I'm not sure why the summer has seemed so hectic. Maybe it is all of the kids different activities that have kept me busy...or the fact that I have 5 children and two of them are tweens and two of them are toddlers? In any case, when Thomas announced that he was going to be off from the 4th-8th of July, I pounced. "I need a vacation!". To him, of course, not working is a vacation....but since I live where I work and never get a break I was able to convince him that for his sake....ummm, I mean...for my sanity it was time for this family to head out to our annual mini-vacation spot!

In preparation for the big event, a few things needed to be finished here at home. From Alex's perspective, it was mandatory that we get the promised frog and toad hunt in BEFORE leaving...since...you know...they might not be there when we got back. So while Thomas took Amanda shopping for vacation shorts and t-shirts (very high on her "to-do" list before leaving), I took the boys out into a swampy area to look for tadpoles and toads.



Zoe enjoyed the outing from her buggy.


Ultimately, we were able to satisfy Alex with 22 little toads and frogs. Most of them were the size of my pinky fingernail...and they were absolutely adorable.

We took them all to my vegetable garden, made sure that they had a bowl of water, and then let them go there! (The sad footnote is that they started hopping into the pond and...since we feed the fish daily, the carp were...eagerly waiting...I may have to rethink the feed the fish thing. )


Of course, all of that frogging did come at a price....the boys feet were covered in mud! We rushed home to get pants and shoes into the washer before Thomas got home...


The next day was really a cleaning marathon for me. I wanted to come back from vacation to a clean house and really feel like I could relax while we were away. Unfortunately, the kids had other plans...like sneaking snacks from the cupboards all day, dragging dirt on my freshly cleaned floors, dumping laundry onto the floor after I had just folded it. Basically....more of the same thing that happens every day...but I was particularly annoyed because I just wanted to have everything feel....pulled together in the house.

I had even scrubbed the kitchen floor and really taken the time to make it look good. Someone snuck Zoe a PopTart and....she got it all over my clean floor...and she even pulled up the cover to the kitchen vent and stuck PopTart down the vent.



I had worked so hard cleaning and packing and at the end of the day, you just couldn't see it. Thomas had to work until 10pm because he had been so busy during the day and he came home exhausted and grouchy.

I was in tears by the time the kids were all finally settled in their beds...so I finished up the packing and made sure to get up early before everyone else and clean up one last time before we left. We did get to come home to a clean house...it just didn't stay that way for very long!

We finally headed out the door around noon on July 4th! I'd like to say that I wasn't a crabby witch for the first 1/2 of the trip, but...that would be a complete lie!

We made it to our Cabin by early afternoon

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After we unpacked, we headed into the campground. The kids all played on the playground to unwind.





Then we got to watch a BMX show that I thought was really neat!




Later on, we lit up some fireworks that we had brought with us. It was a good thing because they had actually had the official fireworks on July 3rd...so there wasn't the 4th of July Celebration that we had anticipated.



Aidan was a little bit afraid because of all of the change. He cried himself to sleep the first night begging me to take him back to his "real house".

By the end of the trip, he was calling our cabin our "jellystone house" and our home here our "real house". When we finally checked out, he cried in the van that he didn't want to go back to our real house...he wanted to stay at our jellystone house.

The next two days were spent swimming, swimming and swimming!














We ended each night in the open air movie theater and then went home to watch an episode or two of *Home Improvement* on my laptop! We also spent one evening playing mini-golf!

sigh....let's just call this my *before* picture and hope that I can get back on track with my dieting now....


Basically, we crammed a week's worth of vacation into two full days!

Yes, there was the bickering that goes along with taking 5 children on vacation....I at least comforted myself when I looked around me that we weren't alone feeling a little overwhelmed. And sure, the kids fought openly in front of....well, everyone at the park...but I partly blame Thomas (of course). He played *shark* with them in the deep pool.


Of course, the end result was that Andrew, Amanda and Alex then spent the entire afternoon screaming and trying to drown each other while I pretended not to know them.
They then would all come to the side of the pool and scream for me "Mom, she's drowning me"


I am sure that the other moms were appalled that I wasn't jumping in and getting between them. One mom looked so startled and frightened, that I finally had to say "they are just playing. She isn't really drowning him. See...everytime she leaves him alone, he swims after her. If I intervene, I'll be standing at the pool all day. Really, please don't be alarmed." Things sure are different once you have 5 children! I'm sure if I only had 2 that I would have been dragging them from the pool....but....at some point I just decided that they were having fun, no one was being hurt and...well...I just had to turn a blind eye.

They had a great time at the expense of my mommy reputation, I suppose!

It was just too short!

By the second day, I was able to fill up a small notebook writing on a project that I haven't touched in ages. I felt...inspired and relaxed. Since coming home, I feel irritable and just can't seem to find my groove. While working on this blog entry, I have made a bottle, remade the bottle adding some chocolate powder in the hopes that this would be the magic bottle that would put Zoe to sleep...no such luck. I listened to her whine and cry while she tried to settle heself on the pillows next to me...and finally, she just cried herself to sleep while I nearly cried sitting here next to her. I have never had a crier before and her tears push me to the edge of both anger and sadness at the same time. I have had to walk away, I have cried with her before....it is so difficult.

My house has returned to its pre-vacation status of having that....lived in look...

I am realizing that I absolutely need more vacation time. I need to find a way to refill my reserves...I have just been running on empty lately.[/quote]