And We're Off!

I cannot even begin to put into words how exciting it is to be leaving today for our big vacation. Everything is in order and ready for us to be gone for a while so now we just have to catch a flight, then another flight, then a boat and we'll be in paradise! I got smarter this time and got some prescription motion sickness patches so I'm hoping the first day won't be spent miserable and thinking I'm going to throw up this time. That would certainly be a nice change. Apparently airplane+airplane+boat=some serious motion sickness for me. I'm being extra brave this year and even though I'm deathly afraid of deep water, hate fish swimming against me and being on a boat makes me want to throw up, we're venturing out on a boat this year for snorkeling at The Baths in VIrgin Gorda and a trip to the BVI. What's the worst that can happen, right? I figure you only live once so I can suck it up and enjoy myself despite the fear and sickness. If I die, I'm just going to go ahead and say "I told you so" right now.

New Haircut!

Rock Climbing

Even though M isn't feeling 100% quite yet, we did attempt our first rock climbing class yesterday! I figured if she didn't want to participate she could just sit but she did make 2 attempts at the rock climbing. She didn't make it very far before getting tired though.

First there had to be a group picture obviously.

J being a total rock star with the rock climbing. Notice my kid had to be the special child and wear the helmet. He REALLY wanted to wear that helmet so the instructor let him.

M's attempt at the wall. She actually did pretty well for still not feeling great.

And the Chaos Continues...

Just in case my list of things to do before I leave isn't already long enough, today all I got done was clean up vomit from the hallway, bathroom and trash can, sanitize all the bedding (including pillows, comforter and jammies), try to entertain the one child who is not sick and has more energy than the Engergizer Bunny and clean out my fridge and cabinets so that people could actually get to stuff next week. The next few days should be interesting. Tomorrow is supposed to be MDO day *crossing fingers that everyone is well in the morning* and they are supposed to start a rock climbing class. M wants to get her hair cut short on Friday because a couple of her friends recently started sporting some shorter hair. Of course all of those things are dependent on the fact that nobody can throw up, run a fever or lay around making sounds like a dying cow *ahem M* because they don't feel good. J has t-ball practice Saturday morning and then a birthday party right after that. Then it's all grandma and A (our wonderful babysitter who I adore for not only watching my children, but actually enjoying it!) running the show around here for 9 whole days. I could not be more ready for a vacation right now!

Oops...

You know what happens when everyone in your house is sick, you have a schedule with little free time and you're getting ready to go on vacation? You look at the t-ball schedule wrong and show up an hour late for your kid's first game. Yep. And then you go home and cry because you won't get to see your baby play his first game. Luckily, J didn't really care and took it just fine. Me? Not so much.

Memorial Day Weekend Update

I almost hate to admit it for fear of cursing everything, but for the past few days our children have been rather pleasant to be around! J has been sleeping a bit better the past few nights (which may be partially related to him not feeling well, but I'll take it), we've been swimming, playing ball, spending lots of time outside and just generally enjoying our summer 'break.' Even with a brief illness that J luckily only had for about 24 hours, we've done our best to do some fun summer things before mom and dad leave and grandma gets to have all the fun.

Our fabulous babysitter will be watching the kids some while we're gone and it sounds like he and his mom have some big plans for the kids, and I know grandma S always has something fun planned for while we're gone, so when we get back I will have 2 very spoiled rotten little children. I think they are looking forward to it as much as we are! I feel so thankful to have people in my life who I can trust to care for my children for such an extended time. Matt and I certainly need a break. Since the 4 of us are always home together, it's sometimes nice to have some time apart! Just 5 more days!

Tomorrow my niece and nephew are coming to visit and go swimming with the kids so of course my children couldn't be more excited. I love holiday weekends. It's nice to just have that extra day to get caught up on things!

J just upgraded to a new big boy room so I'll have to post pictures soon. His choice of decor is rather interesting.

Special Talent

I believe everyone deserves to have a child like J. I mean that in many ways, but especially because you can't truly know how clean your carseats are unless you have to remove them frequently and disinfect them because your kid threw up all over it. I've learned the very important skills of removing a child covered in vomit from the car, removing the carseat without making the mess bigger and then thoroughly cleaning every nook and angle of his Britax Marathon. I probably could put that sucker back together in my sleep. Tonight we were on our way to see Shrek and we were about to pull into the parking lot when it all went down. It doesn't even bother us anymore. We just laughed about it, turned around and went home. No big deal. I've been doing this for 4 years now and apparently my kid is never going to have a tough stomach. Any amount of sinus drainage, cough or wind blowing the wrong direction can make him throw up. It's just one of his special talents I suppose.