Virginia Beach was not our only beach stop for our vacation. Originally the plan was to continue on to Chincoteague. I’ve always wanted to go to Chincoteague for the running of the wild ponies. It seems like such an amazing sight but I assumed it was at a different time of year. I was still set on seeing Chincoteague, with or without these wild ponies. So as we were preparing for our journey, I did a little research on where we could camp in Chincoteague. Lo and behold, we were going go be there during the big pony event. I am never this lucky!

Of course, this meant most campgrounds were totally booked. And, as I started to read about the event, I got way less excited. Standing outside for hours in the heat waiting to catch a glimpse of some horses? Hmmm…that might have worked a few years ago. Standing outside in the heat for hours. With. A. Toddler? Yeah, no. That’s not happening. So, change of plans. Those wild horses will have to wait.

Thankfully, our back-up plan was easy. My other, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there” place was the Outer Banks. And so we did. Without reservations. In the summer. On a weekend. Because that’s how we roll.

We arrived in Rodanthe where there seemed to be a number of campground options…except most were fully booked. Shocker! We were presented with two choices: KOA (holy expensive site, batman! (but with hookups and laundry)) or the national park campground (ahhh, cheap, beautiful, peaceful, and no hookups.) Seems like an easy choice, no? Yeah, no.

Two years ago the national park would have been the obvious choice. And even now we REALLY wanted that to work. But it was 100 degrees. And during the extreme hot temperatures and the mid-day sun, we needed a cooler place to retreat to with Emerson. With our fair skin, I don’t like to expose her or myself to that much sun. And, while not a major issue, she was wearing her last clean diaper and I desperately needed to do laundry. So we did it. We went with the expensive campsite at the KOA. And you know what? It was fun.

The beach in the mornings was beautiful, minus the somewhat large number of jellyfish. Ew. Emerson loved the two (that’s right, TWO!) playgrounds. They had some bouncy thing-a-ma-bob (technical term), that Chris thoroughly enjoyed, despite looks from the 8-year-olds wondering why this old man was jumping with them. And, the pool? Ah, the pool was the perfect temperature.

We were across the street from a kiteboarding area, a sport that fascinates me. Seriously, how do they not blow away? When I was in college, a friend handed me his umbrella to hold. It was one of those mega umbrellas that is supposed to withstand anything. It was windy. I nearly blew away like Mary Poppins. My friend had to hold me down. I was much smaller then. But I digress. My point? I don’t see kiteboarding in my future.

There was a pretty good restaurant nearby, too. Emerson liked it so much she peed on the floor. Twice. I won’t go into explaining how this happened (pssst…she has dumb parents.)

We only stayed two days but it was a lovely two days. And while one of my biggest pet peeves is when the letter K is used in place of the letter C, I’ll agree with KOA just this once and say “Kamping is Fun.”

Ugh. That was really difficult to type! Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Outer Banks

Our 4th of July weekend included a lot of statements beginning with the phrase, “This time last year.” It’s hard to believe a year has passed. This time last year we welcomed Emerson into our lives. This time last year I had never heard of the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Now, not only can I recite it from memory but I can throw a hungry caterpillar themed birthday party!

Yesterday we spent Emerson’s birthday with family and ended the day with a birthday party at the campground. Emerson got her first taste of carrot cake covered with a sugary frosting. (Chris was opposed to the cake idea but we compromised by a) making carrot cake, and b) using as many local ingredients as possible. The carrots, eggs, and flour were all from local farmers). As suspected, Emerson loved it. She also loved smearing it all over her dad’s shirt.

I became very sentimental last night as I climbed into bed and reflected on the year. I recalled those early challenges of exhaustion and trying to soothe a fussy baby. That fear of going out alone with the baby. What would I do if she started crying at the grocery store? (She did. I survived.) And how suddenly I have a child who is walking, clapping, laughing, dancing, and saying, “Da” every time she sees one of the campground’s ducks. It’s amazing how quickly time flies.

I’ll stop now before I get all mushy and teary eyed and simply state that it was a happy first birthday for our little girl. We are blessed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go tend to my TODDLER (ack!!) as she attempts to feed the dog her carrots.

Helllooooo out there! Remember me? Yes. I’m back. But only to explain why I’ve been missing. My lovely little Dell mini computer has been giving me the blue screen of death lately. The dreaded screen pops up about every five minutes and requires me to restart. It’s extremely frustrating. Chris attempted to reinstall stuff and solve the problems, but…yeah…that didn’t work. So I gave up on using it. All Internet-related tasks are done on my iPhone, which also seems to be struggling lately. So you see the problem, no?

I feel the only solution is for Chris to buy me an iPad. All in favor of this idea say, “aye.”

Until then, I will attempt updates on my phone. Happy Summer!