Knowing we were not making the trek to Europe this summer with a newborn, we set about trying to find a good short summer trip that would be doable with the whole family. Since it was such late notice, we couldn't find a rental property for the dates we needed. Luckily our friend's father owns a house in Lewes, Delaware and agreed to let us stay there. We overlapped with them for one weekend and then had the house to ourselves for the rest of the week. Guillaume and I realized this was the first family vacation (just nuclear family) we had taken since we went to Australia two summers ago. It was a much needed break from the humdrum of "maternity leave" boredom and we are all MAJOR suckers for the beach. We were nervous about the drive since there is nothing you can do to keep a 6-week-old baby distracted in the car, so we cut the trip in two on the way down, staying with my aunt and uncle in DC and then arriving in Delaware early Saturday afternoon. I was proud that we were able to make the trip to DC without the help of a movie since Antonia is so obsessed with coloring lately. Emeric was an angel, slept or stared the entire trip, only crying at the end and then agreeing to take a pacifier for a few minutes at a time until we could take him out of his car seat.
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| The whole family (minus the cat). You can see Emeric's little head in the mirror. |
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| Passed out mid applesauce |
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| After arriving in Lewes, the Culleys showed us around the gorgeous historic town. Antonia developed a temporary fear of heights when we asked the kids to sit on the cemetery wall for a picture. |
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| Snack |
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| You are threeee--eeee, going on three and a half... |
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| Fishing for crabs in the harbor |
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| Grandy B with his family and new tenants for the week. |
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| To get a little calm, we brought out the tiny tv and put on Frozen. |
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| This movie is magical |
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| On Sunday, my bosom buddy college roommate, Sarah brought her family to Lewes on the ferry from Cape May just to see us! Emeric was a big fan. |
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| Lena and Antonia immediately resumed the monkeys jumping on the bed game from the last time they saw each other last August. |
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| We spent the afternoon at the bay beach. |
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| It's hard to go to the beach 6 weeks postpartum looking very lumpy and misshapen. It is even harder to take a good beach selfie. But we managed. |
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| Father's Day samiches! |
I had to get a picture of papa Guillaume with BOTH his children at the beach on Father's Day!
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| So busy being an easy going angel |
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| Apero on the porch before the McCafferty-Wileys had to grab the ferry back to Cape May! |
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| Brekkie before heading to the ocean beach in Cape Henlopen State Park where dogs are allowed. If you ask me, dog friendly beaches are better even if you don't have a dog because they're usually not as crowed and more wild. This beach was particularly awesome because there was no commerce--just forest behind us. We brought a picnic every day. |
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| No longer a baby!! |
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| Just being cute, thanks for asking. |
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| Figo looking longingly from the tent |
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| The perfect set up. Except on one day when we had a "land breeze" which brought biting flies from the forest. The tent blocked the wind, creating a safe haven for the flies and we were eaten alive until we accepted defeat and left to watch the world cup at a bar in Rehoboth. |
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| We also did our fair share of soccer playing |
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| Humdumdum just being an easy self soother |
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| Newt giving his best sports illustrated model pose and sultry look. |
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| Watching the US team beat Ghana! |
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| But still actually rooting for the absent Swedish team |
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| Happy post game! |
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| Antonia being the daredevil she is kept asking to be out in the water on the bodyboard or just in the water floating around in her life vest. She kept shouting, "lâche, papa!" asking him to let go of her so she could feel the thrill of free floating in the waves. |
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| The dolphins came to visit every morning and here is Guillaume out on his bodyboard and in flippers to greet them. |
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| I even managed to leave the comfort of my laziness and play some soccer with Babis |
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| Dream bubble baby |
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| Emeric is as happy as we are about the Aperol spritzes |
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| You can't tell but it's 96 degrees and humid here at 6 pm. |
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| Antonia nursing Rosie babydoll and chitchatting with the cement duck. |
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| One night we walked up to the library to watch a free concert. The town is full of gorgeous historical houses and churches. |
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| Trying to take a good family picture. |
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| We gave up and took Antonia's dragon lead. |
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| The biting fly afternoon. Antonia passed out in the car and continued her nap in the bar. |
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| Frozen custard on the boardwalk |
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| I had to negotiate with Guillaume, he wanted to take her on the big pukey rides. Luckily Antonia was ok with the baby stuff still. |
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| Sleep situation was ideal for Antonia. She got to share a bed with papa while I slept in another room with Emeric. Newt newt snuck onto the bed whenever he could. |
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| As we're setting up camp, Antonia gets ready to go in the water asap. |
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| Handsome hubby |
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| So. Bright. |
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| Sweaty, smeary, and sleepy |
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| I sent Guillaume out to get dinner for us and he came back with 2 dozen crabs. In case you're wondering, that is a LOT of crabs for 2 adults and a 3 year old to eat. We managed to finish them over two days. |
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| Evening walk to the playground |
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| Making out |
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| France walloped Switzerland. Guillaume was proud and happy! |
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| Meanwhile Antonia made a wagon bed and sang Little Mermaid songs to Rosie. |
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| Loving little brother! |
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| historical buildings at the Lewes farmer's market |
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| A modest nurser |
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| On our last day we just went to the bay beach again since it was cloudy. Antonia reenacted saving papa with a rope a gazillion times. He's a good sport. |
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| Umpteenth ice cream cone |
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| Brekkie before hitting the road! |
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| We managed to drive back all in one day (took us under 7 hours!) Figo, desperate to find a comfortable spot to sneep, actually sat on Antonia's lap willingly! This is unprecedented! |
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| Antonia was so proud that he settled there for a few hours. She didn't even complain about his boney legs. |
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| Replaced by squish at a rest stop break. |
I believe it is important to share my love of the ocean with Antonia (and Emeric, though he's still just a blob) so we are so lucky to have been able to stay in Lewes for the week (Thanks Grandy B and Culleys!!) Antonia is really starting to love the waves so hopefully I'll find a job a shorter drive to the beach in the next couple years.
