The 14 hour beach trip

Day Trip to the Beach 2018

2017

2015

14 hours - from blast off to crash landing - we planned on leaving at 6 am but really left around 6:20 since we heard from our friends parking might be an issue. We knew we needed to be home around 8ish but that really ended up being 8:20ish but we did an A+ job on timing

13 snacks left in the bag. I packed a ton of food. So many snacks. I knew we would have to call it quits if the blood sugar levels were plummeting so I overdid it in that department which was fine. The run of the mill Kids Bars, Fig Bars, Apple sauce squeeze packs, fruit strips, fruit rolls etc etc etc 

12 beach goers. So so so thankful and grateful our friends could meet us and catch up and hang out and they even came back to meet us for dinner! It was really great having 4 adults on the beach because at any given moment there were some kids in the ocean, other building a sandcastle, some sumo-looking sandcastle smashing, babies eating sand, chasing birds 

11 books sprinkled in the van that didn't make it out. The kids did well in the car for the just over 4 hours total they were it in. Everyone except C slept for some time on the way home. 

10 donuts for the beach. You can correct me if I'm wrong here but I think that is the right count. One for each person except for the babies. C and my goddaughter were left off the donut train but they played nicely and C happily ate sandy Cheerios from her. (They are about a month apart so they were really cute and C definitely needs to step up her hat wearing game!)

I think they loved our friends donuts for the beach tradition!

9 baskets of hushpuppies for the table. I knew I wanted some seafood since we were AT THE BEACH so we went for it and there is nothing like fresh hot hush puppies to keep our kiddos hushed and munching on them 

8 kids on the beach - that was great! The only time we got some serious stares is when a lone wolf decided it'd be good to run up the beach looking for us except he was super far past our spot

7 hours spent on the beach. Sunscreen was applied on multiple occasions and there were still lots of red spots that needed aloe after our showers. Well we rinsed off in the cold water at the beach and them we showered for real at home when we got in the door. No one likes sandy sheets!

6 eggs and sandwiches - Lee made 6 eggs that morning. One for C to eat before we left and 5 eggs and cheese tortilla rollups. I made 3 PBJs and 3 PBHs (PB + honey - blah! for the kids they love them) 

5 kids who gotten woken up to a surprise beach trip. This trip had been in the works for no more than a week. Lee said he'd go on the condition I pack up everything - food, snacks, beach stuff for everyone - adults included. I love our kids enthusiasm over stuff but I couldn't handle them asking about the beach every 2.5 seconds so I hosed off the sand toys the afternoon before and the ONLY one who noticed them out of place was.... R. Which surprised me. All the other stuff was pretty easy to grab

4 hours spent in the water. Well maybe but it is highly likely that E spent that much time in the ocean. She and R and M love going out and there was a far out sandbar that they (and 50 other people were on) that I had to go out and herd them in on. There was boogie boarding and body surfing and just floating down shore. 

Salty red eyes

3 highchairs needed for dinner. We did dinner early. Because the beach is tiring and we were hungry and we needed to get back home. We had a great meal at Dockside and the kids did great too. We loaded them up with hush puppies : ) 

2 stinky beach diapers. ALWAYS USE disposable beach diapers unless you want to wash and scrub to save them - which I did but have no desire to do again!

1 hour that C screamed in the car. Gracious the last hour she howled pretty nonstop. It is tough to sit in a seat that long!

He really did have a good time I promise. C conked out after a short walk down the beach 

0 pictures of the whole group. Probably the only disappointment from the day. Next year we have to get a good group shot!

Beaching It Up 2016

A few weeks ago the girls and boy and I loaded up and headed for the hills beach of Sunset sans Papa to spend a few days with my BRAVE family who were agreeable to dappling in the girls dreams of the beach excursion of 2015 as well as letting A get head to toe to mouth full of sand. 

Piles, lists, bags galore!

So OCD :  )

The morning monsoon which I loaded the van up in. We left straight from church so it was now or never and I was totally regretting E saying how they hadn't loaded up their sand toys at 8 the night before and I just told them to go to bed and I'd deal with it in the morning. Ha! loading up sand toys in a small river of our backyard in the semi-darkish plus the fear of a frog or snake plus a child sized umbrella ----> right here

I only pulled over once to give A his paci because I couldn't stand it anymore. We went super barbaric with no food or drinks for 3.5 hours and it was worth every single filthy potty break we skipped!

First order of business was getting to the beach 

A's number one mission was to take his hat off; consuming fists full of sand was a close second!

Uncle Kev was back in action this year!!!!

We took two trips out to the beach each day - morning and afternoon. I always terribly underestimate the amount of time it takes to get suited up and sunscreened up 

A's head was getting burned so I resorted to pouring super wet sand on it and using that as sunblock

So in love with the beach and getting our toenails painted

There were quarrels and squabbles but overall they kept the peace. Our sand toys are in need of replacing since they are so loved here at home. I'm thinking St. Nicholas might come through

Uncle Kev and Grandpa Joe supervised so much of the boogy boarding and Grammy and A spend some quality non-beach time together. It definitely was a team effort keeping up with these kiddos

Grandpa Joe and I discovered this nature reserve (soon to be developed : ( of course) and there were millions of crabs in the marsh. Purple crab?

It was so peaceful 

A pretty but thorn-bearing flower

Hahahahahahaha! Jokes on you mom, trying to actually get a pic of all four of us!

This boy!

These girls!!!

We went down over the 4th of July so I dragged (drug? - come on which on is it?) out festive attire

No patriotic strawberries or insanely awesome flag cake but red-white-and-blue cookies were make

If there was a major letdown of the trip it would have been in the fireworks department especially because last year we were SO CLOSE. R didn't mind being 50 miles away but E is not letting us live the fireworks of 2016 down. 

By the time we are there for the second day the kids are getting pretty beached out

And we spend less time on the beach

But we keep on going because we know we won't be back for a whole nother year 

The day we left E was on a hunt for a sand dollar because R has found some pretty decent half ones on a previous walk so we took a walk down the beach. The things you think about when the waves are crashing and the wind is blowing and the sun is shining... God's gorgeous handiwork

I broke down and bought 3 boogy boards which were put to go use. I MULLED over the decision and read WAYYYY too many Amazon reviews. I bought a $25, $30 and $40 on - all pink, but different. I was most happy with the $40 one. The kids like the $25 one and the $30 is getting returned because it got damaged too easily after the same wear and tear as the other two. I'm not linking to Amazon but let know if you are in the boogy board market and I'll show the ones we got 

They matched themselves... not me I PROMISE

Fam-mee beach pic for the books!

Followed by our one and only ice cream run - which was actually a drive because riding in the wagon was vetoed because the lead wagon puller and other walkers. We took two cars - minivans are awesome to an extent. 

No touching my ice cream!

She was the gladest to have her Uncle Kev back

What the what? Only one microscopic spoonful of ice cream!

But then I was glad we drove because we took everyone to the nature area 

They'd didn't touch the crab but $10 says next year A will . And yes R is wearing her shoes on the wrong feet because that's how she rolls!

Sunset Beach 2016.. thanks for being awesome

We stopped at our friends house on the way back to break up the drive (thanks E&T for hosting our crazies) and we still need to get photographic evidence that we do in fact see each other. With 6 kids ages 6 and under... pictures wasn't the first thing on my mind. And I still need that pasta salad recipe too!

It took a small army of people to make this trip happen to whom I am indebted for helping make our summer great and carrying on the Sunset Beach tradition which E won't let us get away from :  )

7QTs - Cotton Fields, Stitch, and Pumpkins

Bridging the gap between last week and this week... 

--- 1 ---

Last week... Papa went to a clergy conference in Chicago. Yes A was 8 days old. Yes we survived with the help of Grammy providing double-team coverage... 

After we survived soccer practice - A was not too unhappy with me for coaching - Grammy and E and R wanted to feel some on-the-stalk cotton. #countrylife

Papa surprised us by coming back a few hours early from his trip on Thursday which was awesome! When he called and said "I have a surprise for you" I replied with "Are you in the driveway?" - because I'm that kind of surprise-r. He wasn't in the driveway but en route.

--- 2 ---

Then Papa and E turned around and went to South Bend for a wedding - E's godfathers. I think I have discussed ad nauseam how disappointed I am that I could not go. So I'll stop complaining...  

And of course on Friday E shows up with the class pet. So Fidget was in for the longhaul. I was alittle nervous about Fidget getting lost or left (I left a stuffed animal at KFC when I was small - another story, another day) SO I decided to outfit Fidget with his own luggage tag in the off chance he was misplaced. #iamworrier

So Fidget and E and Papa had a grande time at the wedding and on the trip. E had a mountain of things to write about in Fidget's journal - which I did NOT write, If she had 100 pictures I am quite sure she would have written a hundred sentences - fortunately Papa only printed 4. I think I might get her a notebook to 'journal' in because she really enjoyed writing and then reading the sentences she wrote. 

--- 3 ---

There were more fall crafts to be completed... 

Yes M is INSANE - I know!

Pink and purple pumpkin anyone?

She didn't want to make a face on it so she drew lines like the grooves on the punpkin

Everyone wants in 

The finished product : ) 

--- 4 ---

The weather hasn't made up it's mind about being warm or cold so some days we play outside

I was asked by a wise uncle what to get M for her birthday - because really she doesn't need anything... and my answer was chalk and bubbles. 

#smallestnubofchalk 

That's what happens when they leave the chalk in the rain and out in the driveway... 

--- 5 ---

Funny story... 

Awhile back M took to this Christmas Stitch that Jibbe got R for Christmas a few years ago. Why? We don't know. But she loved it. Alot. She carried him around. Called him 'Stit-h'. The part she loved most about Stitch was his tags. She'd sit there forever and suck her thumb and twiddle with his tags. Well after a few months the tags got curled up and not terribly clean looking. 

One day Stitch was left at Jibbe's. Jibbe -being the well-meaning grandma cleaned Stitch up a bit. Well she cut off Stitch's tags. M got Stitch back and started totally ignoring him. She wouldn't carry him around. Didn't want him during rest or anything. If you asked her what happened to Stitch she'd say 'Jibbe broke it'. 

So Jibbe of course tried to replace Stitch with someone similar - Sully from Monsters Inc. He was blue, had a little tail, and two tags. Totally fit the bill. 

M wasn't buying it. 

THEN Jibbe came back with the real Stitch. Except the new Stitch did not have a sweater and was a bit bigger. M was super confused and not happy when she saw them side by side. We thought she was going to pass Stitch onto A. 

Let's just say... She's warmed up to the new Stitch quite well

--- 6 ---

I'm finally getting around to writing thank you notes to all the people who have helped us/given us things since A was born.

The list is growing so we feel quite blessed to have such great family and friends!

--- 7 ---

I'll probably do a post on my laundering success from the weekend just because I want to

A and I are back to a semi-normal work schedule... 

He's generally pretty happy about it but makes this face when I tell him I forgot his bouncy seat.