Still going through photos for my grandpa… here’s some for fun.

Family vacation is a great thing… time to relax, figure out why you like spending time together in the first place… to have good friends around at the same time is a bonus. To have other kids to play with… what a joy! It’s nice to have a group of 14 and have everyone one act like well behaved kids!

The first time a the beach for K was BIG fun… lots of rolling around and eating sand… what more could one ask for??? J, G and S act like old pros at this beach thing…for the first 10 minutes, then they would rather be at the pool.

Here’s a few fun pix for you to enjoy…

We made it to the beach… and the kids have kept us laughing… most of the time. Last night we were looking for a hotel in Birmingham, AL. J seemed to think we had left the States… “Look at that Taco Bell… that’s not how they make ’em in America!” I’m not sure where he thought we were… despite what some may say, Alabama IS one of the fifty states. We reassured him we were still in America.

Then there was this gem: We pulled back out of a hotel that did not have a room for us and J spotted his current fast food chain of choice: “Hey… they have a Burger King!” To which S pipes up, “Well, duh!” Oh we laughed and were treated with various inflections of “DUH” from that little voice for the next 10 miles!

Since it was late, and we kept hearing there was NO room at the Inn, T starts this fun family game: I’m going on a vacation and in my suit case I’m taking… to which family members must remember everything that has been packed, and add to it. Goofy tends to be the name of the game, and about the third round (remember it’s around midnight) T announces he’s taking panties. S shouts, “Not MY panties!” Hysterics! S’s turn follows T’s and she packs “My panties.” More hysterics.

Now, every other member of the family must pack panties AND S panties. And each time some one packs the first pair it’s “NOT my panties” and when the second pair is packed it’s “Don’t touch my panties!” When J packs HER panties, S states, “Boys are NOT touching my panties… Never, ever!”

I think she needs to keep that mindset… forever and ever!

We did finally find a room two small rooms to split the family between. Girls in one, boys in the other. S and K decided to make it hard on Mommy and we finally all get to sleep about 1:30. S has one more trick up her sleeve… her asthma kicks in about 3:30 (I think dust from a sleeper sofa got to her) and I spent the next 45 minutes trying to get her settled in my bed without any meds… Note to self: PACK MEDS – it’s much faster. We do settle and she sleeps in bed with me the rest of the night.

I hope tonight is better!

So T and I read last night much too late. It was after 1 before lights were out.. and at 5:30 K SCREAMED this morning. I stumbled into her room to find she had stuck her leg between the bars on her crib and she was NOT happy about it. It took a while for her to settle down and by that time, there was no going back to bed.

I tried napping on the couch, but it wasn’t long before other children were up for the day… and then I had to make sure T was up for work.

Once I had K settled in with a toy I got started on getting everyone ready for the programs of the day. Clothes to wash (remember, we just got home, and we are headed to FL in 10 days), juice to get ready, breakfast to serve… general daily life.

Then there’s another scream from K… maybe more of a holler. I guess she thought she needed some tummy time, and that toy was in her way… up comes the first bloody lip… more of a blood blister, as it never actually bleeds, but it swells.

It does get better… I had a great laugh with S today. One of the things I have taught my kids to do while making long trips is to stretch while making potty breaks. We reach up and “tickle the clouds” and then reach down and “tickle our toes.” This gets blood moving and usually ends in laughter… or at least big smiles. So, today I was sitting in the van and started stretching… and noticed S was doing the same thing I was. I smiled… reached up and said, “S, tickle the clouds!”

I got no smile in return, but rather a very serious face… “Momma… that’s NOT clouds… that’s the van!”

By the time we got home the boys were ready to play hard… which means lots of rough-housing… and fights and even tears. When T got home, we were all ready for bed… but it was dinner time first.

When we got everyone into bed, T wanted some new tool for some new car part that is on its way. He headed out the door and I headed to the computer. I got a call from him about ten minutes later… please google a car he might want to buy. As we are looking at this thing, he says “Oh… I’ve got a problem… I’ve got to call you back.” I’m thinking the cops have flashing lights behind him.

I go on with getting S back into bed. He calls again… he’s sitting on the side of the road interstate with a flat tire. I called my neighbors, who are in their 80’s, to see if they would come hang at our house since the kids are in bed. They come right over and I head out to rescue my husband. (I’m pretty sure it should be the other way around.)

Turns out, the valve stem on his 2 week old tires just came off. He thinks it got too hot… That’s not good in TN… we aren’t even in August yet.

So, NOW I am going to bed late again… and praying tomorrow is not as exciting. OR long.

We are at my parents for this beautiful 4th of July in MO. Yesterday we spent some time outside at the baby pool with K and S, while the boys were running around with water guns getting Papa wet… and anyone else who got in there way. It was sunny and warm… a good afternoon.

When K got tired of the water, we got everyone back into the house, dried off and some down for naps. As we worked on all of this, the sky got darker… and suddenly it opened up and poured on us… well, the house we were all safely dry in.

The wind whipped all around us… even knocked the porch swing over. The rain was heavy and there was hail involved, too. My dad, sitting at the computer and watching out the window said rhetorically, “Wow, look at that… hail and everything… Where did that hail come from?”

J, sitting behind Papa playing, said, “From hell?”

 photo by Grandma 😉