Tales From The Beach...with Kids.

Happy Hump Day!

On Monday afternoon the girls and I headed out to the beach house for a week of sun, fun, and water! It's become a July 4th tradition the past two years. 

July 4th 2014

The group of us includes my family, plus my brother Jay, Katie, Kennedy, Alisha, Harper, and Josh.

We've been relaxing  hanging out and doing nothing but playing, eating, drinking...and teaching these kids how to share. 

Sitting around yesterday we started talking about what it would be like if we didn't have kids with us and nobody in the group was about to give birth (Alisha's due date is a little over 2 weeks). Basically we'd be over at the beach tiki bar, hanging around at the pool, reading magazines, getting sun, maybe a trip to the spa, and most likely 100% tipsy. 

There is no argument that vacationing with kids, is something some people wouldn't even call a vacation. I'm talking young kids, under the age of 5. 

It's exhausting at times, frustrating at times, but it's all about building these memories and having fun WITH OUR KIDS. But sometimes what we think would be fun for our kids, turns out not to be fun for anyone. 

That's how this morning went. 

We decided to take a early trip to the beach, figuring if there's any "best" time to go to the beach, it's as early as we can possibly get out there. 

We figured we'd only be there for about an hour, two at most, so we packed light. Sunscreen,towels, and water. We loaded the kids up in their strollers and down the road we strolled to the beach.

By the time we made it to the sand, the fun level was already at 70%. It was 10 am and miserably hot. 

A couple meters into the sand, towards the water, pulling two strollers and four kids with us. Fun level 50%. 

Then a very nice couple saw us struggling and helped us with the stroller. 
Fun level 60%.

Thinking about the way back without this wonderful help, I told the nice couple to just park our strollers by the grassy area (probably 100 yards from the ocean). We parked the strollers, gathered our valuables and headed to the water. 

All four kids were racing to the water, screaming "water!!" with excitement! (They've seen the ocean before...)

Fun level 100%!

We get to the shore line and the excitement stops. No one wants to go in the ocean. Partly because we're all secretly scared of getting that flesh eating bacteria and partly because the water was a bit choppy. The girls had little interest, other than looking at the waves come crashing in. 

We walked along the shore for maybe 5 minutes. Took some photos, sat in the sand, smiled, and thought about how much better the pool sounded than this sticky misery.

Getting the strollers back to the road was something out of a comedy. We had Alisha thinking she's about to go into labor, Harper not wanting anyone to carry her except Alisha. Me with the two girls, two beach bags, and a double stroller. And Katie with the stroller, cooler, and Kennedy.

I don't know if you've ever tried pushing a stroller in the sand, but let me highly discourage you from ever giving it a try.

We made it to the house, after all kids had their own kind of melt down along the way, and immediately jumped in the pool. We decided not to give the beach another go until the guys came back to help us with everything. 

While it had it's enjoyable moments, the experience was one that makes us wonder why we ever thought it was a good idea to being with. That's what we get for trying to create these fun adventures with the kids, when they're happiest in the pool with a Popsicle. :) Life with Kids. 

P.S. Alisha didn't go into labor.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week!! 

XOXO

A Week Of Nothing; 10 Things You Can Do Without Plans

When you're a mother with young kids, every day is different. And it's only different because that's the way you make it. 

I'm guilty of packing our calendars with play dates, lunch dates, appointment's, etc. and it actually ends up with me getting a tad overwhelmed. If I feel this way, do my kids?!

Recently I started thinking about Summer and "WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE GOING TO DO?!" entered my mind. I started thinking about summer camp, weekend getaways, what kind of annual passes we have, and all other things moms think about when Summer starts peaking around the corner. 

Then I thought, how about we just make a week of NOTHING! Doesn't that sound nice?Sometimes you have to wipe your calendar clean and keep it that way for a few days. It's good for both you and the kids. They don't need constant zoo trips, lunch dates to eat french fries, or pool days. Those are all super fun but it's easy to get burnt out. 

When I don't have anything on the calendar for a day and someone asks me what I'm doing, I quickly say "Nothing". As in "nothing, so don't ask me to do anything."

But am I really doing nothing? Days with "no plans" means I can do things that I need/want to get done. 

10 Things You Can Do Without Plans

1. Get random hours of work done. To me, this means going to the office and entering data into Quickbooks and/or balancing bank accounts. If the girls are with me at the office they are either destroying the office, watching tv, or eating all the office snacks.

2. Clean up the house a little bit more. Pick up toys and put them in their designated toy binds, clean yogurt stains off the couch, and tiny hand prints off glass doors. 

3. Do some laundry; get that load of laundry finally out of the dryer, hang up that pile of clothes over there, or  put the clothes away in the correct drawers.

4. Actually make dinner, or cook a meal that doesn't consist of mac-n-cheese or something out of the crockpot (although always very tasty).

5. Sit down.

6. Snuggle, make funny faces, play airplane, and giggle on the floor. 

7. Catch up on Scandal or other shows taking up all my DVR space while the girls "cook" me cupcakes and soup in their play kitchen.

8. Go outside and play in the backyard with the dogs. Blow bubbles or paint the porch with chalk. 

9. Have a picnic in the backyard. Nothing formal. Just grab a towel, water, and pretzels and go sit in the backyard. 

10. Pop popcorn and watch a movie. OR, clean out the fridge and pantry while the kids are mesmerized by a Disney classic. :)

All these might sound like plans, but this is all stuff you can do without making plans! Isn't it great? 

What is your favorite thing to do when you don't have plans?

XOXO

10 Reasons why Children are Strange

10 Reasons why Children are Strange Creatures

Sometimes kids do strange things, and by strange I mean things that absolutely make no sense in any subject matter, except the subject of children. This subject has many manuals and “what to expect” books, support groups, and community forums, all which moms from all corners of earth frequent to make sense of their child’s behavior. I’m here to tell you that no book or chat room will explain some things that you experience when you have kids running around. Sometimes, kids just don’t make any sense.

1. They won't eat a home cooked meal you just busted your ass cooking for the past 2 hours trying to hide as many veggies as possible into, but they'll eat you clear out of chalk and glue. 

2. To them, there is such a thing as the wrong kind of sippy cup; and it all depends on the hour of the day, the day of the week, and what their sibling is momentarily sipping out of. Oh you want the red sippy cup with the orange lid? Oh you mean the only single sippy cup, out of an entire cabinet, that happens to be your dad’s truck on the other side of town right now? Sorry, here's the one you wanted an hour ago. 

3. They will feel freezing cold but want nothing to do with a blanket. I'm talking goosebumps on legs and shivering cold. You gently try to cover them with a blanket, and based on the reaction you get, you'd think the blanket was actually hot lava.

4. They will scream and cry about being cold but karate kick your fingers when trying to put pants or jackets on. "Well I WAS going to help you..."

5. They remember the tiniest of details, but can't tell you what they did with your keys they were just playing with.

6. They cry because they're tired and get mad when you tell them to go take a nap. 

7. When were out of the house they want nothing to do with you, kicking and screaming to let them run around. When you get home and they have free range of the entire house and yard, they want you to hold them.

8. Sleep. They fall asleep sitting in a highchair with spaghetti all over their face, or in the umbrella stroller you paid five bucks for. Sometimes it seems like they'll sleep absolutely anywhere on absolutely anything. Until you put them in their own comfortable bed equipped with an organic mattress and $200 cotton sheets from Pottery Barn kids. 

9. They have a bazillion toys at their feet but want to play with your phone, remote, or a pack of markers. It's the same thing with the whole liking the box that the toy came in better than the toy. Wtf?

10. You cut their food into small pieces for their own safety and they act like you just soaked it in the spiciest habanero sauce you could find. They claim the food totally inedible at that point, all because you're trying to prevent them from choking. 

Sometimes you just have to sit back and laugh. Kids are literally nuts, but we love them and all their nutty ways. Life would actually be a little dull without the craziness that is our kids. 

XOXO