May 26, 2010

• One trip, two trip…

  and I fell down! But that comes later.

  Last Wednesday morning at 6:30, Hazel and Ron picked me up and, after a quick prayer for journeying mercies, we headed south to Cape Hatteras.  Erik & Amber’d found this beach house and several of us were asked to join in the fun.  There was one room on the ground (that’s a lie though – the houses are all on stilts so it wasn’t “ground” nothin’) floor that slept at three so that was designated for Hazel & Ron and me.  Nifty little en suite bathroom, too. But again, I am ahead of myself.

  We had no trouble at all getting there – only excitement we had was this:

  

  That truck gave us the willies, it was leaning over so far.  We were glad to get in front of it.    (Photo was taken through the windshield, so pardon the reflection.)

  I lie – we did have a problem, but only when we got to Kinnateek Shores, the development where our beach house is.  We actually went right to the house, but Hazel was sure it wasn’t it because there were “toys” all over – scooters and stuff.  So we circled the development a few more times, looking in vain for house numbers.  Finally we went back to the gate and Haz called Stacy, who said they’d be right there.  And they were.  In a few moments, there came Stacy & Maggie on a motor scooter, complete with helmets.  So cute!  They led us back to that house with all the scooters – TOYS!  They were “loaners,” from LeRoy, my niece’s husband.  He has 10 or so of the things, built and re-built from junkers he finds on the island’s dump! 

  There were four or five steps up into the house, fortunately with railings on both sides so I was able to get up them easily.  But I was bushed and hurting so I merely crossed the foyer to our room and crashed.  I slept for a few hours, then woke and re-arranged myself, said hello to the gang who weren’t there when we arrived and got into my PJs and crashed again.  My bed was the double bed on the bottom of a bunk and a half.  I’m fairly tall so I couldn’t sit up straight on the bed without hitting my head.  There was a trundle, but Haz took the mattress off of that and tossed on the floor at the foot of my bed for Ron, and we’d brought Duke & Darla’s inflatable bed, which Hazel put up in the foyer for herself.  (That sounds odd, I know. but she wanted to be where she could get air without disturbing anyone else when her claustrophobia got too terrible, and she also wanted to be where she could nab Ron if he got the wanderlust when it got light.  It worked very well for both!)

  It was a rough night, between my being so miserable that I couldn’t get comfy, and Ron sitting bolt upright every time I scooched, asking what was wrong or where I was going.  The room didn’t have a lamp, and I couldn’t find the power cable to my laptop yet so I didn’t have access to my favorite middle-of-the-night-distractions (reading, Internet, or clay) so finally I grabbed my book and went into the bathroom to read for an hour.  In the morning, poor Ron was bent nearly in two with his back hurting so it was time for some adjustments!  Duke, Erik & LeRoy lifted the top bunk off, put that where Ron had slept, along with the mattress from the trundle and he had a very comfy bed.  He’d wanted to sleep on the air mattress when he first got up, but he could hardly wait to go to bed once he saw the new arrangement!    As for me, just being able to sit up made a lot of difference.  And, I got my laptop going (using Darla’s cable when she wasn’t, until I finally found mine) and we turned on a light after Ron went to sleep.  I was happy. 

  Ooops – I ran ahead again!  And I think I’m rambling, so I apologize.  First, Thursday morning there was a “confab” about who’d be going where and with whom.  Tammy came over and after a joyful, weepy (it’s the first we’ve seen her since just after her mother died) and chatty visit, some decided to go to one beach and others to another, and Duke wanted to explore on one of the scooters, and so did I, on my scooter, which Erik had taken down on his truck.  Here are a few shots of the little ones as this discussion was going on:

  

  Kael loves the scooter – he’s a Kriner, that’s for sure! 

  

  You’d think he’d realize he’s a bit on the short side! 

  Even Maggie’s not QUITE big enough:

  

  She and Kael really bonded last week – he adores her and followed her like a puppy.  She, in turn, adores Amber’s little sister, Autumn, who is, I think, 14.  Big kids are always fascinating!

  Hazel brought a new raft for the pool.  Here’s Maggie getting one part blown up:

  

  Everyone left, and Duke and I turned to go back in the house so I could poke around a bit.  I walked across the foyer, with my eyes on the deck to the pool.  I would have to cross the game room, first.  Never made it on that trip!  And trip it was.  I went charging into the game room, never noticing the large (9″) step down from the foyer into the game room.  I fell.  HARD!  I knew right away that it wasn’t good.  Duke insisted I stay still until we knew what was hurting and then we’d worry about getting me up.  Turns out it was fairly easy to get up holding on to the pool table – Duke did give me a wee boost from behind.  I hobbled to bed and propped my foot up.  More about that later…

  One last pic.  Kael and Maggie came down to our bathroom and took a bath that night.  Hazel took several photos but at the risk of posting “salacious” pics, I’ll limit it to this one of the tiniest of our bathing beauties:

  

  He’s so much like his daddy!

  More soon.

  me<><

  • 7:35 am
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