August Gratitude and Things I Am Leaving in August

I am most grateful, of course, for the vacation I just shared a million pictures of.  It was simply wonderful to get to take such a fun trip with family.  I am particularly happy the kids got to go to the beach with their grandparents, something I never did but would have loved to.

I am going to stop going to bed unprepared for the next day.  We had a brief power outage that woke Ben and me both up at 3 am the other day, and I couldn't fall back to sleep because I was thinking about all of the work stuff I had planned to take care of the next morning.  Luckily, all was fine because the power came back on and I could be the slacker I had planned to be. 

But! No more. 

I want to have my lunch and Harry's lunch packed packed (the little kids' lunches are in Planet Boxes, and they taste better when assembled the morning of), my clothes picked out and my bag assembled, the kids' bags and outer wear ready to go, etc.

I also need to have my coffee ready to be turned on and the dishwasher and drying rack of the sink empty. 

The final piece of this preparedness puzzle is the work that needs to be done by the following morning.  I am a morning person, so if I had my druthers, I would get up early to work and sleep a little longer.  I am also a person who gets stressed easily about deadlines and ho is super crabby when she's stressed, so, really, staying up the extra 30 minutes or so to do something the night before may just be worth it, happiness-wise.

Here's to a more productive September!

Summer Vacation: Days 10-11, the Long Way Home

Before we left, we took one more look at that gorgeous beach!

 Oh my goodness, I miss it already.

 And then we drove straight to the University of South Carolina for a quick pit stop.  harry fond his initials right away.

 It's actually a really pretty campus

 And we made TONS of Cocks jokes

 Because we are classy like that.

 And then it was back in the car LIVING THE DREAM

 All the way to Lexington, KY and a perfect restaurant

 Dorothy and Cooper were mostly interested in this gum ball machine

 We couldn't go to UK without checking out Rupp Arena

 Another lovely campus

 And really terrible hotel pool that reminded the kids of our DC hotel

 The next day, we drive north as fast as we could to skirt a line of storms and ended up at U of I at another truly excellent lunch spot

 One more quick walk around a college campus

 One more selfie

And then!  We were hooooome, and even with all of the laundry, we were so happy to be there! Here!  Home, I mean!

Summer Vacation: Day 9

We started to realize that we had to leave this magical place and go home on this day.

So we planned a trip back for New Year's Eve.  Like you do.

We spent the night at Harbour Town again for burgers, brews, and ice cream.  And also Cooper finally spent his souvenir dollars-- he was the last one to empty his envelope, and he waited all week to find the perfect wallet.  He's adorable.  When he's not acting like a rabid dog.

 Our last beach day was a wonderful beach day.  Slightly overcast, a little cooler, with cold, rough water and NO JELLYFISH!

We planned to just go for the morning, but then we stayed all day!

 Jack and I took a super long walk and many pictures of each other jumping in the water.

 And he wrote his name in the sand, of course.

 We finally remembered to take the kids to the Craft Cove for necklaces, piggy banks, and a really hot stuffed animal.

 And then when we couldn't take the perfection of the saltwater and beach air any more, we got dressed for dinner one more time.

 We even had dessert.

This was our 4th trip to Hilton Head and our second time staying at Sea Pines, and we loved it so much.  It's the perfect place to take your pack of rowdy kids, and we were the only people on the island not covered in Lily from head to toe.  Oh well, theres always next year.

Summer Vacation: Day 8

It was so humid my ponytail holder kept breaking when I least expected it.

 We went to a place where you could choose your own donut toppings, another stop where intermittent fasting was a terrible, terrible thing.

 MOAR BEACH.

 Dorothy was using the tail of her mermaid to dig a hole, which I found disproportionately charming.

 Popsicles by the pool

 Cooper is super sneaky

 Salty Dog! Again!

 Jack finally spent his souvenir cash and was super proud of his purchases.

 Night beach!

It seemed like this, our penultimate day, was another taste of perfection.  We even ended the night with 2 contentious euchre games with Jack's new Salty Dog cards after the little kids went to sleep.  But then!  At 4 am, harry started projectile vomiting crab and fudge all over the kids' room/bathroom.  SO GROSS.  (And, we think, food poisoning because he was the only person to order crab legs at dinner, and the rest of us were fine.  Phew!)