Greetings from the Outer Banks!

Greetings from the Outer Banks!

We arrived in Nags Head, NC yesterday around noon. We couldn't get into our house until around 3:30 p.m., so we shopped a bit for beach stuff, and then we hung out on the beach until it was time to go unload our car at the house.

The boys then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool and hanging out in the hot tub with the rest of us. By the rest of the afternoon, I mean until about 7:00 p.m. Then we all enjoyed a casual dinner together and I put the boys to bed while everyone else went out to visit the beach.

Around 11:00 p.m., while the adults and older girls were playing a rousing game of Apples to Apples, Aidan appeared upstairs, hoarse, coughing, and nearly unable to choke out any words. He was clearly having difficulty breathing, and his cough sounded like croup. I've had a lot of experience with croup, thanks to Colin, but Aidan has never HAD it before, and I've heard that it's really more common in children younger than Aidan. Therefore, I was worried that I might be wrong and that it might be something even worse. Fred and I decided that he really should be seen by somebody right away, so off to the hospital we went (urgent care was closed).

I must give high praise to the emergency room staff at the Outer Banks Hospital. They got him in right away, they were efficient, friendly and accomodating. My first thoughts were correct, it was croup, so they gave him a breathing treatment and some medication to open up his lungs, and we were back home by about 1:00 a.m. It should not ruin his vacation, though; he is allowed to go swimming and do everything else he likes to do on vacation!

So, today was a beach day...the boys built sand castles and collected shells:

They went boogie boarding:
And caught some big waves:
They played in the water:
And ran in (and from) the waves:
In general, they had loads of fun!


One last picture I MUST share...I do not know this girl, but she was having so much fun feeding the seagulls and they were literally swarming her. It was just such a wonderful scene that I HAD to photograph it!

One last little funny that sums up how much kids pay attention when you think they are not. While driving through Virginia yesterday, Colin spotted a bridge that was under construction, and yelled, "Mom, I see a broken bridge!" A few seconds later, he asked me, "Mom, are we in Minneapolis?"