St. Simon's Getaway

Once a year, Andrew has the opportunity to go to a conference on St. Simon's Island. I used to tag along with him before we had kids. He, of course, would be in meetings all day, but I would enjoy lounging by the pool.

 I have not been with him since we have had children for various reasons. But, this year, we decided we might be up for the challenge. Keep in mind, this means all five of us are in one hotel room. It also means I am taking the kids to the pool and beach by myself. So while it may sound like a vacation, it really is just a change in scenery. He is still working and I am still chasing around 3 monkeys all day.

I am happy to say that we had an awesome time! Everyone being in one room was fine because everyone was exhausted from being out in the heat. The hotel actually had several pools...one which happened to be a kiddy pool that was only one foot deep. It also had a huge sandbox next to it. Next to that pool was a 3 foot deep pool (perfect for Ella to practice her swimming) and then a regular depth pool. It was perfect for everyone. I also got to talk and catch up with an old friend who has two girls close in age to our kids. That was the icing on the cake. Adult conversation was good for my mommy sanity. It literally ended up being a free semi-vacation for us. We all played hard and we all slept hard.

 I LOVED seeing my children just enjoy life. We had three days of just living. No real schedules, no caring what we ate...we just lived. They had hot dogs two days in a row for lunch, so I was officially the greatest mom in the world in their little eyes. (Gross, I know. Sometimes you just need to relax and not worry about how many fruits and vegetables has everyone eaten that day). Here are a few pictures of our few days in St. Simon's.

Love this picture of Ella helping Jacob. There is nothing better than watching your children help each other.

Beautiful

Playing in the one foot pool; this was more up Audrey's ally. She wasn't a huge fan of the beach.

Watch out Michael Phelps! This boy may end up stealing your titles. He LOVES the water!

Hopefully we will be able to go again next year. Even if it isn't really a vacation for Andrew, it was a nice change of pace for our family.

Fourth of July (Catching Up)

We have had a rather full summer this year. I had thought it may still be difficult to do too many summer activities because of the children's ages, but we managed to fill our weeks with plenty of fun. And although I'm sure I appeared rather maniacal at times, I did manage to take all three of my little ones to the pool a couple times a week. I am pretty sure I earned my mommy badge this summer. We spent three mornings a week the entire month of June taking Ella to swim lessons. Since it is such an ordeal to get every one there, we would usually stay a couple more hours and play in the pool. By the end of the month, she was swimming under water and coming up for breaths (although I still would not call her a swimmer just yet). I don't think she is quite ready for the Olympics, but we still have another 6 weeks of the pool being open. 2016 Olympics perhaps?

We had a very traditional American fourth of July; we spent our time at the lake, grilling out hamburgers, and watching fireworks. The people across the lake put on a fabulous show every year, so we get to watch from the comfort of our own lawn. The twins were asleep and Ella only lasted about five minutes before she decided it was too loud for her.

Here are all the kids showing their American pride. I had big plans for a red, white, and blue picture of us all, but the little ones were uncooperative. Isn't that always what happens when you have a camera around your neck?

Little Miss Fourth of July

Proud to live in America and the freedom that we have!

And this is what happened when I told them we might have another 4 years of Obama...