The busy traveling Martins

Wow, what a few weeks its been for our family- we've been on the go constantly and are actually happy to be home and settling back into our routine. My parents were here the last week in August- Ally had a great visit with her Grandma Ann and Grandpa Nick. We didn't do anything particularly exciting- a few dinners out, a visit with the Martins, a shopping trip, and lots of time just hanging out. They left on Friday morning and even though I had another big week to look forward to and lots to keep myself busy I still felt a little lost as I always do when they leave.


I didn't have much time to be down in the dumps though because we left that afternoon for Lake Gaston to kick off the Labor Day festivities. We had a big crowd with the 6 Martins (Ray, Dee, Brian, Matthew, me and Ally) and our friends Tony and Megan. The atmosphere at the lake is very relaxed and we passed the days in the water with the dogs or Ally, riding on the boat, catching some rays, watching U.S. Open tennis, and of course eating and drinking ourselves silly! Ally cut her first tooth while we were at the lake which made for a few cranky days but she handled it remarkably well. She's also learning to sit up unassisted for brief spells before toppling over. We're quite proud of her!


There was a bit of a dark cloud over us during this visit though. As hurricane Gustav was approaching the Louisiana coast Matthew received word that he would likely have to deploy as part of a relief mission to that area. The timing was uncertain so we were in limbo for most of the weekend. He was finally called home to prepare on Monday evening. Sadly, this meant that he would miss the rest of our family vacation in Myrtle Beach.


Ally and I were not deterred though! Even though we were sad to go without Matthew we departed the lake on Tuesday morning and headed to South Carolina. Allison was an angel on the trip and slept for most of the 5 hour drive. We arrived tired (I'm a terrible distance driver and am prone to highway hypnosis) and happy to see our friends the Kennedys. They have a lovely condo on the Intercoastal Waterway where Ally and I had our own room & bathroom. There was even a portable crib and a highchair for Ally! It was a great set up. We spent our days shopping, eating, walking, lounging by the pool, and just hanging out. Jana & Larry's daughter Bella is 10 months old so it was really fun to see her and Ally together. It's the second time they've met and they seemed to have a good time together. We hope they'll have many more opportunities to visit with one another as they grow up.

We left MB on Friday, a day earlier than expected, to head back home. Tropical Storm Hannah was on her way into town and I wanted to be gone before she arrived as rain and wind gusts do not make for fun driving. Ally was great in the car again- she really is a wonderful traveler. We stopped back in at the lake for a few hours to rest then continued home where we met Matthew. After floating off the Carolina coast for a few days on a ship he was finally allowed to come home. What a waste of taxpayer money- they mobilized a ship for relief efforts and didn't do anything even remotely related to the hurricanes! They flew training missions while they waited. It was all just an overreaction to Katrina- the government doesn't want to get caught with their pants down again so they're trying to be prepared for every possible contingency. I guess that's good, but in this case it wasn't necessary and I'm bitter since it caused Matthew to miss out on our vacation.

I guess it was good practice for me and Ally to be on our own for a few days though as Matthew will be gone all next week in Indiana at a Navy Seal sniper camp. He won't actually be sniping- he'll be flying the snipers around though.

That's it for now- all the pictures from our trip are posted below.
Thanks for checking in!