Summer Vacation

I can't believe it is already August and summer is coming to an end.  We have had a fun summer and managed to stay busy.  Abe has had a very busy June and July so I think that made the summer fly by.  In June he worked in the ICU and worked long hours six days a week and we barely saw him coming and going.  Then in July he went to NYC for a month.  So we knew we better have some activities to keep us from going crazy without him (well mainly to keep me from going crazy with 4 kids under the age of 6).  I signed Ethan and Taylor up for volleyball camp at the YMCA and they had a great time making friends and playing volleyball.  It was totally worth the money to see them having so much fun (and it gave me a good excuse to work out a lot that week).  After a few weeks of playing with friends, going to the zoo, playing at the park and going to the pool it was finally time to go on our family vacation. Since Abe was going to NYC the kids and I planned a trip to Virginia to see my parents and spend 2 weeks with them.  There was lots of drama leading up to the trip because I had been told earlier by the foster agency that they had respite providers that could watch the foster kiddos while we were gone and a few weeks before the trip I found out that we had to find our own person to watch our little wild extra children because there was just no way I could do 6 hours of flying with 4 kids by myself, especially when 2 of them have some "challenging" personalities.   Needless to say we didn't have a long list of friends willing to take on this type of crazy for 2 weeks.  But after a near meltdown and threats to leave them on someone doorstep they were able to find someone willing to take the extra kiddos while we were gone.  And it was a much needed break. 

It was so wonderful to reconnect with my sweet kids again.  They were angels in the airport even though we had to wait almost 5 hours in San Antonio before we could leave because of delays and being rerouted.  They were troopers as we had to run through the Dulles airport pulling our suitcases because their mother is too cheap to check them and just making it as they closed the doors behind us.  Even though it was WAY past their bedtime when we made it to Richmond they still were able to have a good attitude and be my helpers and I couldn't have been prouder of them.

 Here they are passing the time in the airport. Gotta love free wifi in the airport and Netflix on the iPad.

 Ethan is such a super reader.  I couldn't believe he finished this chapter book within 2 days.  I think we might need to work on slowing down for comprehension but he does amazing.

 Of course no trip to Grandma's house is complete without some time at the park by the lake.

 Mom and Dad treated us to a wonderful trip to Myrtle Beach while we were visiting.  The condo was right on the beach so the kids loved being able to play there every day.  Even though the weather wasn't always the best we always found some time to play in the water.

The kids had a little patience for posing for pictures on the first day since we got there too late to really play in the water.

 It is always a family tradition since we lived in Myrtle Beach years ago that we eat at least one meal in Calabash, which is a little town on the NC/SC border with amazing seafood.  I still remember eating at this restaurant as a kid.  It was delicious.

 Taylor and Ethan talked Grandpa into helping them boogie board in the very rough surf.  They had so much fun!

 One of the highlights of the trip for Ethan and Taylor was a dinner at Medieval Times.  I had never been to the knight themed dinner but I had a feeling it would be right up Ethan's alley.  They had Ethan hooked when they pointed out that there were no utensils and they would have to eat with their hands.  The kids loved cheering for their knight and really got into it all.

Our knight started throwing flowers at the crowd and Taylor caught one of them.  She was so excited about it and couldn't stop talking about how sweet our knight was.

 It was so fun to see how excited they were and how they couldn't wait to tell Abe all about their adventure.

 

My parents also agreed to watch Ethan and Taylor for a long weekend so that I could go and visit Abe in NYC.  The kids couldn't wait to get rid of me.  They can't wait until Grandma can be in charge.  It doesn't take much to get them excited, just extra desserts, waking up early and watching too much TV.  But it is worth it to have two kids that have no problem with me leaving and are good for their grandparents so they will watch them again.  So I took the train from Richmond to NYC to meet up with Abe.  I didn't know what to do with myself with so much time to read and just be alone.  I definitely picked the wrong time to visit NY because it was around 100 degrees and miserable when you have to walk with a suitcase around town.  And the air conditioning in NY just can't keep up with that kind of heat so even when I got to Abe's apartment I wasn't greeted by fresh, cool air.  Our timing wasn't great since we really only had one evening and a Sunday afternoon in NY because we spent the rest of the weekend in Boston visiting friends.  So most of my time in NY was spent walking around rather than doing anything exciting.  But it was enough time to make me realize that I have no desire to live in a big city.





So Friday morning Abe and I went and rented a car and drove to Boston to visit with a wonderful group of friends from Virginia.  I can't believe how well it worked out that we had to be on the east coast during the same time that the rest of the gang had come up with a plan to meet up in Boston.  We had such a great time hanging out with some great friends that we hadn't seen in two years and their adorable children.  We spent lots of time eating wonderful food and being given a great tour of Boston from Elicia.  I think I came back a few pounds heavier at least.  It was also nice to be childless for a few days and not worry about any of my little ones complaining about being tired or about walking.  I hope we can do another fun vacation with our friends in the near future!

 

Our two week vacation went by way too fast and none of us were ready to get back to reality.  Ethan and Taylor weren't thrilled that we knew we had to go pick up the foster kiddos when we got back but they are troopers.  It helped that we knew Abe would be home just a few days after us and the kids were really ready to see him.  Now I can't believe that the summer is almost over and we only have 5 weeks until the baby is due to come.  Time will continue to fly I'm sure.   I have a million things that still need to get done so I should probably get on that now.