Well, our 2009 vacation was certainly one for the books. We began in Virginia at Smith Mountain Lake, with our dear friends the Romans... you'll know why we consider them so dear shortly! About an hour and a half after our arrival, Emma tripped, propelled herself into an unsuspecting entertainment center (which is now permanently dented) and burst her
head open, on her forehead, to her skull. That's what the intake personnel at the emergency room (which was the second stop after an urgent care center that felt that the cut was too severe to handle outside an emergency room) actually wrote on the intake sheet "I can see skull." Lovely, after 7 and a half hours and 11 stiches, we arrived back at the cabin at 4am, grateful to have her in one piece and VERY glad to have left Ains and Gabby at the cabin with our friends. Then Sunday came, when Ainsley decided that she wanted to stand too close to the edge on the floating dock... she fell in (without a life jacket) daddy jumped in to get her, only remembering after rescuing her that he had his blackberry on his belt... one blackberry down, one child fine... it's a wonder if the Romans ever vacation with us again (unless they have an odd sense of humor and actually get joy out of our travails :))... unfortunately, we don't have any pics from this portion (can't imagine why!) but we have some great memories...
Onward we pushed to Isle of Palms in Charleston, SC where things for the most part turned around. We had a wonderful time hanging out with Uncle Jimmy and Ms. Kate, were treated to a fabulous dinner sans kiddos thanks to those two in Charleston, and had my parents come in for the end of the week as well...
Lots of memories there too, including having to move out of our original villa at around midnight because there was water coming out of one of the light fixtures in a bathroom... we figure that at least it's never boring with the Focas! Gabby cut her first tooth on Tuesday, Ainsley rode a tandom bike, Emma got over
her fear of the noise of the ocean, Chris got to fly his kite, Catherine got to taste firefly and lemonade for the first time.... all in all a great vacation!
Here are Ainsley and Emma at Dollywood. Emma is FINALLY big enough for the veggietales roller coaster... Below, Ainsley is getting ready for her ballet performance (thanks again to Lisa for helping with their hair!)
Here are Chris and Emma riding the cars at Dollywood... and below are "mommy and daddy" that I found in the playroom one day when they were supposed to be resting...
and here are "mommy and daddy" with their little baby Bethany
head open, on her forehead, to her skull. That's what the intake personnel at the emergency room (which was the second stop after an urgent care center that felt that the cut was too severe to handle outside an emergency room) actually wrote on the intake sheet "I can see skull." Lovely, after 7 and a half hours and 11 stiches, we arrived back at the cabin at 4am, grateful to have her in one piece and VERY glad to have left Ains and Gabby at the cabin with our friends. Then Sunday came, when Ainsley decided that she wanted to stand too close to the edge on the floating dock... she fell in (without a life jacket) daddy jumped in to get her, only remembering after rescuing her that he had his blackberry on his belt... one blackberry down, one child fine... it's a wonder if the Romans ever vacation with us again (unless they have an odd sense of humor and actually get joy out of our travails :))... unfortunately, we don't have any pics from this portion (can't imagine why!) but we have some great memories...
Lots of memories there too, including having to move out of our original villa at around midnight because there was water coming out of one of the light fixtures in a bathroom... we figure that at least it's never boring with the Focas! Gabby cut her first tooth on Tuesday, Ainsley rode a tandom bike, Emma got over 
her fear of the noise of the ocean, Chris got to fly his kite, Catherine got to taste firefly and lemonade for the first time.... all in all a great vacation! 
