The Dog Ate My Blog

I feel like I need a good excuse for why I haven't been posting for close to two weeks. Should I blame it on Lexi?

Nah, it's not her fault. We were on vacation!!!!!!!!!

I can't even begin to express how much I've missed writing on the blog! This is the longest I've gone in a WHILE! Not that I have a whole long list of readers who were dying for an update on our extraordinary-to-me-but-ordinary-to-everyone-else lives...but still! This blog is my therapist, so when I don't write, I don't express myself. Shew, you can only IMAGINE how much I have to say after all this time! The week before vacation, I was swamped with work (yes, I do actually have real estate business that keeps me extremely busy from time to time) and buried in laundry to get ready for our trip. So there's my excuse. And I'm sorry for anyone who has missed my ramblings. Ok, that's probably only my Mom...

Last night at 8:00 p.m., the taillights of our loaded-up the Yukon, complete with the extra cargo carrier on top, lit up Spindrift Trail as we said goodbye to our week's vacation in the Outer Banks. We arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina last Sunday and left last night at Campbell's bedtime. Our exit plan was flawless! Campbell was asleep before we hit the end of Spindrift Trail, she even skipped her bedtime bottle! With a big dinner followed by a bath in lavender-scented baby wash, dressed in her elephant pj's, she snuggled into her carseat and slept the ENTIRE six and a half hour drive! Wow - what a perfect little angel! Next to her, Lexi curled up in her doggie seatbelt and rode home in peace as well. Travis was a rockstar driver and drove the entire way home. I was in the backseat to watch the girls, but since they slept, I chugged a Yoohoo and passed out myself.

Hopefully tomorrow I will post all the details of our trip with my family. I just wanted to explain my absence! :) I felt really funny about advertising the fact that I would be out of town online. But then again, I made a comment about it on Facebook. For some reason I wasn't scared to let all 200+ of my random friends and acquaintances know I was out of town, but felt it "wasn't safe" to say it on here. Ha! A little backwards, I know. :) While I don't have as many pictures as I'd like, I do have some sweet pictures to share from our week in the Outer Banks that I'm excited to upload.

Before our long drive East, Travis competed in his fourth triathlon of the season. Campbell and I were there to watch his spectacular performance. He keeps getting better and better and we are both really proud of his accomplishments. After the race, we packed up the car and headed to Raleigh where we spent the night. Not only was it the halfway point, it was also the location of my dear friend Shannon's bridal shower and bachelorette party! Unfortunately I had to miss all the festivities, but I did manage to stop by her house and surprise the you-know-what out of her! I rang her doorbell with Campbell in my arms. I could hear her as she looked out the peephole - no way, no way, no way, what are they doing here? We had a tearful hello and it was really fun to shock her like that since she thought I was at the beach already. My best girlfriends got to meet my baby girl which was very important to me. I was very sad to only be able to stay for about 30 minutes. I had thought I could manage a few hours, but I really hadn't considered how difficult it was going to be to stay in a hotel room with a baby and a dog. We basically had to unload the entire car for a one-night stay. Then...once the baby was asleep, if Travis was alone he couldn't take Lexi outside, he couldn't go get dinner, he really couldn't do anything. We realized it was very hard to manage this trip with two parents, and nearly impossible to do alone! So...instead of partying with my girls like I'd planned, I just popped in and said hello and then went back to the hotel and crashed. After all, we'd gotten up at 4:30 that morning for the triathlon! It worked out just fine and it was nice to break up the long drive to the Outer Banks.

So that is my "quick" explanation of my absence. I'm glad to be back and hope no one was too upset by my lack of posting. ;) Look forward to a marathon post in the days to come with beach pictures and lots of details of our vacation!!