We're back!

Well. The Rogers are always up for an adventure, and an adventure it was! Space A in summertime can be a beast, but we managed to get out on our second day. We flew on a C17 (giant army plane) into Pope AFB in Fayetteville, NC. Hayden enjoyed the flight for the most part, even though it was really loud. Towards the end, he did let Jay put in earplugs for him. He slept a good portion of the flight, and had some fun rolling around on the floor of the giant aircraft. From there one of Jay's soldiers who is now stationed at Ft. Bragg picked us up and took us to the Fayetteville Regional Airport, which I didn't even know existed. Luckily, we were able to rent a car there and return it to Raleigh at the end of our trip for a nominal fee so we got our little white Saturn and headed to Raleigh. There we met my parents, who were bringing us Hayden's pack 'n play, and dropped off one of Jay's soldiers who needed a ride to the airport after our military flight. We decided to drive as far as we could towards Virginia and get a hotel room when we were tired. We picked up some food as it had been a long time for our hungry bellies, and got on the road. We made it as far as Smithfield, NC which is just barely out of Raleigh. Our bodies reminded us of the lack of sleep we'd had over the past three days, so we got a hotel room immediately. Once inside, it wasn't long before all of us were sound asleep.

Friday morning we woke up well before our wake up call at 7am, enjoyed hot showers (with a sink bath for Hayden) and free breakfast and got back on the road. We drove to Virginia mostly uneventfully and arrived to a very excited family to see Hayden (and us, but mostly Hayden). Saturday morning was our first 4th of July with Hayden, and mine and Jay's first one together since 2004. We went over to Jay's Aunt Marcie's house for steamed crabs, shrimp and enough food for a small army. Hayden wore his July 4th outfit and had a blast playing with all the toys Jenny brought out for him. After refusing a nap, we sunscreened him down and put him in the pool in his floatie with Jay. Once we added the little tent that goes over it so the sun wasn't so bright, he loved it! He is a big fan of the water, especially when daddy splashes and runs him around the pool. When he fell asleep on his floatie, we were pretty sure it was time for a nap. We got him out, dried him off and he fell asleep while his Poppy was holding him. His nap was short-lived, but recharged his batteries enough to play for the rest of the day. We left Hayden at home with his grandparents so we could see the fireworks, which I fell asleep waiting for. Travel is hard work!

The rest of our trip to Virginia was full of some firsts for us, mainly getting to go to dinner and see a movie by ourselves for the first time! We did some shopping and spent lots of time with family and way too much homecooked food. One beautiful day we decided to take Hayden to the beach for the first time. Going to the beach with a baby is much like going with adults, only twice the gear and sunscreen. We searched everywhere for the beach tent that I wanted but ended up with a two-sided blanket and an umbrella that did just fine. Once on the beach, Hayden was fascinated with the sand. He kept trying to put handfuls of it in his mouth, and was successful on more than one attempt. We walked down to the water but it was too cold for me and Hayden, so we just dipped his feet. He didn't care for the crashing waves, but was perfectly content playing with sand on his blanket. We were out there longer than I thought we would be, Hayden made it a few good hours before we were ready to go back home.

Jay and I got to go to the beach by ourselves one day, which was nice! Too bad it was freezing, but still. We decided to take our nephew to the Baltimore Aquarium, which is about two hours away from where we were in Virginia. Since we live so far away we haven't gotten to spend much time with Shawny since he was born, so this was a fun trip for us. He was shy at first but opened up after a little nap and some McDonald's. We spent a lot of time looking at the sharks, and had a blast with all the fishies. Strollers are not allowed inside, but they lend out backpack carriers. Hayden seemed to enjoy riding around on Jay's back and seeing things from 6' in the air. On the way back home we stopped at one of Jay's favorite sub places for the most giant cheesesteak I've ever seen. I got one half the size of Jay's and couldn't finish it. It was a nice way to wrap up our trip, and Friday morning we got on the road to head to NC after picking up oysters for my dad and checking the mail for the clothes Jay mailed home to avoid too much luggage (which didn't get there while we were there). If you think the first half of our trip was busy, wait until you hear about the second half! For now blogging must wait while I try to put this house back in order.