Beach Vacation: Day 2 and 3

We woke up Saturday ready to spend a day at the resort and just relax pool-side and that's just what we did. Since it had been such a long day the day before we thought it would be good to stay at the resort so the girls could take a long nap and hopefully we could avoid meltdowns.

Natalee helped Grandpa make pancakes with blueberries for breakfast. She is Grandpa's right-hand girl...and especially since he had blueberries.

We then spent a lovely day at the pool, followed by a seafood dinner or corn, salad and shrimp from Costco!

And all week they enjoyed taking baths in Grandma and Grandpa's big bath tub! They used their bath crayons and loved to put their mouths under the facet. 

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On Sunday, we all ventured to the beach and enjoyed a great day! We went to one of the state parks and the beach was really wide and nice. It took Natalee a little while to "like" the sand but all and all she did really good. They loved playing in the shells and digging for over an hour (it was the ONLY time I actually sat in my chair for more than five minutes!).

Love these little sandy feet...

We spent LOTS of time running after three little ladies going in opposite directions...

And I love these sand hands of Claire...

Oh, and here is the only photo of me the entire trip almost with Claire!

Auntie Christine and Natalee...

Grandma and Madelynn...

And I have said I love 31 Bags and they have multiple purposes...including a safe place for a baby to take a nap that was sand free.

Once we got in the car to go back to the condo...it took only a few minutes for the girls to all fall asleep!

Next up: Day 4 and 5!

Guest Post #1

Here is the first of some lovely ladies that sent me guests posts to post while we were on vacation, but since I never scheduled any...I thought I would do a guest post every other day while you read about your vacation!

Hope you enjoy!

I'm Jamie from over at Jamie's Journey Through Life (jamiesjourneythroughlife.blogspot.com).  A brief little bit about me, I am 17 and a Senior in high school.  I have a brother, a half brother and two step brothers.  One of my favorite things to do in the summer is babysit.

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Today I'm going to be talking about what parents should look for in a babysitter.  I have babysat for my cousins for four years, plus my half brother many times and also babysat for a family with four kids once.  So I've had my far share of babysitting experiences.  This is what I think a parent should look for while looking for someone to babysit for their precious children.

1. Someone that loves children.  I definitely believe that in order to babysit, you have to love children.  Babysitting can be easy but can be hard on some days.  I think you have to have a love for children to get through those hard days and it makes babysitting more enjoy to love children and to enjoy watching them. :)
2. Someone that is accountable and trustworthy.  I believe that a person has to be accountable and trustworthy in order to be babysitter.  You need to have the peace of mind that they will be there to babysit when you need them and you can trust them with the care of your most priced possession, your child(ren). :)
3. Someone that makes your child(ren) happy.  It's so important that your children like the babysitter.  The children should look forward to having the babysitter.  If the child(ren) doesn't like the babysitter, it makes it no fun for anyone.
4. Someone that can drive.  Definitely not needed but it is nicer if they can. :)  I know this from experiences.  Until this summer, I was not able to drive so you were stuck at home and it makes it harder.  If they can drive, they can take your children to the park, library, bowling, ect.  It's more fun for the kids, wears out the children for you and makes it easier on the babysitter. :)

It was an honor to be blogging for Holly today.  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writting for you all today!

Remember to keep all these great tips that Jamie suggested in mind anytime you are looking for a babysitter for your children! You can NEVER be too careful!

My New Blog!

I'm hoping you all are in love with my new blog as much as I am! A few weeks ago, I won an AWESOME giveaway hosted by Stephanie for a complete new blog design worth $65 dollars!! To say I was elated, would have been an understatement!

She was such a sweetheart to work with and easily made my thoughts on what I wanted come to life. She listened to me ramble about what I knew I didn't want and what I might want and came up with exactly what I was thinking!

Please head on over to her website and check her out! If you are interested in a custom blog design and you say I sent you and use Mr., Mrs. and Four Little Misses, Stephanie will give you $5 off of your order until the 15th of September.

2012 Beach Trip: Day 1: { Road Trip and Accommodations }

{ This is the first of many, many vacation posts with lots of photos! Hope you enjoy! }

We woke up at 2:10am on Friday, August 10th super excited to be on our way to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! To say we were overdue for a real family vacation was an understatement! Last year we had a mini-trip to Virginia Beach, VA { Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 } but we missed having a real vacation!

I love waking up early in the middle of the night to go on vacation. I have such fond memories of slugging to the car with my cd player, pillow and hot chocolate to either get settled for a long drive or go to the airport. 

We had packed everything up in our U-haul the night before (yes, who else do you know that needs to rent a freakin' U-haul to take their family on a week long vacation?!?) and only needed to grab our coffee, the girls and a few last minute things, like toothbrushes and my straightener.

We were out the door by 2:45am and the girls barely even woke up. We traveled the 40 minutes to my parents house and put a few more things into the U-haul that my parents couldn't fit and on our way to the highway we went. 

We tried to get as far as we could until the girls needed a break and we needed to eat. We stopped at Cracker Barrel around 9am in North Carolina and got the girls changed and dressed and fed. Everyone was very happy to be out and running around for a little while, including Tim and I!

The girls had a lot of fun playing together in the car. This was the first trip with their new seats and facing forward. They loved holding hands and stealing each other's stuff and watching and singing along with Barney of course!

We made very few stops, just for gas and to use the bathroom and then we arrived around 12:30pm at the hotel and decided to get lunch before settling in. We went to Johnny Rockets and the girls were very entertained by all the music and waiters and waitresses that dance and sing to all the oldies songs. And they enjoyed eating more french fries then ever before!

We walked around Broadway at the Beach and made our way back to the car to head over to our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton Broadway Plantation Ownership Resort. My parents own a time share { in Cancun } but this is the East Coast resort that we can stay at.

We pulled in and the girls were happy to be able to run and play with their toys for awhile. They found great fun in trying to ride the luggage carts though and had fun climbing on them each time we would unload everything!

We unpacked and unpacked and waited for my sister and her boyfriend, Zack to get there and then hit the pool for a little while. 

The girls had a blast the the resort's "Splash Cove" was absolutely perfect for them and us. It was so nice to just relax and lay in the shallow water while the girls played safely.

Zack and Natalee

Emily hanging out in one of my 31 bags!

I think we all went up and down those slides one million times through the week. The girls were relentless. Up the stairs and down the slide. ONE.MILLION.TIMES!!!!!!!!

The girls had a blast at the pool each and every day. I loved that they weren't scared at all. They wanted to say hi to everyone and play with all the other kids. Other kids comments cracked me up..."are they all twins?" or "they all are matching?" There was another little girl there named Claire and she always thought I was yelling her name throughout the week. Some of the other little girls wanted to hold Madelynn and Claire's hands and would tell them "it's okay, my mommy told me you don't have to be scared," even though my girls were never scared, I still thought it was so cute.

We then decided to just get pizza for the night and relax. It rained that evening and so we sat around and enjoyed each other's company before going to bed! We were exhausted after such a long day!

Up next...Day 2, 3, and 4....STAY TUNED!

A Time Away...

By the time anyone reads this I will be on my first ever night away from the girls and Tim. Shocking, I know.

It's taken a lot, let me say that again, A LOT, for me to feel okay about going 3 hours away to the beach for an overnight stay for my SIL's Bachelorette Party.

Don't get me wrong. I want to feel okay, more than okay, comfortable, to be able to be away from home and my family for a night or two...but I don't. My heart hurts.

Going away for Em's birth was enough for me. I hated that. I was ready to leave three hours after she was born. It killed me to sit in that darn hospital room after her birth the whole next day and do nothing. I did love the time I spent starring at my newest little girl and kissing her a hundred times an hour, but I could have done all that stuff at home with my other little girls by my side. And, they were 13 months old, not 7 months. Not attached to Momma the way Em is.

I know my husband is fully capable of taking care of the girls by himself. He is wonderful with his little girls. And my MIL is five minutes away and is planning on being at our house for most of the day on Saturday, so really if I can't be here, she is the next best thing. In fact, Natalee prefers Nana to me any day! *tear*

It's just that until you are a mother, you just don't get how hard it is to get away. To leave your children. And to even think about relaxing by yourself? Yeah, right. There is no relaxing, because you worry. You worry about every little thing. From a little slip on the hardwood floor to cries in the middle of the night, no one can replace a momma's unconditional love and tender touch. The what-ifs. We don't let the girls even be in the car with anyone driving but us, my parent's or Tim's mom. End of story, no if, and's or buts...unless it was an immediate emergency. If you're a mom, you know what I mean. Your heart is beating in each of your children. You can never love or protect them enough.

And that's what breaks my heart. Even for the mere 36 hours that I will be gone..if I even make it that long...I will be missing my girls and my love so much.

I held Em a little longer tonight after she fell asleep on me, and I kissed the girls a few extra times before bed. Claire called me back in tonight when I was closing their door, "maaaaa" and I said, "night, night, I love you girls," and she said, "ni-niiiiii, loooo ew maaaa" the sweetest sounds in the world. My heart smiled.

You may think I am silly. I am over protective of them. I know that. No one has to tell me that it's a good thing I stay home with them because I would never, ever be able to take them to daycare each day (only if it was my mom's center, but no where else). For goodness sake, it took my mom and dad ten years to go away for a few days for the first time after I was born. Yes, I was 10 YEARS OLD! If I never ever go away again, it would be fine with me. Forget that ski trip Tim and I keep talking about for this winter. I want to be able to get away for a few days, but then again, no place in the world is better than with my girls.

No place in the world makes me as happy as being home with Tim and my girls...so why would I ever want to get away from them. They are my life.

I'm looking on the bright side. Time with my SIL. Sitting in my chair at the beach. Trying that relaxing thing. Maybe I can actually open my book and read for awhile. Blue crabs. BLUE CRABS. Say no more.

And I'm driving my own car, so I can get up on Sunday morning and head back home whenever I want, to my little girls, who probably won't have even realized I was gone in the first place!