Fun, sun, sand...oh, and I'm gonna need a new purse

We just got back from the most fabulous holiday beach weekend with some dear friends. We went to WaterSound, Florida. The place we stayed was amazing. We had near-perfect weather. The company was great. The only thing that would have made the weekend any better was if we had all been healthy. Our friends' youngest was suffering from a pretty bad bout with asthma and had to be treated with multiple breathing treatments and medications while we were there. And, he had just the most pitiful cough (all night) you've ever heard.

Then, there was Pressley. I'm still not exactly sure what was up with Pressley, but Saturday night, we had a very long dinner experience during which all of the kids complained about freezing to death and pretty much refused to eat anything. Particularly P, who wanted to be held throughout dinner and ate maybe 3 french fries before declaring she was done. After dinner, we stopped at the grocery store and both E and P fell asleep promptly in the car while Corin ran in to pick up a couple of things. When we got back to the condo, I went to unbuckle P's car seat straps and she made a horrible face and started crying. Thinking she was just exhausted and ready to get out of the car, I consoled her and immediately scooped her up, holding her over the same shoulder where I had just hung my unzipped purse. I'm not going to get too graphic here, because I think yall are bright and can connect the dots. I'll just say that P was not simply exhausted and ready to get out of the car. She had an upset tummy, and now I'm in the market for a new purse. So, Corin slept in the kids' room that night with Evan and P slept with me. I basically slept with one eye open all night and every time the child moaned, I sat bolt upright and threw a tupperware container in front of her. All for naught, since it was apparently an isolated incident.

Sunday, Evan started complaining of his throat hurting when he swallowed, and by yesterday it was clear he had come down with a full-on cold. He basically laid in my lap the entire time we were at the beach and laid in a chair wrapped in a towel at the pool. Poor baby. He is home from school again today. (For those of you keeping count, this is the 3rd sick day in 4 weeks of school. But, the school policy clearly states that he should not come to school with a fever and I don't want some epidemic of the swine flu to break out and get blamed on me for sending my kid to kindergarten with a fever and a hacking cough... I'm just sayin'...)

Anyhow, we still managed to have an absolutely lovely time. I love, love, love the beach and was very sad to be saying goodbye to that particular slice of beach heaven until next spring at the very earliest. But, then, all good things must come to an end I suppose. So, until next spring - hopefully - so long WaterSound. I will miss you!

The kids waiting to go out to dinner.

Ready for ice cream!

Fun in the sand.

Feeding cheese crackers to the birds (I'm certain it is good for them).

Giant turtle in the pool.

Sick kid number one (Pressley on Sunday)

And, sick kid number two (Evan on Monday)