Our Beach Vacation

A few weeks ago, our family headed down to the Isle of Palms in SC for a quiet, relaxing beach vacation... sort of.  My parents were very sweet and generous to provide our family with a beach house.  Our family of four was there, along with my mom and dad and my sister, her husband and their three kids.  Sadly, my brother and his family weren't able to come since baby Thomas is still so little.  I think they made a wise choice - there would've been non-stop chaos for that little one! Non-stop fun, too!

The last beach trip with all of us was in Florida 2 years ago, and the drive took us 13 hours.  UGH!  We were quite excited that this drive was going to be so short comparably speaking.  The morning we left, however, was a comedy of errors - from having to go back home to pick up some stuff we left, to wrong directions, to bathroom mishaps - you name it, it went wrong.  So, of course, it took us 2 hours longer than it was supposed to.  Are you kidding me? 

Thankfully the rough start was not a sign of things to come!  The week was filled with all kinds of fun things.  The kids got to sleep in bunk beds in the same room as their 5 cousins that were there.  That was a highlight for them, although it did make for a few days with very tired kiddos.  We spent lots of time on the beach and in the pool in the development.  We spent one rainy day at the Charleston Children's Museum (along with the rest of the children within a 20 mile radius!)  We even went to a water park in the rain!  Although Big Brother never conquered his fear of one water slide, I was very proud of him for doing everything else in the park.  Little Bit did all the things that she was tall enough for - and she didn't seem to be afraid to try any of it either! 

My sister and her husband and JM and I took turns cooking dinner.  My parents took ALL of the kids out for dinner one night so that the adults could have a fun night out.  We went to see a movie and then ate in downtown Charleston, which was nice.  Another night, my parents went out for a date and the rest of us stayed in. 

Overall, it was a very fun trip.  Did we ever feel that the walls were closing in on us and we needed some space?  Sure.  But, how can you not get that way with 7 kids 7 and under and 6 adults who all have a different way of looking at things?  I felt very thankful for generous parents, siblings that we can have fun with, and, perhaps most of all, for cousins!  I love seeing Big Brother and Little Bit have fun with their cousins.  They all played really well together (most of the time!).  And my nieces and nephew are good kids that are quite entertaining!

Enjoy these picture courtesy of my sister who has a much fancier camera than I and is way better about snapping pictures!