Elodie and I joined Eric for a long weekend on the Northern Neck.  He's been getting lots of great data on the Potomac dolphins this month, and we wanted to get in on the fun.

Eric was out on the water every day, so I got lots of great baby time all to myself.  We played games, went to the beach, had hours of lazy snuggles in the sea breeze, and learned about wildlife.  On this trip Elodie saw rabbits, herons, osprey, pelicans, dogs, spiders, dolphins, and jellyfish.

Saturday was a perfect lazy back and forth from the house to the beach.  It was cool enough to have all the windows open, but warm enough to live in a swimsuit and carry iced tea around.  Beach living will always be my favorite.

Elodie loved the beach.  She just sat there peacefully enjoying the waves and played in the sand a little (didn't even try to eat it!).  When I would pick her up she'd cry, which is the opposite of any other time.  It seemed like she was loving it.  Must be in her blood.

Sunday, Elodie and I went on an adventure to Tangier Island.  Her first boat ride - so exciting!  It was an hour and a half ride each way and she loved it.

Pulling up to the island, you immediately see evidence of two main industries: tourism and crabbing. Crab pots and processing shanties line the coast of the main waterway.  When you step off the boat, locals are there to greet you with with golf carts, food and drinks, bike rentals, and maps. 

Tangier is incredibly interesting as a unique cultural pocket in the middle of the East coast. Because the only way to access the town is by commercial boats or plane, it's remained very isolated over the last couple of centuries.  You can see that so much has remained unchanged in their way of life.  The most obvious difference is in their accent, which is hard to describe.  It maybe sounds very country with a little bit of Irish on top?  Fun to listen to, anyway.

There are very few cars. Most residents get around on golf carts or bikes. I think they told me there are only about 500 people living on the island, so there probably isn't much traffic. 

The Tangier people are also very religious.  When we arrived everyone was just about to get out of church. It seemed like the entire population was coming out and the town came alive.  I noticed everyone we talked to referencing God or their faith.  It's evident that faith is a major part of the communities' daily life.

Another thing that stuck around from centuries past is burying your family in your own yard.  Many yards we'd pass had a family lot in the front like this one.

 Overall, I found the island and the people to be so lovely.  They are open about their lives and shared so much with Elodie and me on our short trip.  We learned all about the changes happening in their crabbing industry - fishing regulations over the years have been hard on their businesses.  Soft shell crabbing has been passed down generation after generation. It's sounds like it's the main way to support your family on the island. We also learned about the significant erosion problems, as in they are losing 30 feet of shoreline per year!  It's so bad that people are being forced off of the island as land space diminishes. 

The Tangier residents were hands down some of the friendliest, nicest people I've ever met.  And the place is so small you know everyone by the time you leave.  As we left for the boat at the end of the day, people were yelling, "Bye, Elodie!"

Evenings at the beach house always have wine with a home cooked meal. It's the perfect place to wind down after a long day on the boat.  The house is pretty remote, so we can usually see lots of stars.  I tried to take a picture of the milky way, but between the half moon being out, trees blocking much of the milky way, and my lack of astrophotography skills, it didn't come out great. I'll consider it a good first try.

Of course the main reason we travel down there is to collect data.  Elodie and I went down to the dock to wish Anni and Eric a good day.

NMFS GA LOC No. 19403, Eric M. Patterson, 25-July-2015

There were tons of dolphins this trip and Eric saw this cute little guy above.  I love the babies! And the photo is captioned with their permit number to make sure people know you do in fact need a permit to approach wild dolphins this close.  :)


We stopped for coffee in the quaint, artsy town of Montross on the way home.  If you're driving around the Northern Neck I recommend it as a rest stop!

oh hey, in case anybody was wondering what was going on in january and february of this year, i can tell you what was going on.  people were doing it.  and they must have been doing it a lot.  and now there are pregnant women and babies everywhere. over the last few weeks, multiple friends, a co-worker, and my own brother! have all had babies.  they were all due before me, so until now i've felt like we've had a good amount of time left.  but now... we are next.  um...WHAT DID WE DO?!  that runs through my mind about once a day when i look down at my stomach and continually ask her "wait, how will you be getting out of there again?"  because no.

sigh.

in the meantime, eric and i are trying our best to do things we won't be able to do in a few weeks.  things that are harder to do with a baby outside of your body than inside of your body.  like sleeping and going to the movies.  it's a little sad that everything we really want to do, like camping or some real traveling with diving and other fun crazy stuff, is pretty much physically impossible at this point.  it seems obvious, but i didn't realize how mentally difficult it would be to be physically limited.  right now i miss feeling normal.  and i really miss being the big spoon.

a while back we planned to take a baby-moon.  we wanted to do something easy that was still exciting and new, and realized that neither of us had ever been out to assateague island in the 6/7 years we've lived here.  so last weekend we packed up the girls and headed to the outer banks.

assateague is a barrier island that's broken up into sections managed by different groups, and we spent most of our time in the national park on the northern part of the island.  in this area, about 150 feral horses roam freely and are easily seen throughout the park from your car, on the beaches, or on trails.  we've heard that in summertime the horses will frolic in the ocean to cool off.  that's something i'd like to see!  last weekend was a bit rainy and cold, so the horses were mostly on the more protected bay side.  we think the rain must have kept away tourists.  it was like we had the park to ourselves and the horses were out everywhere.  eric kept telling me i was getting too close, but i can't help it if a horse comes my way :)

 they definitely had a wild quality about them.  messy hair and attitudes.  they kept ramming each other and showing their teeth.  it was comical and at the same time cute.

there were no horses to be found on our beach walks, but it's just not possible to ever get enough of that salt air so we kept going back for more.  as always, bella wasn't having much fun while belle couldn't resist running into the water, especially after the sun came out.

we woke up to sunshine and had two quick stops on the way back to the beach: a visit with a goat, and the dog park!  goats are just the best.  he's smiling for the picture.

 yay, the sun!  let's run and roll!

one night we made it over to ocean city and took a stroll along the board walk.  the arcade was amazing.  so much stimulation.

off the island we were just lazy.  sleeping, movies, games, snuggling the girls, and eating were about all we did.  every meal was a date.  so mission accomplished.  babymoon complete. we'll try our bests to maintain this babymoon attitude until it's go time.  

go time? wait how is this happening again? how do babies get here?!  oh crap!