Vacation

We took our first vacation with Ben a couple of weeks ago and it's taken me a couple of weeks to recover sufficient energy to write a post.

We started off with a quick trip to DC where we did a little shopping and sightseeing. Ben and I then flew to Portland, Maine to spend the rest of the week with my parents, 2 sisters, and their families. Harold had to work, so he was unable to join us for the Maine leg of the trip.

We spent the week at McGrath Pond (though pretty much a lake in my book) in the Belgrade Lakes area. My sister Lisa and her family live in New Hampshire and they have been vacationing there for years. This year my parents, Teresa and I decided to crash the party. This was the first full on Davis family vacation in many years so we were all pretty excited about it.

Nana and Papa with all 8 grandchildren.

Papa and Ben finally had their first fishing trip.

Teresa, Sydney, and Megan demonstrating their kayaking skills. If you think this photo is a Christmas card waiting to happen, you are right.

Ben, looking a little gangsterish (and, according to Harold, a little on the plump side).

Laura Belle and Ben. As usual, he felt it necessary to take over her bottle. Fortunately Laura is too young to drink so he had to settle for water this time.

Laura, Ben, and his 10-year old twin, Jared. (Not all of us saw the resemblance, but Jared was confident that they looked exactly alike).

Ben bouncing with the soon-to-be-a-college-senior Melissa. I was in 6th grade when she was born. Yet another reason while I am feeling O-L-D.

Ben and Colton, both fans of the striped look.

The week was a lot of fun but I was exhausted by the end of it. I'd forgotten how tiring it is to be a full-time Mom, even with lots of help. I'd envisioned hours of leisurely swimming and reading, but it didn't quite work out that way. Ben developed a cold while we were in DC so I spent a good deal of time each day sucking snot out of his nose, which was about as fun as it sounds. Fortunately he seemed to feel fine (apart from the aforementioned snot-sucking sessions). However, despite my efforts with the bulb syringe his face remained snot-encrusted for most of the week, which is why there aren't as many pictures as usual.

So when Saturday rolled around I was looking forward to getting home. I won't relate the entire saga, but we made it home about 24 hours after leaving the lake (it should have been about 8 hours). Basically we flew to JFK where we found out that our connecting flight was cancelled and that Jet Blue would not be able to get us home until Sunday night. As it was Saturday morning and I was traveling alone with Ben with limited food/diapers/mental resources, etc, I found this unacceptable. So we rented a car and drove back to Raleigh. Fortunately I was able to meet up with my parents/sister as they were driving back from Maine. That too was a saga in and of itself as my parents ended up having car trouble, but ultimately we made it home around 4am Sunday morning. And now I have no immediate plans to ever take a vacation again.