Saturday's Random Thoughts

1. It's sort of a rainy day. Gray. Overcast. Off and on showers. I love it. We get very few of these days in the summer and it's nice every once and a while. There's no pressure to drag all 4 kids to the pool. We can just be lazy. And that's really nice after spending so many hours driving over the past week.

2. My 85 year old great aunt told me yesterday she watched The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard. She went on to tell me how much she didn't care for Danielle of RHONJ and how she can't believe that Bruce Jenner got all mixed up with the Kardashians. I told her I couldn't believe how much plastic surgery Bruce Jenner has had. I also told her if she told me she was watching The Jersey Shore I was staging an intervention.

3. We drove over 19 hours in the past 6 days. Everyone is sick of the car. Especially the toddler.

4. School starts Monday! This longest summer ever is finally coming to an end. Don't get me wrong - it's been fun but the kids are starting to get bored. I don't know how all of you on a traditional calendar who still have at least 3 weeks to go do it every year. I much prefer the shorter breaks throughout the year! Emma is dying to see her friends again. Not sure I'm quite ready for the lunches and carpool line but no going back now!

5. Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with all TV shows involving Jersey in the title? Jerseylicious is my new favorite summer guilty pleasure. I can not take my eyes off this train wreck. And of course Jersey Shore is back and I probably just lost brain cells typing that sentence. My bff introduced me to Jersey Couture which is a good one and not really all that trashy. Now off to watch me something Jersey...

Jokes for Sale?

Today at Target:

Lily (6): Mom, will you please buy me something from the dollar section?
Me: Are you going to give me a dollar when we get home?
Lily: No
Me: Well then no - you have to pay me back if you want something
Lily: Well how about I pay with you a joke?

Ten minutes later at the Dr. Office:
Lily: Mom will you text Auntie and see if she'll buy me the Toy Story and Princess silly bands? Tell her I'll pay her with a joke.

Apparently Lily has jokes for sale - all it will cost you is something from the dollar spot at Target or some silly bands.

Fun on the Farm

We were home for less than 24 hours and I packed up the kids and hit the road again. This time our destination was my aunt's house in Ashland, VA. She lives in a gorgeous house on a farm out in the country. There's land, cows and a general peacefulness there. I love it! We love, love visiting them and so even though it was another car ride it was totally worth it. We arrived just before dinner and the kids were excited to be able to get out and run around. Jacob was in heaven. He loved being able to see the cows that roam the fields behind the house. There's also train tracks across the street so between the cows and trains he couldn't decide what was more fun! He would climb up on the fence and point to the cows and then whenever he heard a cow moo he would yell "moo" right back. So. Darn. Cute!

Tuesday we headed to Maymont which is a fabulous park in Richmond. We saw tons of animals...bears, fox, horses, sheep, birds. The kids loved it though Lily got a little tired of the walk. We enjoyed a picnic there too. After Jacob napped we headed to a family member's pool and had some fun swimming.

This morning Jacob, Lily and I headed back home while Julia & Emma stayed at the farm for a couple days. I know they are having a great time!! And when they get back it's almost time for school to start!!

Road Trip!

Since the girls are STILL out of school (seriously..Longest. Summer. Ever.) we decided to tag along with Paul on a work trip last week. He had to go to Indy which is oh so conveniently 3 hours from my bff, Erin. So I convinced him to drive, yes drive with me and the 4 kids to Columbus and then he could rent a car and go to Indy for work.

We left on Tuesday morning and arrived at Nana Cheryl's in the late afternoon. Unfortunately since it was a last minute trip Erin had to work quite a bit. Thankfully her parents were more than willing to help keep us company. The drive really wasn't that bad - the kids were real troopers! We had a great meal with Curtie & Cheryl then we got to see Erin's store before heading to her house.

Wednesday Erin had off so we had a fun day just sort of running around town. We took the kids to an indoor play area at the mall since it was practically as hot in Ohio as it was here!

Thursday Erin had to work so the kids and I set off on our own adventure. We went for a walk in the morning then in the afternoon we found a fun Spraypark to cool us off! That evening there was a free concert at a park near her house. We had a great time. The kids loved, loved the music!

Friday Curtie & Nana Cheryl came over to keep us company. We found another Spray Park to go to and the kids loved it. They also loved that Curtie treated us to McDonalds! Friday afternoon Paul got home safe and sound from Indy. Erin and I actually left him home with the kids and went to her book club. It was so nice to meet some of her friends! I had a great time chatting with the ladies - so nice!!

Saturday we went to get Graeter's Ice Cream since you can't leave Ohio without having Graeters! Erin & I also took the girls to see Beezus & Ramona which was oh so cute! We grilled out that evening and let the kids run around in the sprinkler.

Overall it was a great trip! I'm so glad that it worked out for us to go! Erin is just the best hostess - hopefully her house has recovered!

Five for Friday

Did you know:
1. It's as HOT in Columbus, OH as it is in NC? Isn't it supposed to cooler "up north"

2. I will fondly remember this summer as "The Summer Vacation That Will Not End". 10 days until school starts....10 days...

3. I'm more excited about seeing Beezus and Ramona than my kids. I loved those books as a kid and can't wait to see the movie version.

4. I wonder if there are book clubs that actually spend a lot of time talking about the book they read? I went with my bff to her book club and guess what? They are just like mine.

5. Not just in the movies but in real life sometimes The. Hottest. Guy. In. High. School. ends up 20 years later being a pizza delivery guy. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that but it's sort of surprising to answer the door for pizza and see The. Hottest. Guy. In. High. School standing there with a beer gut and a pizza. Just ask my bff.

Together Again

My family is finally reunited after a week of being scattered around the country. Last week my two littlest ones were at Camp Gagi for 3 days while I was home with the older gals. My husband meanwhile was in Pennslyvania for work for 3 days. Friday I swapped kids with my mom and the eldest 2 went to Camp Gagi and the little ones came home with me. Paul got home late Friday night. And today my mom brought the girls home. So..it's been over a week since we were all together - probably one of the longest stretches we've had not being together.

The girls had a fabulous time at Camp Gagi. They came home with treasures galore! I am thinking we might have a few days of detox on our hands before their behavior resumes to a normal tolerable level.

I am glad to have our family together again..I always feel a little unsettled when we aren't together. Though I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon I'll be wondering when the next session of Camp Gagi resumes. Or we'll be posting the countdown to the first day of school.

Camp Gagi

So I left my littlest ones at Camp Gagi's for 3 days and brought my oldest 2 home for Open House at school. I had a ton of PTA stuff to do this week and with Paul traveling it seemed like a good idea to have mom keep the little ones so I didn't have to worry about finding a babysitter. I was a little worried about leaving them - not that I didn't think mom could handle it I just know it can be tough having a toddler not in their own environment. I was especially worried about how Jacob would sleep since our first 2 days at the beach last week did not go well. At all. But, mom seems to be doing great. The kids seem to be having a great time...so much fun that my 3 year old is claiming she's living with Gagi "forever."

I've had a great time with the older 2 girls. It's been a bit strange and I feel like part of me is missing but overall it's been really fun. I'll admit it's been nice having a few days not to worry about someone climbing something they shouldn't or walking out the door when they shouldn't or throwing food on the floor. I haven't really had to cook and we've gotten to do some things we don't normally get to do like go bowling. The girls have been real troopers. I've dragged them to school the past 2 days while I've had to do work and they haven't complained too much.

Tomorrow we do the switcheroo and I'm getting my babies and my big kids will go to "Camp Gagi" for a few days. I'm pretty sure my mom will need a vacation once camp is over!

Star Spangled Weekend

We packed up the car and headed out last Thursday for our annual 4th of July trip to the beach. It ended up taking an extra hour and a half to get there due to a punctured tire but we finally made it. And I'm thankful that happened while Paul was with me and I wasn't by myself! We met my mom for dinner as soon as we got there and we learned that hard way that eating all you can eat crab leg is much more fun without a squirmy toddler who had just ridden in the car for 5+ hours. Thankfully the crab legs were totally worth it.

Friday we got groceries and went to the beach while we waited for our good friends, the Dickey's to arrive. They came with us last year for the 4th and I'm hoping we didn't scare them away this year and we can make this an annual thing. Our kids (there were 7 of them in total) had such a good time playing together. And there was far less tattling than last year. Yay! We mostly hung out at the beach but took the kids to the pool and arcade as well.

Sunday night the kids were super excited to see fireworks. They talked about it all day. We ordered pizza for dinner (it's just simply not that easy to take 7 kids out for dinner during a holiday weekend) and hung out at the condo until time to go. Paul & I decided not to take Jacob out since the fireworks didn't start until 10pm. We load up the 6 other kids and head out to find some fireworks. We decide to just go up to the beach for sure we'd be able to see some fireworks. We find good parking and the girls are practically running to get to the beach. However, when we step off the walkway and into the sand the giggling stops and the panic set in. You see it was like "Fireworkpalooza" out on the beach. There were fireworks going off everywhere. Everywhere. It did sort of sound like a battlefield. Or at least what I would think a battlefield would sound like. The girls - all 6 of them - bust out in tears and screams. Seriously. After a few minutes Lainee, the youngest of them all, Lily and Addie settle down. Emma and Julia, however, remain in tears with Emma screaming "I don't like this. We're going to die. I want to go home." It was pitiful really. So finally after about 15 minutes I took 4 of them home. Lily and Lainee stayed to actually see some fireworks. The beach spot would have been great. Everywhere you looked up and down the beach fireworks were going off. Beautiful!

The Dickey's headed home Monday and we decided to stay out of the sun since a few of us were a little toasty after Sunday's day at the beach. We had a relaxing, fun family day with just the 6 of us. Today we headed home with half our crew. The littlest ones are staying at "Camp Gagi's" for 3 days! I can't believe I actually left them. But, I have a million PTA things to do this week and my mom graciously agreed to keep them so I didn't have to worry about childcare. She's a saint! I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that Jacob sleeps OK so that "Camp Gagi" will remain open!

Here are a few pics from the weekend. Sadly I didn't take my camera out much. Boo hoo.