A zillion pictures of our Vacation

Sarah twirling on the beach in the fancy skirt she wanted to wear over her clothes day and night.

A view of the cottages we stayed.It was convenient to call for a golf cart to take us to and from the beach.

It's sure helps having a dad to keep the older ones occupied and a mom to stay with the little ones to make sure they get their naps and a little play dough, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk time.

The guys (Joseph included) spent a lot of time practicing on the short carpet in the living room of the cottage.

All the boys. We have big medium and small and one in between those.

Last night at the beach

A natural smile from Lily

Kenny wearing his shell necklace.

I enjoyed watching everyone playing together and relaxing. I was thankful that our 16 year old still seems to think its cool to hang with his family.

Me at the state park after a little walk on the trails wearing my shell necklace that Kenny made.

Joshua and Kenny chasing birds near the pier at the state park.The boys played tennis and golf and rode the waves with their dad.

Just a cute giggle I had to capture. Joshua covered his face with sand and left only a small hole for his mouth to breathe.

John and Sarah at the campsite

Our makeshift camp site. We used the back of our car for sleeping also.

Lily was thrilled with this dragon roller coaster ride. She noticed the fair nearby the first night and continued to bug us til we took her. Everyone rode something of their own choice

John would not give up drawing even on vacation.

Kenny buries Joseph the first night at the beach.

Taking a walk. What a crowd we have now!

Joshua and Paul hoping for "the big one". (I mean a wave and not hoping for a big shark since a lady warned us about an approximate 8 foot shark she spotted in the breakers near her small daughter that was playing right next to the boys)

John on arrival.

We are so thankful for the week we had away. The first four nights we stayed in a beautiful

three bedroom cottage and the next three we spent at the state park camping. It was interesting experiencing the two extremes. The weather wasn't very nice at first but there were breaks of sunshine and warm temperatures here and there enabling us to do everything we had planned. Lily, Sarah, and Paul were sick for 24 hours but at least it was chilly that day.

The camping trip was spontaneous. We were driving south when we passed the state park. We decided to take a look which led to my pleading. I was tired of being indoors with sick kids and was ready for a little adventure. And believe me it's an adventure to go camping when you didn't bring any camping supplies with you on the trip. I got my way and we headed to Wal-mart for a cheap tent, flash light, extra blankets, air rafts, lots of food to cook over the fire, smores, and of course a coffee percolator. We really did enjoy the fires and being outdoors but we hated the sandy clothes , occasional cold showers, and the hard ground. We had a love/hate relationship with a pack of fat raccoons who raided our coolers every night. Kenny wasn't to happy to find our leftover delicious grilled rib-eye steaks stolen in the morning. The tinfoil wrapping with the leftover vegetables was a few feet into the woods. We actually all woke up in the middle of the night because of the ruckus they made. Joshua shone the light on one that was on top of the picnic table and he just stared back at us and then continued to chomp away. There were about 6 more around the table!! They were really sort of cute! There was a pier for walking and pigeon catching (the boys actually caught pigeons several times) and many trails for walking. All in all we had a nice vacation.

On the way home we stopped in Knoxville for the labor day fireworks called "Booms day". We met up with the Ectors and were awed again at this unusual, spectacular display. Lily wouldn't have us miss it.

Now we are back into the swing of things. Tennis lessons, chemistry and Algebra classes,keeping everyone working at home and still planning the year ahead are just some of the activities I have been involved with. Everyone is saying they are glad to be back to school. So far so good.