The Beach Trip

Ada sees the ocean for the first time, and, by the way, the weather was this beautiful the entire time we were there.  Amazing.  How can anyone doubt that we have a CREATOR, when you see a sight like the Gulf?

And she experiences the ocean for the first time--she loved it, to the point that we had to remind her over and over not to go too far in without an adult. 

And John also sees the ocean for the first time.  He was not impressed, and after that first morning, John stayed in the house, never going to the ocean or the pool.

Here is what John and I did for the rest of that first morning.  He was hot and miserable.  See the workers in the background cleaning up the oil? 

John's favorite toy of all, my keys.  Check out his fat rolls, and that is 100% breast milk, folks, since he still hasn't mastered baby food (which the doctor says we have to work on).

And an unsuccessful attempt to get him out of my lap.  See his crawling stance?  He has become an expert scooter, getting across the room very fast, so he does the crawl position less and less. 

Thoughts on the beach trip--it was exhausting, to say the least, and by 7:00 everyday I was wishing I could crawl into bed.  However, I am thankful for Ada's sake that we were able to go.  I think she loved it.  Plus, the first day we were there, Ann and I had a very relaxing time lying out at the pool while the kids napped, so that afternoon did feel a bit like vacations from the past.  We would have had another relaxing afternoon at the beach, but while Ann, Ellie, and I (everyone else was back at the house) were trying to enjoy the beautiful ocean (no oil in sight, maybe because of the diligent workers?), we were suddenly surrounded by sea gulls.  It was hilarious and frightening, and I wish I had the words to explain the whole scene.  Bottom line, though, the afternoon was not relaxing once the sea gulls arrived.

The six hour drive to and from the beach?  Nightmare.  Absolute Nightmare.  John had multiple breath holding spells in the process, and I was frequently diving into the back seat to try to get him to breath.  Plus, on the drive home, John had a fever and refused to sleep in his car seat.  We are staying put for a while.  No traveling for us. 

Conclusion--give the kids a few years, and I think vacation will be wonderful once again.  I mean, let's face it, vacation is a gift anyway...so I stress again, I am so thankful that we got to go.  I hope that we get to go again.  Ann and I recalled afternoons at the beach growing up when mom and dad planted their chairs in the sand and stayed there all afternoon--we just have to give the kids a few years. 

Ann and I (and Sarah and Kate) sort of "grew up" at Orange Beach, going every summer for as long as I can remember because my dad had work meetings there every year.  It was surreal to see Ada run up the boardwalk to eat at "Sea n' Suds."  Life is coming full circle. 

Anyway...it was fun, I am thankful that we were able to go, and I am very thankful to be home!!!

Home Again

We have been away, vacationing.  Which, I quickly learned that with five children, five and under (Ellie-5, Luke-4, Ada-3, Andrew-19 months, John--7 months), vacation might not be the appropriate term;)

But I think that all the cousins had a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that we were able to go.  What a gift.  We certainly didn't think that we would be going on a family vacation this summer!!! (Fall?)

Anyway...today we are dealing with the aftermath of being away from home for 5 days, plus John is suffering from a cold with fever.  John is already a rather "fussy" baby, so when he isn't feeling well, it isn't pretty.  I hope to blog more about our trip, especially when I get more pictures from Ann...but you know, the best laid plans. 

Until then, here is a snapshot of the little sickling.

And just like that, it's over

Well, this is how we spent the last three days, but we are now quickly back to reality. And to be honest, we were about to die to see little Ada. It seemed everywhere we turned there was somebody toddling about that reminded us of Ada. And if we weren't seeing someone who reminded of us Ada, we were noticing things that we were sure Ada would, "just love."

But...it was so refreshing to spend some uninterrupted time together. We talked and relaxed and read lots and lots. And we ate good food. And for just a few days we didn't worry about the budget and cleaning the house and everything else that makes up daily life. It was fabulous and over far too quickly.And, it's official, we have decided that we will retire right here. Would you like to join us in the house next door?
p.s. I have decided to put the crimper away and just make do with a little styling cream and a diffuser. Oh well, it was a fun to try something different.

Monday Morning

no menu plan today. Mainly because we are eating things we already have on hand, so it would just be a repeat of the things listed over the past few weeks. Tonight we are having pintos and sausage over rice. It is cooking in the crock pot right now. The budget was extra tight this week due to mortgage and bills all being due in the same week, so the grocery shopping was kept to a minimum. When money is tight, the grocery bill is negotiable, so we make adjustments as needed.

The beach trip is looming ahead, so I am going to try to get in lots of extra online tutoring over the next few weeks so that we will have spending money to use while on vacation. (I love to say that--we are going on vacation!! And vacation it will be!!).

I am also trying to tackle house cleaning/organizing projects. For example, this morning I am going through my closet and getting rid of all those pre-baby clothes I have been hanging on to. If they still don't fit, they aren't going to, and it is time to toss them. Actually I plan to take them to Plato's closet to make a little extra cash. I want to start taking classes at Gold's Gym, and I need an extra 30.00 to get started with that. I am hoping Plato's Closet will provide that extra cash. I'll let you know.

And now, I am going to scrounge around the house, looking for .99 cents for a Sonic diet coke. Cross your fingers for me;)