The Beach 2013

We made it back from the beach! With all the kids!

It was definitely a successful trip.  We have now stayed in the same condo on the same beach on the same week for the past three years and we've loved it every time.  This was the first year I was really hankering to stay one more day though.

It was a great time.  After many, many warnings that there were no fits or crying allowed at the "beach house," as the kids call it, for the days leading up to our departure, Max really held himself together.  When a fit was coming on, all I had to do was give him the simple reminder that they were not allowed, and he would compose himself.  Now if only that would work at home.

We did our usual one day into Galveston, only this time we rode the free ferry from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula.

One of my all time favorite moments, even though it was at the expense of my son, was when we stood in line to board and the ferry's air horn sounded, causing Max to become so scared and distressed that he stuck his head in this bag and bawled for a good 3 minutes.

He could not be comforted so the only thing left to do was take a picture through my laughter.

The ferry was fun (and free!) and pleasant if you stayed out of the sun or better yet rode inside in the air conditioning.

We saw lots of dolphins which was really neat too.

After the ferry it was time for La King's for milkshakes and candy.

As we have learned, our very favorite time to hit the beach is the evening.  We don't have to worry about sunscreen, the never crowded beach is even less so, and the light and sunsets are amazing.

The kids were so happy to play in the waves and they are so lucky that their daddy is just a big kid himself.

They will have the best memories of him making up his silly games and chasing them. 

In fact, they played so hard, even the big kids took naps! 

Finn never made it in the water, I didn't do more than dangle his feet in the ocean a couple of times.

I got in myself a time or two, but this was not my season for laying in the surf or building sandcastles, I guess.

As long as Finn was tummy to tummy, skin to skin, heart to heart, or mouth to boob, he was all set.

And with a baby this pleasing to look at, it wasn't a bad gig to sit on the beach, in a chair, and snuggle him.

Although, admittedly, after 3 days of near constant contact I was ready for a little break.



We tried out the pool at the beach club this time and it was a winner! We'll go back for sure.

Our beloved Prince's came down for an evening and we got to meet baby Jack,

And it was an unexpected surprise to catch Mr. August for the Dan Calendar,

The only downers to our trip were the man who went missing in the ocean, for whom helicopters searched for days, and poor little Luke who got stung by a jellyfish on our last frolic in the ocean.

After a little online research, applying shaving cream and scraping it off with a credit card worked wonders and by the next day, it looked nearly perfect.

We love the beach! We look forward to this trip every year! We love our condo! We love that there's plenty of space for Mom and Dad to come along, that we have the ability to cook our own food.  And we have now come to expect that at some point during our stay, the downstairs neighbor will knock on our door and kindly ask that we try to keep the kids from running and jumping and banging on their ceiling.  And I have come to accept that I will continue to ask and remind and warn, but that their little bodies will never quite get over the excitement of being there and will continue to bounce and run.

I can't say that I blame them.  This is one family tradition I hope will never die.

Once Upon A Time

There were fan books.  Remember those? Luke's obsession with ceiling fans led him to tote around fan catalogs and pour through the pages day after day.

That faded quite some time ago but seeing him devour this Lego catalog over and over again, saying with complete accuracy things like, "This set has two thousand, four hundred and twenty nine pieces" takes me back to the fan and clock days.

We've been enjoying our summer pretty well.  We all survived my time at Young Women's Camp.

Mom came and stayed with the kids during the day and of course Dan was home at night. Ava finished up her week at basketball camp, which she just loved.  And I'm not gonna lie, that made me really, really happy.

Finn came around to the bottle and put all my hard-earned pumped milk to good use.

 Pumping milk, every three hours, on the bottom of a too short bunk bed, under a nursing cover, in a cabin, in 100 degree weather, wasn't my highlight.  And then dumping it all in the grass because I didn't have a way to freeze it was also not awesome.

But playing with the girls, watching them build their relationships with each other, hearing and seeing their testimonies of Jesus Christ grow right before my eyes, more than made up for all that milk stuff.

I came up with pretty much the ultimate camp prank. Of course I would never have the heart to go through with it.  But if you ever find yourself as a leader of unsuspecting campers with access to an endless supply of breastmilk, and the job of distributing the nightly treat of cookies....just promise you'll think of me.

Max held out long enough for me to get home before needing to go to urgent care for bronchitis and an ear infection. And of course it has been successfully passed to the baby. The other kids were so paranoid about catching it they've avoided him like the plague and come screaming to me, "MAX TOUCHED ME! HE TOUCHED MY HAND!"

Max seems to have felt the two's were not worth being terrible over. The three's, however, is a different story.  Probably combined with Finn being born and then being sick this week, he's almost more than I can bear.  Seriously, the only descriptor I can think of for him is Hell on Wheels, only he doesn't even have any wheels.  I should possibly delete this before printing out the blog book but on the other hand, I shouldn't because he totally deserves to read this about himself in 5 years.

Max, I love you but you are a nightmare! The display you put on in the dentist office today, with your complete disobedience, loud whining and forced wailing was reprehensible and embarrassing.  You have now ensured yourself of my total commitment to at least one episode of middle school pda.  Prepare to have your face cleaned with my spit, your hand held, and maybe even a kiss on the mouth when you are 14 and standing in front of the girl you like.  Consider yourself warned.
Love, Mom

We're off to the beach tomorrow and I will consider it a success if we return with all four children!

Gold

Stand on up and take a bow,

there's something there and it's showing.

There's no need to look around,

you're the best we've got going.

Shout out to the dreams you'll chase.

Shout out to hearts you'll break.

Nothings gonna stop you now.

I guess you better be going.

It won't take long to get when you feel like you're soaring.

So write it all and don't forget, you gotta tell us your story.

 Ava's favorite song right now is Gold by Owl City.

  It wasn't until this morning, as I heard her belting it from her room upstairs as she cleaned, that I actually listened to the words and realized how apropos it is for her.

A few months ago she got invited to a dance class on Bring a Friend Day.  I knew it would happen, she came home begging to sign up.  I can't explain exactly why we were so hesitant to say yes, but we were.

Maybe because the class was for girls who had been dancing for two years.  Maybe because, in general, Ava is not a person to whom things come easily, especially physical things.  Maybe because we've been racking our brain for ways to help boost her confidence and we feared this class would be another hit to her tender ego.

But she really, really wanted to do it.  The teacher even agreed since the class was quite small that perhaps she might be able to spend a little extra time helping Ava catch up and warned Ava that she would have to work really hard to make up for lost time.  They were just beginning the routine for the recital.  Couldn't she please, please, please take this class?

So we agreed. That same week, two other girls transferred over from a different day, making the class big instead of small, and Ava jumped into the whirlwind of dance class.

At dinner, we often do Roses and Thorns, where each person takes a turn and shares their best and worst moments of the day.  There were quite a few Wednesday nights where both her Rose and Thorn was dance class.

It was not easy for her.  She worked very hard.  She got better.  She found satisfaction in her great improvement and she felt badly because comparatively she was not where the other girls were. Instead of reading some nights, she would tap away in the foyer on the wood floor, practicing.  As the recital drew near, I even pulled out my old tap shoes and we spent a few evenings after the boys were in bed, working on our maxi ford turns and buffaloes.

Last Saturday was her recital. And she danced her heart out. She did so great! I left realizing, I could not have been more proud even if she had done every step in perfect time, in perfect form.

 More and more, I am realizing that she does more for me as a human being than I could ever do for her.  Her lesson was my lesson. I needed to learn that the steps are not as important as the process of taking them. That perfection is not the prize, the effort is. That it really doesn't matter where anyone else is along the path. That way less important than any skill or talent, the heart of a person trumps all. And finally, that in my little Ava, I really don't need to doubt.

She started the second grade reading and she finished the second grade reading.  Now we are setting our sights on math and I have no doubts we will conquer that too.  My hope is that she'll learn to stick up for herself, too, and not let people take advantage of her.  She's is beginning to see herself in a new way and it is one of the most fantastic things I've witnessed.  She truly is starting to shine.  The only left for me to do is, stand on my bed and belt into my hairbrush microphone.

You'll never be far, I'm keeping you near.

Inside of my heart, you're here.

Go on, it's gotta be time.

You're starting to shine.

Cause what you got is,

Gold, I know, you're gold.

I don't need the stars in the night, you're my treasure.

All I need is you by my side, so shine forever.

I know, you're gold.