suzy

The fact that I am posting photos from our family vacation in July makes me sad. I miss camera stalking my family and writing about our lives. In the big scheme of life I realize how small, irrelevant, petty, and insignificant this blog is....but for me and my sanity this blog means something to me. It is the secondary resisdence of my happy place, 2nd only to sleeping with my entire family in one bed, which is no longer allowed becasue my sweet husband is allergic to children. Blogging to me is like marathon running is for some people, and watching TV is for others. Taking pictures and writing are my TV and my running combined.....only my new personal trainer and P90X enthusiast, Eric Muscle-Man, now pushes me to do all of it. You know, I can do it all....now that I am "retired teacher" (I'd rather say "recovering teacher"-a phrase recently given to me by a still-working teacher in need of a recovery program.

So here it is. A snapshot of my favorite week of the year, our family trip to HHI.

The most crowded I have ever seen this beach. Crazy.

Yes.....that is a rather large stingray.

These photos can't be posted the background story. It started with a great idea. The kids had been wanting to go on the Pirate Ship exploration for years, so we finally booked it. We got the the ship and the sky had slowly darkened to a not so friendly blue-gray color. A storm was clearly approaching, and since both of the kids are extremely afraid of storms we all secretly prayed they would call off the voyage. Clearly they didn't, so Jack was left having to make a choice. To go or not to go? Carsyn, his 3 year old cousin, was all about going- storm or not, but Jack said he wasn't going. I realized in this moment that this was a great opportuniy to teach both my kids a lesson about facing your fears. Jack was not happy when I told him we were going regardless of the storm, but I was willing to drag him on kicking and screaming to toughen him up and prove my point. And my point? You can't let fear keep you from living and adventurous life. So we prayed together by the boat, and he seemed to calm down a little, but he was still so nervous that he wouldn't dress up or talk about it. Kaitlin wasn't happy to go either. I was thinking of how much fun a storm would be on a boat and what an adventure it would make ou little pirate ship experience, but Icouldn't help but feel bad for Jack. It is moments like these that brought out the not-so-brave side of my little man. And I know he wishes he was more brave than he is. We are working on it. But not too hard. I want him to be brave, but Ilike how cautious he is. He isn;t that boy who will jump off the roof because his friends think it would be funny. Cautious can be good. Especially with boys.

Clearly Carson the Courageous wasn't afraid one little bit.

A few pep talks and prayers later, Jack cheered up and enjoyed the voyage. I swear he left that experience feeling more confident than he was before. I hope. He seemed to have a great time.

And so did the girls....

Stinky Pete was the best part of the trip. The whole point of the trip was to get rid of stinky pete so he wouldn't steal the treasure (I think- I was more focused on taking pictures than listening). The loved spraying Stinky Pete with water and watching him try to get on the boat.

I love the pictures below. Jack was so proud of himself for not bailing out on the trip. He felt tough.

The picure above captures the moment before the dreaded Bike-a-thon battle. It's worth an entire post of it's own, but honestly, I am too embarrased to write it all down. Long story short-

Jack hates bikes. Jack wanted to go to Harbor Town on his bike. Jack didn't make it out of the parking lot. Jack threw his bike at me. Jack repeatedly screamed profanity at me on the side of the road. Jack got a public spanking. People pointed and judged. I carried 2 bikes and one screaming child home. Jack now hates bikes even more.

Beth captured this wipe out with her iphone. Awesome shot B!

These photos are also a whole post story. Let me shorten this one too.

Kids in the car on the way home from the beach for way too long. Windows up. People losing oxygen to their brain. Children going crazy. Daddy getting angry. Aspen happy she is not in our family. Everyone laughing from delerium. Jack holding his head out the window hoping to obtain oxygen and sanity.

Happy times.