had the most awesome playland I've ever seen. Diane was meeting me there because she didn't want me getting lost in the dark with two girls (she's so sweet) but she was understandably running a little behind because she was wrangling her two kids on her own. I grabbed some dinner for the girls while we waited and Jennifer and her friend were nice enough to stay and keep me company while I waited for Diane. Diane finally showed, and Lexi and Mary were reunited. I thought they would be more dramatic with big "I missed yous" and such, but the gave each other a quick hug like they saw each other yesterday and proceeded to play for about an hour. We left the McDonalds at about 9:30 or 10 and drove the 35 miles to Diane's. I was so glad we were there. I was pooped.

She has a beautiful house yet she felt the need to apologize for the "mess" and the accommodations and anything else she could think of. I don't know why. Compared to my house, her house was in "show condition" as if she were selling it. The accommodations were absolutely perfect--nothing to complain about. We had a great time. We went out to eat a lot to get the kids out of the house. We went to places that we don't have in Georgia like Rock-ola Cafe and The Mash House. During the days (and nights) Lexi and Mary played. They only had a couple of arguments, but that's to be expected when kids their age are overexposed to each other for an extended period of time. Nothing tragic. Lexi loved all of Mary's dress-up clothes and they played that a lot.







I have purposely left out Wilson, the baby, up to this point because he has a special little story of his own. First of all, he is one of the cutest little babies I have ever seen...and he's a flirt. But he is a Mama's boy which is completely understandable because Daddy is currently deployed for 15 months. Anyway, this little kid had some sort of beef with me. Whenever I would shake my head, tell him 'no' or 'yucky', or anything that could be perceived as slightly negative he would scowl at me, stick his lower lip out, and then start a faint whine that would progress into a full on cry and want his mommy to cuddle him. Diane said she thought he had a crush on me because he didn't do that with anyone else...EVER! One day we were sitting on the front porch watching the girls pick flowers and Diane asked what I wanted for dinner and I said, "I don't know". Wilson perceived this as 'no' and repeated his routine. "K-N-O-W! K-N-O-W!" I argued but the routine continued through the whole process to the Mommy cuddle. He totally broke my heart, but it was cute and you had to laugh.





We left to return home the morning of Stefan's birthday. I met up with Jennifer at the same McDonald's. We let the girls have breakfast and play for a bit and then we took off. Abby did considerably better on the return trip. She watched a movie, took a nap, and allowed us to put 250 miles behind us before we had to stop which was perfectly fine because I need to fill the gas tank anyway. That was the only stop we made. She was an absolute angel. We returned home just in time to go with Stefan, his parents, and his brother to Provinos for dinner. I was exhausted but the kids were wound up, but I'm glad we were able to celebrate his birthday with him.

Well, that's our girls-only trip to North Carolina in a nutshell. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again sometime. I'd hate to think that was the last time I'd see Diane or the last time Lexi sees Mary.