The Relaxation Vacation

 It sounds funny to say that a vacation with 4 children was restful or relaxing, but it was.  For once being away felt good and to be among other people was refreshing.  The kids enjoyed Cousin Fest 2013 so much and so did I!  They entertained one another and they were too busy having fun to be riddled with inflexibility and anger.

Our car trip was pretty standard.  Nash didn't sleep a wink either direction.  I have to say he was less fussy though which was refreshing in itself.  Brooke cried and had issues, over everything and yet nothing.   One hilarious conversation Brooke started when were probably on hour 7 out of 11 in the car went like this:  Mom, you know how you think this car trip is hell?  Well, imagine if you were...(insert tragic circumstance). I almost peed my pants!!  Mark and I had a quick conversation if the word "hell" was appropriate for an 8 year old to say. :) 

Oh, and on the way there, it rained for 10 out of 11 hours.  Our car top "bubble" leaked, not tragic, just inconvenient. 

 The token "Mom" picture.  My New Year's resolution for 2014 is to insist the I'm in more pictures.

 Hole full o'cousins.  It's amazing how many hours were occupied with just digging.  Endless digging.  It kind of made me want to run out and get a sand box for home.

 This was standard procedure.  Nash standing on a towel so as not to make ANY contact with the sand.  He was a ball of fun on the beach.  NOT!  Next year will be better, this I know for sure because all the kids were the same.  Genetics are a pretty powerful and scary (in our case!) thing.

 Luke quote of the week... L: Dad, have you ever been to China?  M: No, but I probably will with my job someday. L:  Well, when you get there can you ask them why everything is made in China?

 A sweet picture of my nephew running for his mama. 

 Need I say more?

 The ocean temp hovered around 70 degrees.  I was going to say "give or take", but it was always on the cold side.  Just ask Mark.

 Here's a quarter, call someone who cares...Better luck next year Nashy Boy!

 Brooke and Cousin Dan really got along well.  Dan is only about a year and a half older than Brooke and he likes swimming as much as Brooke.  Perfect fit!  Brooke said before we even got there...Mom I hope when I get to the beach I can be brave like Dan and just run into the water. She got over her fear of being knocked down by the waves and had a ball.

 This is when the fun really began (she says sarcastically!).  The second day Nash climbed out of the Pack n' Play at nap time.  It was hilarious really. Truly.  We were sitting on the couch around 3 PM and Nash's little face comes peeking up the stairs and he says sweetly, "Hi".  He was so proud of himself we had a hard time not laughing.  We took him back at least 6 times in a 10 minutes span and then decided to not make a big deal out of it so as to make it less appealing. Right.

 At bedtime we thought he'd be so tired from not napping that he'd fall right asleep.  NOPE.  Mark came up with this genius set up, the crib in the corner blocked in by the headboard, topped off with the mattress buttressed by the dresser.  Worked like a charm.  Wish we could have employed the same tactic at home, but no such luck. 

 Cousins Dan and Joe with their skim boards.

 This was an official meeting of the Sassafras club ( a club Brooke make up randomly) in which the members met on a little sand cliff, high fived each other and then ran into the ocean.  This is major progress for our fraidy cats.

 Go!

 Wahooo!

 Oh, yeah!

 Storm clouds rolling in from the west.  Looked like the end could be near for a minute or two. We made it, so don't worry.

 They staged this somewhat when I got my camera out to photograph Mark and Luke's Lego progress.

Stella and Nash shared a room and it went over so well.  Stella, being exhausted, fell into a deep sleep around 7 PM and then we snuck Nash in an hour later. It couldn't have worked out any better.  They didn't even wake each other up in the morning either! 

Strangely enough I worked while on vacation.  Maybe we can write off the gas as a business expense!  A woman (sitting center in white) saw my mother-in-laws car in the church parking lot with an Outer Banks sticker and struck up conversation.  She wanted a photographer to photograph her whole family (5 kids and their grand kids) who would be at the beach the same time we were to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a lot of fun and I got to tour the mansion they were staying in.  A very memorable experience!

Disney's earned the title The Happiest Place on Earth, but I say my-in-laws beach house could be a close second.  I get teary eyed every.single.time. we leave because it's so comfortable and beautiful there.  I know the kids treasure spending time with the cousins and I am so grateful they have this opportunity.  Until next year...

The Not So Lazy Days of Summer

Hi, folks!  Long time no see.  :)  I've been busy...STILL...AGAIN.  Scroll to the bottom for the scoop.  Below are some pictures from June.  Enjoy!

 Everyone loves Kings Island, especially Nash.  According to Mark, Nash is going to be our biggest coaster enthusiast yet.

The girls and I  went to a friend's horse show.  Trying to find the show I got a little turned around, but we ended up watching some horses racing practice and then getting to watch the show too.

 So fun!

 

 We made it to the lake once so far.  One Sunday after Mass, Mark was working so I loaded the kids into the car for the afternoon.  We came home after dinner and everyone was well behaved and thirsting for more.  Dangling the carrot!  :)

My brother-in-law and my cutie nephew Adam kept us company.


Here's some highlights from June:

*Mark and Brooke took a father/daughter amusement park trip to Six Flags New Jersey.  They also went to a smaller park just inside of PA called Dorney Park.  In their 2 day trip they rode 20 roller coasters.  That brings Brooke's total up to 41 coasters and Mark's to 100.  How do we know this?  Mark's made charts and lists and spreadsheets.  Who cares?  Mark and the kids.  When they tell share the details of their coaster experience, eyes glaze over. Then again, maybe that's just me.  :)

* Nash is now out of a crib.  He climbed out of the Pack n' Play on vacation and when we got home, he wouldn't stay put.  Last night I turned the locks around and threw a mattress on the floor because at 8 PM he climbed out 3 times within 5 minutes.  After he was squared away, he feel asleep after 9:30 PM.  My greatest fear was not napping, but he didn't seem to have any troubles today.  This whole big boy bed sure snuck up on me.  I was planning on keeping him in for another couple of months, but it seems the plans have drastically changed.

* Our home school group CS is coming right along.  It's been a fairly painful process, just the business side of it really, but it seems that things are on the up and up.  We will be meeting at a Catholic Church with an unused school building.  They are excited to have children in the building even if it's just once a week. We are having a picnic later this month and before we know it, all 27 families and 86 kids will be beginning a new chapter in our home school life come September 3rd.  It's really exciting!

*I'm teaching two weeks of religion classes at our church starting next week.  It's kind of like vacation Bible School on steroids, but not as rambunctious.  Brooke will be in my class and Luke will be with our friend and his old teacher, Cathy. I am happy to do it, I just have a little on my plate and I'll be glad when it's safely behind me.  :)

 It is mind boggling that Stella is closer to 5 than 4.  Having a conversation with her is a special treat.  I mean that seriously.  I can hardly keep a straight face listening to her say things like "Gam-maw" or I need to hu-wee! Kick, kick, kick!  Translation... I need to hurry!  Quick, Quick, Quick!  There will be lots of speech therapy in her future, but having a conversation with Stella is priceless.

I am happy to say Nash is coming around to books.  He carries them around and asks to be read too.  Speaking of speech therapy, I might be able to get a two for one special for he and Stella.  It's that bad.  Nash peed in the potty two times (both before a bath).  If I wasn't ready for big boy beds, you bet I am not the least bit interested in potty training.  He's outgrown his overnight cloth diapers and I just recently ordered the next bigger size because I'm that confident it will be a while.  For all I know, next month I'll be reporting that he's done with diapers.  Can you tell I know nothing?  :)

Nashy Boy is also having some serious attachment issues.  He's not just in my hip pocket most days, he's in my pants.  Today he was standing in the kitchen crying for me to pick him up (which he's been doing a lot more of lately, all.day.long. unless we're outside) and he put his hand up my shorts.  It's an oppressive kind of love.

To wrap up this long mishmash post... I've come to some conclusions. While I once enjoyed using my few "free" hours a day writing about my life and posting my latest pictures, I've come to realize that this blog is no longer a priority. It may be God preparing me to slip off the map because our current plans include fostering a baby in the next couple of months. We've taken all the classes and have a few things to finish up. I can't imagine we'd be finished before September, but then again, who really knows except the Author himself. Foster parents can't post any photos or information regarding their foster children online anyway. In the beginning of this process that thought was tough to swallow. How could share the rest of our life, but not this one significant thing? It seemed preposterous. As my priorities are falling into line, this isn't one of them. I'm not folding up shop completely, but rather I've decided to commit to a once a month post. That seems much more reasonable with my schedule.

Back when I started this blog in 2008 (when I was prego with Stella Bella) I loved the idea that I could share our life with lots of people in one swoop. It felt like an incredible blessing to provide information with more than one person at a time. Rarely do I have time to talk to people on the phone for longer than 15 minutes and the thought that I could cover so many bases at one time was thrilling. The interesting thing about this blog is that yes, I can still share, but there is very little connection. While I'm sharing, you're taking. Please understand that it is no fun to share when there's no connection. You click a link, see what you want to see and your off. I'm no more connected to any of you than if we didn't have a telephone. It's fells rather lonely in this corner of cyberspace, so I think it's time to move on.

 It was fun while it lasted, but in this season of life I don't need any more "do's" to my plate.  I've got one more post full of beach pictures coming down the pipe soon and then I won't be back until the end of the month.  When I give my July update, I'll be 35!  Five short years ago I was super prego with Stella and getting a mini-van at the 30 year milestone.  I should tell Mark 35 is also a milestone and I want a horse.   I need a horse like I need another hole in my head.  :)  Happy summer everyone!