The Much Awaited Trip

The week the kids have been looking forward to all year long FINALLY came!

We are OFF to Myrtle Beach!

Once we drove for a while Brooks and I both commented how nice it was that on the way to the beach this year we weren't stranded on the side for 4 hours like last year.

Pretty soon after our comment we saw a lady on the side of the road changing her tire and knowing EXACTLY how she felt we stopped, which is always a welcomed idea to the kids, especially when there are "cool trees" with a creek by it. (Where was THIS oasis last year Linsey?)

But even BETTER then the location, Aleeya found a lizard. With that new passenger (the lizard) in tow the 11 of us set out to the beach.

We ALSO commented on how nice it was to have windshield wipers that work (unlike last time). Just then it started raining, we hit a big bump and then the windshield wipers stopped working. It wasn't just sprinkling, it was COMIN' DOWN. I told Brooks I was gonna pull over but he kept telling me I could do it. The only way I COULD was getting really low and looking through this one spot. Brooks kept making fun of me, but I got us there safely..... albeit with a sore, hunched back.

As soon as we got there, there was MUCH hugging with Brooks' parents (who flew out to meet us) followed immediately by "LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!"

Oh, and then they all opened up cans of pop since pop is kind of a free-for-all while on vacation.

Pop and Boiled Peanuts.

So besides the obvious beach-ing, I've compiled everything else that we did our week there.

The menfolk went golfing....

A. LOT. 

My boys couldn't be happier.

(sporting the new BYU hats R.A brought them)

There were some MAJOR Ticket To Ride games going on. I bought the game for the trip and loved that my kids liked playing it as much as I do......well, except when you are LOSING TO YOUR MOM LIKE EMERSON WAS!!!!!

I went to How To Train A Dragon 2 with Grandma and the older 5. Movies are such a BIG deal anyway to my kids but even BIGGER when you are the ONLY ONES THERE!!!!!

Krispy Kreme run with Grandma since she is the QUEEN of Krispy Kreme. 

Oh, did I mention there was a TON of golfing?

Which gave the rest of us plenty of time for swimming!

and my personal fav......golf cart rides.

(Any time I could I would sneak away in the golf cart with whoever wanted to go. I just loved the beachy air driving around)

And daily visits to the ducks/geese/swans to feed. This was Kellyn's favorite part. She was so happy there. I just love hearing her excited squeals after she pats me saying "MA!!!" to make sure I see what she sees.

Speaking of feeding, the older kids walked down the beach with RA and Brooks to a pier that was maybe a little under a mile away. It went way out into the ocean  and there were a lot of fishermen on the end. As usual, Brooks starts talking with them and the fisherman said, "Hey, watch this..."

Then he threw a fish in the water and a SHARK jumped up and grabbed it.

Let me repeat myself, A SHARK!!!!

They saw TWO of them and told me they had to be around 6-8ft long.

(Bronson said that was the coolest part of the whole trip for him actually)

(*insert shiver up my spine*)

Everly was so spoiled with Grandma.....I'm actually shocked I got a picture without Kellyn all over Grandma though.

Emerson's Pleasure

Being at the beach is a lot of fun...... But there are parts that aren't AS fun too....... Like the part when you get stung by a jellyfish. That bites..... Or stings, as the case may be.

Aleeya, Camden, Bronson and Brooks were out in the waves when Aleeya just starts a-SCREAMIN'!!! Bronson rushes to her to help her on shore and Brooks checked out her ankle. 

Yep, jellyfish sting.

Not that we are pros at jellyfish stings or anything (since this is our first), but I remember hearing that urine takes the sting out. I immediately asked Bronson if he needed to pee. He didn't. Camden didn't either so I TOLD Emerson he HAD to pee on Aleeya.

He looked at me and said "Dad will KILL me if I do!" I told him it will help Aleeya (who was still losing it......we were creating quite a little scene). He gave a little smirk and said, "Oh okay I think I can help you out but I need a little warm water."

We walked home to the outside shower in the garage and Emerson turned the water to warm. Then he pulled open his swim trunks so the warm water would go down them, then matter-of-factly said, "I'm ready."

Aleeya held out her ankle and Emerson, like all heroes, did what he had to do.

Aleeya sighed and said that it felt much better.

After his "medicinal" stream ended Emerson pulled up his pants and declared, "Sorry Aleeya, that's all I got."

She thanked him profusely then came upstairs to ice it and show Grandma.

Some heroic acts are harder to complete then others, but I have a feeling this heroic feat was truly Emerson's pleasure.

Days at Home

While the older kids are gone at school it's been kinda nice hanging out with JUST Royce, Kellyn and Everly. I love routine, so to have the fast paced morning and fast paced after school/dinner/homework stuff spaced out with a day of just chillin' with these 3 is so nice.

(my family loves grits)

We do all sorts of "high adventure" things like.........you know........

playing with grasshoppers on our backs

or belly buttons if the grasshopper want more of a ledge to play on.

These two are such good buddies and Brooks and I are constantly saying how sweet Royce is with Kellyn. To illustrate this is how I found them the other day, walking around, holding hands, while Kellyn was holding the cars that were stuffed down her swimsuit.(Don't mind their greasy heads, they just finished rubbing hand soap all over each other's heads)

I asked them what they were doing and Kellyn kept pointing to the cars saying, "baby, baby". Then Royce said, "We going to have a baby".

Huh. Okay. 

I asked if they were on their way to the hospital and Royce said, 

"No, we going night-night and baby come out."

(I guess these two have a thwarted view of childbirth after having Everly at home. haha)

Here they are heading to go night-night.

Speaking of naps, I found that Royce had moved this box up in his bed and taken a nap in it. Funny kid.

We bake a lot too. Kellyn doesn't like the sound of the hand mixer so Royce covers her ears for her when I do it. Seriously, that girl is so spoiled by Royce.

Meanwhile, Everly is usually sucking her thumb watching everything unfold.

One day Kellyn wasn't feeling well and had puked when she woke up. She was just laying around and Royce kept rubbing her saying, "It okay, baby, it okay"

And he would lay by her and read her books. 

But like I said, when everyone is healthy we prefer to stay busy with important baby-having, grasshopper playing activities that must be attended to.....

oh, and acting like "turtles".

Can NOT forget that!

Lake Keowee

One of our favorite places ON EARTH is Lake Keowee!!!!

Our friends have a house/boat up there and our schedules finally aligned to get our family up there.

First thing first......life jackets, then jump in.

Kellyn even got in for a while.....which is HUGE.

HUGE I SAY!!!!!

Actually it isn't that big of a big deal considering the water is amazing. Like bath water amazing. 

No joke. It was warmer in the water then out with the nice summer breeze.

It's like a little piece of paradise to me. See?

My kids LOVE being pulled on "Big Mable" behind the boat, but they also like playing "King of Mable" and try to throw each other off. Emerson won this time.....and actually is the kid that usually stays on Mable the longest while being pulled behind a boat too. He just lays down and waits until Camden or Bronson go off first. 

On top of Mable, the newest member of the boating was this missile thing......here is Emerson sitting in it where he said, "Take a picture and I will pretend I don't know you're doing it". Did it work?

So you climb in and hold on the black handle bars up at the top. It ALSO helps if you have an I'm-so-cool look, just for added effect.

Then you get pulled behind the boat. You never get thrown off like on Mable, you just get pulled really fast and possibly thrown around when you go over a wake. Brooks said it felt like he was in a washing machine when he got going. Soooooo, yea, that didn't make me want to try it.

I decided to stay back on the dock and take care of Everly.......oh wait, never mind, Mr. Lonnie had her asleep on his lap. (This child falls asleep wherever). So I just ate cake and jumped off the dock with Royce.

Emerson came back and started working on his "American Ninja Warrior" skills under the dock too.

Getting ready for the 6-kid-group-jump

BOMBS AWAY!!!!!

(the constant smiling faces of my kids the whole day makes these trips so enjoyable as a parent. I just couldn't stop laughing riding in the boat watching them out there with huge grins just WAITING to be thrown off Mable.)

This could possibly be my favorite picture of the whole trip and how I feel when I'm there.

Labor Day Weekend

CONTRARY to our usual It's-Labor-Day-therefore-you-must-LABOR attitude in the past I think the kids had a pretty good weekend starting with someone giving us free tickets to the Drive Game (the FARM team of the Boston Red Sox). This was the first time the WHOLE family has gone so I didn't know what to expect (I wasn't expecting much to be honest)

And we DEFINITELY weren't expecting the tickets to be on the front row RIGHT behind home plate!!!!!

 The boys had to test their pitching speeds first though....

I think Bronson had 54 and Emerson 37 or something. There was a huge line so I realized I should refrain from trying and let the kids behind me have a chance....but I wanted to!

 I know it's a baseball game.....but the younger kids were really (ONLY!) into the mascots. Thankfully there are 4

 Plus, the Chick-Fil-A cow.....always a bonus. THUMBS UP!!!

 It's kinda hard to see but you can see Bronson's neon (ALWAYS neon) shirt in the grass outfield....the three boys were waiting there for a home run ball. 

 Little did they know if they sat in our seats that the ballboy would just hand you a foul ball under the net, like they did Royce.

 By the 4th inning they came and sat down with us and all ended up with their own (foul) balls from the ball boys.

This is basically a normal shot of these three at the game.......not a ONE watching the game and only watching the dancing animals shaking their booties.

 Everly and her thumb.........SO SO glad about this because it makes her so content.

Uuuuuuuuuuuunlike KELLYN who didn't like the firework booms when a home run was hit.

 Everly just slept through it. That blessed thumb put her right to sleep in my lap.

 So of course there was golfing on Saturday and Monday but later on in the day we drove up just across the SC/NC border to the best apple-picking orchard with some friends.

I looooooove moments like this when they don't know I'm watching.

 Kellyn just walked around eating apple after apple. I love that cutie.

 They have a petting farm, playground, hayride there too..... Camden found a baby chick hiding under  his mom.

 Kellyn guarding her apple from the sheep.

 It was the most beautiful scenery and drive ever. It's called Sky Top so obvious we were winding up and up to get up there through pure paradise. It was super kid friendly too (obviously, we were there 5 hours!) which helps when you have 13 kids there between our two families. 

A few tips if you go though:

1) according to my kids you MUST buy the apple cider doughnuts

2) according to ME you must get the apple cider slushies

3) and do NOT let you kids just go on a picking spree, because ya know that rule "You pay for what you pick"?......well they enforce that......and.......um.......we had a LOT of apples. *GULP*