And...We're Back!

The boys and I made it back safely from Newport Beach, CA yesterday. James flew back to Germany and arrived home in the middle of the night...but he is also home safely and trying his hardest to not sleep at all today so that his body can adjust to the time as quickly as possible.

This trip to Newport was a blast! I think it was my favorite year...and it was our eighth year there so I have a lot of years to compare it to! First of all, the weather was really, really nice. In fact, all but one day was probably a little warmer than usual which made it perfect for all the swimming and sitting in the sun that we did. Unfortunately, my back got sunburned the first day at the pool, which was a complete accident because I went to get my back sprayed and then got distracted and apparently never thought about it again, so I'm peeling already there but the rest of me is nicely tanned as are James, Thomas and Toby (and Toby's hair is SO blonde!).

I have been thinking a lot about why this year seemed so fantastic. There are a few reasons, like it was nice to spend time with James again, and we have a new appreciation for the US and how wonderfully convenient it can be (and we recognized this over and over again while we were being tourists in CA), and that we didn't try to cram a lot in each day, rather we hung out a lot at the pool and let our kids "just be kids" and play with their cousins, and everyone got along really, really well... but the more I have been thinking about it, the more I am convinced that it boils down to one big reason: Thomas' fear of the water and ocean/beach has greatly subsided! In fact, he loves the ocean and the waves now. He didn't want to get in the ocean too far, but loved chasing the waves and having them "chase" him. We spent two days at the beach, and walked around the beach one evening and each time we had to drag him away!

Toby, however, didn't love the ocean, but he also wasn't terrified of it...he much preferred the sand, which was OK with us. Thomas also once hated the sand because it got him dirty...Toby threw it on himself and dumped it over his head and also ate it...a much different child he is from Thomas...this is becoming clearer each passing day!

Thomas also became more comfortable in the swimming pool, which, as I mentioned, is where we spent most of our days. He still wears a life jacket but at least got rid of the wings. Also, he no longer insisted that James or I stay in the pool with him at all times (with his life jacket, and wings on and us holding onto him while he screeched). So, he "swam" around with all of his cousins and it was absolutely a relief to see that fear diminish in him! One day he'll give up the life jacket...but again, this is a child that was 1000% terrified of the water...so it is major progress. In fact, on the very last day, during the last hour and a half of swimming, he finally dared to jump in and "go all the way under", of course, he loved it when he did it and then proceeded to jump in over and over again, at least 100 times, and that is not exaggerating. I was sad to have to go in, he was having such a blast!

We truly had a wonderful time--(thanks Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Sherry)!

Until later,

Emily