a dream weekend

this past weekend was a DREAM for ALL of us. it's been hard to bring myself to document it...because i would have to admit that it was OVER and a memory.

but it is.

so i am. this could be like 10 posts. but life is moving on, so i'm jamming it all into one. it's a LOT...

for pat's birthday (in april), i gave him a weekend without us around :-) he got to stay home and do whatever he wanted for 4 days. chores. golf. tennis. watch ESPN. whatever. he was so excited about it. and it sounds like he took full advantage of all the time and enjoyed himself a LOT!

so we had to go somewhere to get out of his way!

i took the kids out of school for friday and we went to myrtle beach for memorial day weekend.

 it's a long drive. but worth it!!

we were SO excited to get to the beach! when we got there, we unloaded the car, got a quick snack, and then headed RIGHT to the beach!

i'm so thankful that my kids love the beach as much as i do!

this guy goes into his own world...it's so cute :-)

they are all in there...lincoln is out in the water on a boogie board!

after a couple hours, we went back to the house and got cleaned up and ate dinner. i was SO SO tired i felt sick.

mostly for my sake for future planning, here's what the menu was for the weekend for 4 days:
friday lunch: i packed sandwiches and fruit and we ate in the car on the way (i ate a boiled egg)
friday snack: chex mix (a special "summer beach treat" that rebekah insisted on :-))
friday dinner: cheese quesadillas heated in the microwave and watermelon (i had a salad)

saturday breakfast: chocolate chip scones that i made before we left and brought with us, eggs and watermelon
saturday lunch: sandwiches, chips (big treat!) and watermelon on the beach
saturday snack: chex mix
saturday dinner: hot dogs and pineapple

sunday breakfast: smores pancakes (just wait til you see these things!)
sunday lunch: sandwiches, chips (big treat!) and watermelon on the beach
sunday snack: chex mix
sunday dinner: went out to Zaxby's for dinner!

monday breakfast: granola bars while we packed the car
monday lunch: packed sandwiches and fruit to eat in the car

i brought ALL our groceries with us. i only had to go to the store to buy another loaf of bread (because we fed so many pieces of bread to the critters in the pond!) and bandaids. not bad!

i was asleep BEFORE 9 pm friday night. i was so so so tired. and slept so so so good!

got up at 5 am to get a long run in...ahhh...LOVE running at the beach (not ON the beach, though.)

there is a pond behind the house that the kids LOVED playing in. full of turtles. i had to PULL them away from the pond to go to the beach later that morning!

we ate breakfast on the back patio...

 joshua did SO good with his stitches. kept it covered on the beach and was careful with it.

 our friends :)

after breakfast, we got a little exercise. it was supposed to be all of us getting our runs in, but joshua couldn't run. so he and levi stayed at the house, lincoln and sawyer rode their bikes, and rebekah, bailey and i ran about 3 miles.

then we packed ourselves up for a day at the beach!!!!

lunch :-)

 

i brought a kite and it was a HUGE hit!

i so enjoyed just sitting. one by one the kids would come sit in the chair next to me. we'd chat. or just sit together.

the beach is the ONLY place that i feel completely content. relaxed. i don't think about my "lists" or worry about things at ALL. i truly leave it all behind. and it feels SO good!

we were there for HOURS. but finally did leave. we all got some sunburn :/ but it's hard not to when we've been inside for MONTHS...and then were out in the sun for HOURS!

we got cleaned up, and ate dinner on the back patio :-)

then we went into cherry grove (a couple miles away) to get some ice cream. (it was biker weekend...)

there are a few amusement rides and i wasn't planning on doing them...but decided to let them each ride ONE ride ($30 later!...) but they had SO much fun.

so the 3 younger boys rode that motorcycle ride.

and the 3 older kids had decided to do this ride together...

but as joshua was looking at it, he decided not to because of his stitches. he was afraid he'd fall on his knee (smart).

{this was the FUNNEST thing for them! they loved it!}

but i had purchased them each the exact tickets they needed to ride their rides that they had picked. so now joshua had 4 tickets (which is what most of the rides "cost" for 1 ride.) but no one else had tickets. he wasn't excited about going on a ride by himself. but i wasn't spending another dollar. so we decided to walk around and check everything out.

we came to this fun house that was only 2 tickets. yay! he could go on it WITH someone. he chose ME! so sweet :-)

then we got ice cream and ate it on the beach.

this boy was in HEAVEN.

it was one of the most perfect days.

got home, got the kids in bed and sat down for a couple hours to myself...

about 10 minutes later there is BLOOD-CURDLING screaming coming from the older kids room. more on THAT story in it's OWN post...

sunday morning, we went to the beach right after we got up and "did church." listened to some worship songs while we wrote the Bible. it was amazing.

then went back for breakfast. smores pancakes. UH-mazing.

pancakes with marshmallows and chocolate chips in between...and chocolate syrup on top! i knew they'd work all that sugar off on the beach :-)

had another LONG, amazing day on the beach. PERFECT weather. and perfect kids!

joshua is SUCH a good big brother...

i sat for SO many hours between these 2 days on the beach. i read a WHOLE book. the first day, i was tempted to feel guilty for not getting up and playing with my kids. but i chose to make those feelings go away. i love to go for a walk on the beach, or be IN the water on a paddleboard if it's hot enough. but i don't like building sand castles or big holes in the sand. i did do it a bit each day, but i didn't instigate it, if they were happy playing, i let them be! and it was glorious!! i'm good at doing lots of things as a mom...playing games, making fun food, listening and talking to them. i'm ok with the fact that i'd rather read my book than build a sand castle ;-)

lunch

that evening we went out to dinner. then did laundry/cleaned/packed up a bit.

the next morning i went on a quick run (and one last look at the beach!) before getting the car packed up and getting on the road.

 it was HARD to leave...but i couldn't WAIT to see pat!!!

lunch and bathroom stop...

it was a LOOONG drive home. but the kids did great and we made it safely. whew!

there was a bit of a letdown having to go back to the school routine the next morning when it seemed like it should be summer...

a new pair of tennis shoes helped a bit ;-)

what an amazing weekend. in so many ways. we are counting down the days until our toes are in the sand again!!