Vacation

Let me start by saying this is the cutest picture ever!

OK. Now that I've done that I can tell you all about our vacation. This is the first time we've ever gone more than a couple hours away since the kids came a long and we've never stayed overnight anywhere with them. Mike and Wanda invited us to go down to Hilton Head Island with them. Scott had to stay home and work though. :(

The kids had a really good time seeing the beach for the first time. They love playing in the sand and jumping in the waves and looking for seashells - 3 buckets of seashells!

Abby did get a little freaked out by the seagulls though. If they thought you had food they would go crazy and get super close. She didn't like that very much.

This was a cute little lighthouse we went to see on the rich side of town.

Then we let the kids have some fun at the park. There is a really cool tree there with lots of really low branches and it has a huge treehouse built in it. The kids loved it!

And I was happy to get a pretty good picture of them all on one of the branches. If only Ian would look at the camera!

One day we went on a dolphin tour which was pretty fun. We got to see a few baby dolphins even. So freaking cute! They are super hard to get a picture of though.

Here's a dolphin splash.

And a fin.

Sandcastles!

Sleepy beach baby.

Owen messed with the sand for a minute, but ended up just getting mad at it.

Since it's a 12 hour drive to get there and another 12 hours to get back I got a few pictures in the car. I definitely wish I had thought about putting some movies on my iPad...

We had a pretty good time. Not too many meltdowns. And I was the only one to end up with a really bad sunburn. The kids got to meet their great great grandmother which is something most people can't say.

For me, it was super exhausting, but I'm really glad the kids had such a good time. I had a good time too. Just a really sleepy, good time. So if anyone has pointers for going on vacation with small children just let me know and I'll remember for future reference. Thanks!

A Family Picture

I set the timer on the camera, ran to the back, and finally have a family photo!

It's not that great, but this is the only one I took so I would have to say it was a success. We don't have any other pictures all together so this will have to do for now.

Poor Little Owen. I leave the room for a minute and Emma sticks a Batman ski mask on his head! He didn't seem to mind it though. He's 6 months old now, weighs 22 pounds and is sitting on his own. Hooray! I can't wait until he's mobile. I definitely prefers the later stages when they can move around on their own! It will be a little different this time around though since the "big" kids are starting to play with some toys that have smaller pieces. I'll have to keep an eye out for that. Oh, and we have stairs now! That's ok, I'll still like it better.

We've been in our house over a month now and I still don't have everything put away. I'm definitely lacking motivation. I seriously need to get it done though. And there are soooooo many things I want to do around here it's crazy! Re-do the bathroom, put another bathroom in the basement, turn the sunroom into an actual room.... Don't ask where I'll be getting the money for all of this stuff though... Who knows?! I'm optimistic - we'll just have to do a little at a time. It will be awesome though!

The kids and I will be heading to the beach soon and I am having a heck of a time finding a swimsuit! Especially one that is in my budget! I'm highly against a one-piece, but after having 4 kids, I do need to cover my midsection. And I also prefer boy-short bottoms. It's been hard to find things that don't look too grandma or are under $20 per piece. Per Piece! I seriously can not imagine spending 40 bucks on something I will only be using this one week. No way. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to send them my way!