Our week at OBX

So we thought we were done with our vacations for the year, but once Luke heard his sister's family and his parents were headed to their timeshare at the beach in August, we convinced ourselves a few months ago we needed to go too!  So we took a flight that left at the crack of dawn- it was neat watching the sunrise as our plane took off and the boys were really good sports.

After a layover in BWI (where I could've totally ran into my sister who I didn't realize was also in the airport waiting for a flight for a quick business trip), we then flew into Norfolk, picked up a car that Luke's parents left for us, then made the easy 2 hour drive from there to Nags Head, North Carolina. It was about 5 pm when we finally got in, so first things first- we took a quick walk down to the beach.

 

The boys love the sand and the water. Actually, Blake loves the sand; Jacob loves both. Jacob and Blake initially run right up the water, then a tiny little wave made Blake lose his balance.

So needless to say, he was not back in the water the rest of the week. I love his concerned face in this picture after he got completely soaked.

 A lot of this trip consisted of the boys playing with their cousins, and the 6 boys had a great time together! They loved playing at the park there every day.

 Luke's parents have had this great spot that looks over the beach, such a relaxing and beautiful view.

So everyday we'd go down to the beach all day. Luckily we had really pleasant weather too, not overly hot and mostly sunny. Blake mostly just kept himself occupied with sand toys and snacks.

  Jacob enjoyed running through the little waves and getting wet, then rolling in the sand, searching for jelly fish, getting buried in the sand, and loved riding the waves with his dad.

I admit, I didn't get in the water as much as I should have, but it was very comfortable water and really shallow for quite a ways in, so everyone loved being in the perfect water. Here's a couple pictures of all the boys having a fun time! 

On Tuesday, our first night there we did a little shopping and got ice cream. Wednesday night we did a little fishing until sunset.  Jacob was a little disappointed he didn't catch a fish but they all still had fun.

On Thursday evening Luke and his dad stayed back to watch a Redskins practice game so a few of us went back to hang out on the beach and play.

 

I don't know why Blake insists on never smiling for my pictures! But I had fun playing with the boys and loved looking for seashells. These were just a few that I found that night.

The three of us sitting on the lifeguard tower.

Friday evening we went to the sand dunes which is always a really pretty place to go and walk around and see the water on both sides.  At the top of the hill we were able to get some really cute family pictures too.

We sat and watched the kids run up and back and roll all around the hills for awhile. It was a beautiful and relaxing night and a great way to close up our trip.

 We had a few hours on Saturday to go back to the beach on our last day. Even though it was a bit cloudy it ended up still being a fun way to end our week at the beach. My boys are really going to miss their cousins!

 We had a great week at the beach! Beautiful weather, and a really nice relaxing time. Luke said it was one of his favorite weeks he's ever had at the beach since it was such a relaxed trip! We were glad we were able to get our "beach fix" and spend time with family. Can't wait until we're able to come back to the Outer Banks again!

Jacob Gets Glasses

   Jacob has been telling me for a little bit now that he wanted to get glasses before he started Kindergarten in the fall. I knew from a preschool screening he did a year and a half ago that his left eye was not as good, so I figured it was a good time for him to get an eye exam, so I took him in June 23, knowing he'd likely need glasses.

  

   So he saw the doctor at America's Best and I was a little surprised when he told me that Jacob's left eye was so blurry that glasses wouldn't even fix his problem, he'd actually need vision therapy first. He explained to me that Jacob had amblyopia, and for him this meant that his right eye could see perfectly well and his left eye was a -6.75, which is extremely blurry. Basically when they showed him all the letters on the wall his vision was about 2200/20, meaning he couldn't even make out the biggest E at full screen. I had thought that Jacob was exaggerating when he would say he couldn't see out of that eye, I didn't realize how bad he actually couldn't see. 

   So with amblyopia, his left eye has been so blurry, probably for so long, that his brain has just stopped responding to it and he's been compensating with with right eye. That's why we never really noticed Jacob's poor eyesight before, because he never squinted or closed one eye to see better, the brain just ignored his left eye so that he wasn't using it. 

   So we took the doctor's advice to see a specialist and that very day we were in a new office and Jacob did a more thorough eye exam. This doctor agreed he would absolutely benefit from vision therapy at their office, that way they could work with him and teach his brain to use that left eye again. But she said Jacob would absolutely still need glasses, along with weekly therapy that could last for at least a year.

   So right away we let Jacob start looking at glasses, and we made him try on a few different styles, but the poor kid was so tired from doctor visits all day and he had dilation drops in his eyes for a test so his vision was blurry and he was getting drowsy. Jacob finally picked some brown frames with red that he really liked but then realized they didn't take our vision insurance so I would have to go back to the first place to check out glasses after all. After being at this second doctor for 3 hours, we were all a little exhausted and still trying to take in all this new information, it was a bit overwhelming for one day. 

   Jacob was a little sad he wasn't going to be able to get the first pair of glasses he picked out, but a few days later we went back to America's Best and picked him out a new pair that was pretty similar. Even Blake picked out some glasses to try on just for fun.

 

   After we ordered Jacob's glasses they finally came in on July 3 and Jacob was so anxious to get them and start wearing them every day. We were glad he was excited for them because it was still an adjustment for us to see our little guy in glasses! But we've gotten more used to it and he has taken great care of his glasses, and is great about putting them on first thing in the morning and wearing them all day.

   The interesting thing about this though is that even though Jacob has his glasses he still can't see better since his brain is still not used to using that left eye. So in time the vision therapy should hopefully help him get to seeing 20/20 with his glasses, but his prescription will probably always be that high. But for now his glasses look pretty cute and he's looking so grown up! Everyone has been really sweet and has told him how great he looks with his new glasses and so I'm glad that has boosted his confidence a little bit too! ;)

   Jacob also started his vision therapy on July 9th, which is every Wednesday for 45 minutes, and then we also practice for about 25 minutes 5 days a week at home. So it's a lot of work and commitment, and can sometimes be a little difficult exercises for him, but a lot of times there's fun activities too like popping bubbles, hitting balls, and playing other games, so I think things are going well. Although it's a little adjustment for all of us, we're grateful we caught this early enough on that it can be [hopefully] mostly corrected, and that Jacob has been handling everything great so far! I'm glad that for now he's still excited about doing all his appointments and homework, so I hope he keeps up the good attitude and that we'll see lots of progress soon!