a mini vacation

Wow... neglect the blog much?? So I have A LOT of catching up to do. I guess I need to start with the present and work my way backwards a little... I guess this is going to work a little like my scrapbooking. I hope this goes better, I am WAY behind on the scrapbooks!

This past week we had the opportunity (thanks to my sister) to have a little R&R on the beach. Well I have to admit it was a little R&R but take out the R's. At least we were at the beach!! It is true, a bad day on the beach is better than a good day at home! Well there were no bad days, just not too much relaxing with the kids. I forgot to mention that Daddy was not there!

So... my sisters and I, along with 6 kids under 4, my nieces and my nephew were all at a beach house in SC. It was a lot of fun! The kids got a lot of time to play together, which does not happen often enough.

Here are a few pictures from the week...

How do you get a good picture of 3 kids???? YOU DON'T!! Here are the 3 big kids... K is the only grandchild in the group, the other 2 are great grands (and yes they are both older than K).

Here is R and B... R is the youngest of my parents grand kids and B is one of my parents great- grand sons!

Miss K is very hard to get a good picture of these days.. she never sits still enough (long enough).

Miss R always happy and enjoying (eating) the sand!

Here are 2 of my parents grandkids... the oldest (29) and the youngest (11months).

One night we had a pretty big storm and the next day this was on the beach. K was a little freaked out when she picked it up and it moved on her. We took a picture and let it go into the ocean.

Now we are back home and mentally preparing for another beach trip in a few weeks. This time Daddy will be there for at least part of the trip (whew)

Lots to catch up on!!!

I guess I have been a little bad about keeping up with the blog.... So bad indeed that I do not know what to catch up on and what to just pass over.... hmmmm

Lets see.... the days since the 4th have gone like this.....

No baby... YET!!!

Avery ended up in the ER due to an airsoft mishap. Talk about Deja Vu... remember this??? At least this time it was the lip and not the teeth. And, thankfully Chris was able to put him back together in no time.

And... yes he did have a mask on!!! Apparently he fell and the mask came off and the friend came around the corner and shot (not knowing the mask was off).

And Avery being the great kid he is was bleeding (proof was on the driveway), told him friend to get a towel, went into the basement and stopped the bleeding before he told me. He was so calm when he came up to show me. Surprisingly, I was too!!

Our conversation went like this....
Me: Avery I am not sure the pellet is out of your lip
Avery: Yes mom, its out. I pulled it out myself
Me: oh lovely! You mean you have been downstairs for awhile?
Avery: Yes, I wanted to stop the bleeding so you didn't freak out! (good call)

And then we called Chris who was at work and I decided it was better to take him in to be sure if he needed stitches or not.... of course he did!

He did amazingly well while Chris stitched him up. I was so proud of him. The last time he had stitches it took 5 people to hold him down. This time it did not take anyone. He has grown up so much!

Here is Chris doing a great job on Avery!!

He ended up with 3 stitches in his lip/face. The good thing is that they came out this past Wednesday before I put the boys on a plane for my family vacation.

..... oh yea, that is another thing that has happened. The boys flew for the first time without me! Well they were with my sister and some of her kids but I was not there. It was a sad moment for me.

I have talked to them a few times since they have been at the beach and they are having a great time. I will try to get pictures and post at some point....

Well I guess that is all for now. Hopefully there will be a baby update soon!!!

A mini vacation

Chris and I told each other that for our big birthdays we were not going to do the party thing but instead we were going to plan a trip. When we decided this we both (or at least I) had images in my head of a warm beach, a nice drink, and an island far, far, away.

But.... Chris and I took a trip to New Orleans as his 40th birthday trip. He had never been there and I had not been there since I was in middle school. We took Kennedi to Grandma and Papa's house and the boys were with their dad this year for break and off we went for a three day mini vacation.

The view from our room on the 40th floor.


the view from Bourbon Street... well a view that is appropriate for a blog.

one of the many pictures Chris took on the street car.

We had a great time!! I miss the beignets already and we can't wait to go back again!! Hopefully, next time we can fit it in with the kids schedules and take them with us!!

Just a few pictures from week 1.....

Since I have been so bad about update this past week I wanted to add some pictures. Chris had to go back to work today so last night we headed out for the 2 hour drive to the airport. I was so happy that I did not hit any traffic. The part I don't like is that as I was pulling into the driveway at the beach house I was getting a text from Chris saying that he had landed in Atlanta.

He has never been away from Kennedi this long but at least he has work to keep him busy... for the next 19 days straight... UGH!!

The boys are a little bummed since summer is just about over. When we get home they start school less than 2 weeks later. I think we need an extended summer... I am so not ready for the kids to go back. I really love having them home with me all day long. I think they are going to have trouble leaving Kennedi. It is unbelievable to see them with her and to see how much they adore her (and how much she loves them!!).

The first week we had 2 houses and they were both filled with people. At one time I think it was 25 people we had. With that many here we were still missing a few...
and then we took one of the just the grand kids and great grand kids. Once again we were missing a few.

Conner and Avery have become really good at the skim board the past few years. I get a little nervous with the many broken bones we have had but they seem to bounce pretty good on the sand when they go down... here they are posing before hitting the water.

For a few days Kennedi was not sure of the sand or the water. Of course on Chris' last day she started to walk into the water... yes I said WALK... She has become quite good since we have been here. Here are a few of her playing in the sand and water....

Chris and Kennedi got to spend a lot of time together this week. I think they both really enjoyed it.. I love the picture of the two of them on the beach. It is probably one of my favorite pictures of the two of them.

Of course we had to take the token family picture on the beach.. YUCK!! The sun was out and shining so we all had our eyes squinted pretty badly... but a few turned out great!

Chris looking very relaxed.... I think he needs to take a week off more often!!

and to end this update, here is one of the 3 babies of the family. Meredith and Ryan are great grands and then of course Kennedi is a grand.....

One week down.....

...but still one more week to go! This week has gone by really fast and hopefully next week will be just as relaxing. I am a little leary of this because Daddy goes home tomorrow evening. Someone has to work and I think that I choose Chris!! Chris has been sitting at the house each day during Kennedi's first nap which gave me some alone beach time to sit and read. Well not really alone since the big boys were with me along with the 20 other people in our family but I did not have to keep up with an eleven month old while trying to finish a book. I have to say it was very nice.

Why is it that kids, well babies, always sleep in so late wake up at the crack of dawn while at the beach? The first day or so was rough with a wake up time around 6:30am but then it started to get a little better. One day she even let us sleep until 8:30. Too bad that was only one day! Funny how the big boys (Conner and Avery) have no problem sleeping in until noon 10:00 when I decide to wake them up so they do not waste the day.

Kennedi took a little while to get used to the sand. At first we thought it was going to be a miserable week with her not allowing any part of her body to touch a grain of sand but thankfully that did not last long and before we knew it she was covered in the gritty stuff. The waves is one thing she is really not to fond of. Chris took her into the water where she placed the death grip on his neck while screaming at the top of her lungs. She is really a water baby so I am not sure if it was the waves or the temperature of the water that she did not like. I am hoping its the temperature so that the upcoming years will not be too miserable. The water has been about 65 degrees this week. We have had some evening showers and last night a pretty big storm but other than that the weather during the day has been great!

Since it is Saturday its a change over day and I am looking forward to sitting on an empty beach. Of course since the first week is over we do have to say goodbye to some of the family that is here sharing in the vacation. After today it will be a very quiet week.

While we have been here Kennedi has decided that walking is the way to travel! She is all over the place and into everything! We are pretty worn out at the end of the day and Chris and I end up heading to bed shortly after Kenendi does.

I guess that is about all for now. Hopefully I will be able to update a little more this week so that we can keep Chris updated on the beach trip. Poor baby has to go back to work for 19 days straight! Lets all take a moment and say a little prayer that my old house sells soon so that Chris can cut back A LOT of days!!!