Nutmeg Kitty

Yesterday I took Nutmeg to the vet because her chin and jaw seemed swollen. The vet took an x-ray and found what appears to be a cancerous growth on her jaw bone. The vet thinks she has maybe six more months, possibly much less, until she is unable to eat. We are going to give her a course of antibiotics on the very small off chance that it is an infection, rather than a tumor, but the vet cautioned us not to get our hopes up.

Nutmeg has been part of our family for almost 12 years, since before our marriage, even before we graduated from Virginia Tech. She was a sister to Pi, Eli's big old goofy gray tabby who passed away October of 2002.

The thing we will always remember about Nutmeg is how amazing she has been with the kids. For as long as Avery has been able to crawl he has been chasing after her, grabbing her, petting her, and holding her. As rough as he was, and as much as she hated being held d

We have many wonderful, funny, loving, snot-filled memories of Nutmeg. I know she isn't gone yet, but I intend to make her as comfortable as possible for the last of her days with us. Nutmeg, we love you.

The SUV of Pack'n Plays

With the boys old enough to stay on the beach for a couple of hours, we worried about what we would do with Leah. She didn't like wearing hats, and was just barely old enough to wear sunscreen, so we didn't want to slather her up too thickly.

Fortunately, we had seen a neighbor's "Pack'n Play Sport" earlier in the spring. It did not have a standard mattress, or any cloth components. Instead, it had a padded waterproof bottom, a vented dome to cover the top, and unfolded from a cylindrical bundle into a large octagon. It had been discontinued, but Eli was able to find one, new in the box, on Craigslist.

So we dragged our new Pack'n Play out to the beach every day. For some reason it never worked out as a place for naps; even when sleepy, the act of putting Leah down inside always woke her up. But she was usually content to play inside for 15-20 minutes at a time. And it worked out great for Leah's second cousin Cora (3 months) who did take a number of naps inside while out on the beach.

Leah Eats Sand at the Beach

I said at the outset of this trip that Leah would probably stuff her face with sand. Shocker: my prediction was spot on! When I put her down in the surf she was immediately excited by the waves and went crazy splashing at the water. When she does that Eli says she looks like a bird flapping her wings (it's the exact same thing that she does in the bath and at the pool).

After a minute or two she slowed down and noticed the brown oatmeal-looking stuff all around her. She reached down and felt the texture with her fingers. Then she grabbed a fistful and squeezed it out. And then, in a blink, she lifted her hand to her face, stuck out her tongue and gave it a lick.

I'm not sure what things, in a baby's mind, are not good to put in your mouth. Certainly sand does not fall into that category; Leah began to grab fistfuls and cram them into her mouth. At this point I had to put a stop to it. Dr. Eileen assured us it wasn't really harmful, but "not harmful" is not the same as "good for you". And besides.. sandy diapers are no fun to clean up.

Flying the Dragon Kite

We bought a dragon kite at Costco last spring. The kids have been wanting to try it out since the day we brought it home. We assured them that we'd fly it at the beach where there is plenty of wind and no trees.

Today was the day. Eli reeled the kite out and it took off like an arrow. Avery and Zach really wanted to hold on to it, but the wind was a little too strong for them. Zachary was being tugged along and could barely keep his grip, even with Eli taking up some of the slack. After that, we decided it would be for adults only. They enjoyed watching it fly for a little while longer, but eventually their interest waned.

Swimming with Cousins

Avery and Zachary love playing at the beach with their second cousins, Ryan and Brianna. Ryan is 12 and Brianna is 14, so we felt comfortable allowing them to watch the kids while they played. Not that we left the beach or anything, but we could at least tone down the parental radar.

Dinner at the Fish House

After a full day at the beach we went to the The Litchfield Fish House for dinner. The fish they cook up is always superb, and Eli was able to treat everyone because his boss gave him a "dinner on the company" as a bonus.

Pawley's Island 2007

This year we changed our pre-beach routine up a bit. We drove to Raleigh, North Carolina and met up with some old friends: Jeremy, Emily, and their new daughter Harper. After lunch we continued on to Cait and Cullen's house in Cary. Cait cooked us dinner and we spent the night in their guest room.

Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way to Pawley's. We were the first to arrive so it fell to us to pick up groceries and cook a meal for the family. After eating, everyone went for twilight walk to the pier. The water was so warm it was impossible to keep our feet out of the surf.

This year, to accommodate the expanding family, Martin upgraded to a bigger beach house. It's right on the beach, has a huge dining area, internet access, and five bedrooms. We had no trouble packing in our brood, Martin and Barbara, Cait and Cullen, and Nora and Andrew. The porch isn't quite as nice as the one at Back of the Moon, but everyone agreed it wasn't worth going back.

Packing for Five

Every year, packing to go on car trips becomes more difficult and time consuming. This year's beach trip was problematic because we needed to have baby gear for Leah, toys for everyone, beach gear, and clothing for five. Eli bought a roof top carrier because we are no longer able to collapse a row of seats for inside storage (Leah takes up one middle seat, and we left the other open so I could sit next to her as needed).

The kids have been looking forward to the beach for weeks now. We told them we would be leaving after: Avery's school, Zachary's school, soccer, a birthday party, Avery's school and finally Zachary's school. Explaining the passage of time is not easy, but this strange system is better than just saying "soon", and they get the general idea of the time scale.