Girls' trip!!

Tomorrow morning, I leave to go on my first post-kids girls' trip. Whoo-hoo!

Here's a photo to give a hint as to where I am going:

That's right, y'all! I am headed to NOLA!

I'm going with four amazing, talented, beautiful women who all worked at The Baltimore Sun when I was there.

All of us are still writing, though none at newspapers. Four of us are married, one is divorced. Four of us have children, but only one of us is a bit of a nervous wreck about leaving her kids for three days. Bet you can guess who that one is.

Nevertheless, I know it will be fine -- better than fine, actually. The kids will have a great time hanging out with their Dad, who has made lots of fun plans for them, and my sides are already prepping for the soreness I'm sure to have after all the laughing that will take place this weekend.

Also, Erin (who owns the house we're staying in) already has reservations for us at crazy-good restaurants, like this one on Saturday night. So my tastebuds (and waistline) are prepping for three days of non-stop phantasmagoria.

I am excited about catching up with my friend Candice, too, who lives in LaPlace - about 35 minutes outside New Orleans. (I met her at the Kansas City Star. She left to become a lawyer, and then a full-time SAHM. It's interesting to me how almost none of my journalist friends [save a few] stayed in the business. Hmmm.)

So this should be a great weekend of eating, drinking, talking, laughing and, mostly, feeding my soul.

I can't wait!

End of vacation blues

I've got the end of vacation blues. I'm back at home, in the searing heat of the city; there's laundry to do and grocery shopping and email to return. I'll have to start cooking tomorrow for the week, and there is not even the slightest hint of saltwater in the air. Saddest of all, Kohr Bros. does not have a frozen custard stand on every corner here. I don't know when I'll get another chocolate/vanilla swirl of love and goodness on a cone.

Maybe next year?

To help lift my sagging spirits, here are a few more photos of us on the beach. It really was an amazingly good time.

Beach bros. and their handsome Daddy. Cary was none too pleased about having to take more photos.

Clair LOVED this sand pit; we couldn't keep her out of it. There's still sand in her hair. There will probably be sand in her hair until Christmas. 

Ahoy, matie! Doesn't he have the cutest little impish grin?

Cary is so silly. This is what he did when I said, "Really smile."

My handsome, sweet Deanie. I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart to see how he cared for Clair while we were on our trip. At one point, on an amusement park ride, Dean reached behind himself and held on to the hem of Clair's dress the entire ride, because he said he thought she was going to be scared. Awwww. Such a sweetie.

Me and Cary, taking a stroll along the beach.  As we were walking, Cary said, "Let's keep going until we get to the end." Awww.

See allllll the sand in Clair's hair? That was not even half of it. 

Hello, favorite photo of the entire vacation. (No filter!)
We've discovered that our favorite time to go to the beach is between 5-ish and 8. We're not middle of the day beach people (too hot), and we can't get our acts together to get to the beach at 8 a.m.  So evening beach-going it is. It is so pretty at that time, and the water is calm, and the sand is cool. It's perfect.

And here we are., the senior Davises. No photos of the bottom half of me in a bathing suit are allowed until I get back into the realm of respectability.  Maybe next year?

P.S. Cary and Dean never did get in the water. Maybe next year?

So far, this trip is beachy

We are having a great time at the beach, eating seafood (us) and junk food (the kids and us), and sand (Clair).

 I am trying to be unplugged as much as possible while I'm here, but I'm determined to stay in the groove of blogging, lest I lose my mojo.

So, just to keep the home fires burning, I'm posting a few pics. A real re-cap will come post vacation.

Clair is the only one of my children who will even get close to the water.  She isn't quite diving in, but she wil sit with me and let the waves lap around her toes and legs.

I love Bethany because it is so clean and so quiet and perfect for families. At 9 a.m., we virtually had the beach to ourselves.

People keep asking us, "Are they triplets?" Seriously, people.  Why do you hate me?

We've been lounging a lot, napping, playing with floor puzzles, eating frozen custard (YUM!) and walking through town, even well past the kids' bedtimes. Lester and I have been watching back-to-back episodes of "Damages" on Netflix when the kids finally do CRASH (and I do mean crash) for the night, and we have to will ourselves to stop watching.

Later on today, we're going for a family bike ride, and later on this week we have plans to go to a water park, and to the kiddie fun park at Rehoboth Beach (where I intend to eat more frozen custard.)

Lots of fun. Lots of food. Lots of sun. Lots of relaxing.

So far, so good, vacation. So far, so good.

Summertime sweeeeeet.

We had a great long weekend with friends and family, cookouts and crab feasts.

And now it's back to work. Bleh. Well, actually I love my job; I just hate getting up in the morning after a long weekend of long nights and early mornings and staying up way too late drinking sangria. :-)

This weekend, the boys really, really enjoyed playing with their cousins in my parents' backyard and I caught glimpses of what life will be like when they're a bit older, and more adventurous. Summers are going to be a lot of fun!

Speaking of summers, I am easing our family into the concept of "summer vacation." We have not gone on a vacation since the boys were born because it just seemed like way too much. And by way too much, I mean way too much everything. Too much effort, too much stress, too much planning, too much money.
But I really want us to be a family that vacations, so this year, I am planning a 3-day trip to the beach, with two nights in a hotel. Yikes! I get the chills just thinking about the drama that might ensue on this trip, but I am determined to do it and have FUN, darnit!

Next year, we'll actually do a road trip to somewhere in New England (also to the beach, but also to visit my Mom's family and eat lobsters!) and maybe the year after that, too. And then three years from now, when the boys are 5 and Clair is 3, we'll think about doing a big vacation. Disney? Road trip? Not sure.

Starting next year, Lester and I will also plan a short trip for just us, too.

So that's my plan and I'm quite excited about it. Today, during lunch, I"m going to start looking for hotels/deals for this summer's long weekend. I can't wait!!

Meanwhile,until we become pros at vacationing with three small children, we'll hang out in my Mom's backyard, with my Dad on the grill and my Mom doling out popsicles and all the cousins and family fun we can stand. And all will be summertime sweeeeeet.

Here's one of my FAVE pics of Lester ever. I'm posting it here because he is on the beach -- foreshadowing our summer trips -- and also because he looks soooo debonair. Check out this hottie! I'm such a lucky girl!

And here is an adorable pic of Ms. Clair -- who really is the world's happiest baby. Seriously. She makes my heart melt!

Did I say I was lucky girl? 'Cause I really, really am.