Homeschooling Q and A

Kim is doing a homeschool Q and A. Jump on over to her blog and ask some questions in the comments.

Vacation - Part 2 - Beach Fun!

Emmie and Jenny (Brian's cousin)

Ellerie just loved playing in the sand...

Brian led the way in building a huge sand castle ... sadly, I forgot to get a pic of the finished product...

Calvin was helping too...


Barefoot Landing - one of our annual traditions as well...


We always love to get a pic here too...


Calvin and Ellerie's turn...


The funny mirrors!

Coleman and Ellerie on the cow...

Carter, Calvin and Emmie

An attempt at a family shot - don't want to even talk about the weather and what it did to my hair! Frizzy is all I can say!

Another attempt...

An attempt with everyone (except Jenny, Shawn, Gwen and Casey's parents)

PawPaw and Granny with the grandkids - at least everyone is IN the picture!

Whew! See why vacation was so tiring? ;) And this is just at the end of the day on Tuesday - 3 more full days!!

Vacation - Part 1 - Expectations!

This was Carter's first walk on the beach! (Last year he went out some but was either in his car seat or my arms). He was so excited to walk on the sand. He walked all over all week long.

So sweet holding Daddy's hand.

Carter and PawPaw taking a break...




Carter and PawPaw taking a walk...

...and he's still walking...




Ella, Ellerie and Carter playing in the sand - a fun activity during the week. (And it was in the shade).




What you doing Mom? (He wasn't too big on the hat)!




Later that afternoon, we went to play Putt-Putt (an annual tradition for us). Carter had fun trying to get everyone's ball!

"I finally got it!"

Emmie making a precise shot (not really-we posed it to get the shot)!

Coleman watching the ball after following through (really- we didn't have to pose it).

Ellerie hitting the ball in her own special way! Go girl!

Calvin concentrating on his shot. (Really just taking a break from his rock climbing and water adventures).

Dad joining Calvin on his rock climbing adventure for a picture.

Lastly, that evening (yes, this was all the first day) we went to Krispy Kreme (another annual tradition).

Carter's face after his first bite of a warm, glazed doughnut! I think he likes it! You should have seen him drinking the chocolate milk!

Hunter, Calvin and Coleman eating their snack. Notice the yummy doughnuts passing by in the background! My mouth is watering even now!

Emmie is waiting so patiently for hers!

Coleman's waiting for his milk (he doesn't like doughnuts, crazy I know!) He is a little red from boogey boarding ALL DAY!

Ellerie - either she is tired of waiting for hers or Daddy was trying to make her laugh and she didn't think he was being very funny!

This is just what we did on Sunday, our first full day at Myrtle Beach! Let's just say we crammed a whole-lotta-fun into vacation week. So much fun that I'm still worn out and still recovering!

But it was such an incredible week. Brian and I knew ahead of time that we would be tired but that we would work hard to ensure that our kids would have a fun, memorable vacation. We also talked with the kids ahead of time about expectations for the week. We told them that they may not always get to do their first choice of an activity every day but that we can always have fun at whatever we do - the point would be to enjoy our time as a family no matter what we were doing.

It was good for me to talk about expectations ahead of time too. I knew that I would be 'working' alot since feeding people, laundering for those sweet people, and cleaning for those same sweet people (who bring alot of sand into the condo) don't stop on vacation and my heart was totally fine with that. I mean, hey, it is much more fun to clean and do laundry at the beach! But my sweet husband helped ensure that I had some relaxing times too. I was able to run several mornings by myself and sit out on the beach several afternoons just watching the big kids play while the little ones rested. We were even able to sneak out for a special dinner alone the last night while Granny watched the kids for us!

I am thankful we had this time to get away and relax - it was such a blessing for us and our kids! More pics to come!