Summer Vacation - Part 1 {arriving at White Horse Ranch}

Our vacation is finally here!  We had originally planned to go in May or June, but it just didn't happen.  And we had planned to go somewhere for an entire week (for the first time as a family), but started thinking it wouldn't be possible this year because things are tight these days.  But things changed when we found out the uncle of my good friend, Kama, was willing to let us use one of his condos in Hilton Head for an entire week for the low, low cost of just the clean-up fee.  The only stipulation is that we had to go after the busy season.  So even though we had to wait until the end of the summer for our beach vacation, it was totally worth it because we got to vacation with our very good friends, Jim and Kama, and their precious little boy, Gabe, and baby girl, Addy.  And vacationing with other people makes it even more fun!

We left a day early (on Friday) so we could stop in Rincon, GA and visit my brother before continuing on to Hilton Head on Saturday afternoon.  We got on the road about an hour or so later than we had planned, but we've come to expect that whenever we go on a trip.  Heading east on I-75, we soon hit the curvy trip through the mountains.  And because we can't seem to go on a trip without someone throwing up, Boone decided to throw up immediately AFTER we passed the entrance to a rest area.  So we pulled over at the end of the exit ramp coming out of the rest area and got him cleaned up.  And in a not-so-smart move on my part, I had packed back-up clothes for Fenn (in case he had a potty accident), but had neglected to pack back-up clothes for Boone.  All of our other clothes were in the rooftop carrier and not so easy to get to.  So I put one of Fenn's t-shirts and shorts on Boone.  Luckily, Boone is starting to catch up to Fenn in size.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful.  We had packed peanut butter and honey sandwiches and lots of snacks with plans to stop at a rest area for lunch.  That way, the boys would have plenty of grassy areas to run around and stretch their legs.  Fenn got to pet a cat on a leash, and we discovered Boone loves trucks and that he can actually say "truck".  It actually comes out more like "dwuck!".

While at the rest area, I told Fenn he needed to go potty.  He said he wanted to do it on the grass.  I tried to tell him he really needed to go inside and use the big boy potty, but he was insistent on doing it outside.  So then we started looking for a bush or something he could get behind for a little privacy.  Nope... that wasn't working for him.  He walked out into the middle of a grassy area and said, "I wanna pee pee on da gwass right here."  So that's what he did.... for everyone to see.  Pants down around his ankles, white butt shining, and stream of pee shooting straight out.  Oh, and a big smile on his face.  I looked over at the nice older couple (who had the cat) eating lunch and said, "I'm sorry."  They said, "You've gotta do what you've gotta do."  A few minutes later, Fenn said he needed to poopy.  And once again, he didn't want to go inside to the bathroom.  So we got the potty seat out of the car.  I asked him if he wanted me to put it beside the car, but once again, he had other ideas.  He wanted it underneath one of the covered picnic table areas.  So he sat there, looking all around him at the people walking by, and poopied.  Needless to say, we got lots of smiles and giggles from people walking by.  But everyone seemed to have a look on their faces that said, "Don't worry... I totally understand."

We finally arrived at Todd and Angie's White Horse Ranch shortly after 6:00 p.m.  Fenn was so excited to finally see them... we've been singing 'Uncle Todd had a farm' (as opposed to Old McDonald had a farm) ever since our visit last summer.  And Boone did his usual "I'm shy" thing, hiding his face on my shoulder at first.  But he quickly warmed up and was ready to play.  Within a few minutes, the boys were riding on the trailer and going to help their cousin, Seth, feed the horses.  They both looked so cute carrying around the buckets of feed... like natural-born ranch hands.

After a yummy dinner of spaghetti, it was time to get the boys down for the night.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day of riding horses and tractors and playing with Sarge and Deuce.  Stay tuned for more about our vacation!