It's Been Awhile!

Brace yourself... this is a long one! I have had so much going on that I haven't had time to write any posts. I started writing a couple of nights ago and decided there was WAY too much to write! I decided to just let the pictures do the talking with some caption explanations!

My mom celebrated her 60th birthday on July 16th! We were all (minus Matt and Steve) able to be at the farm to celebrate her big day with her before leaving for the lakehouse. Here she is with her girls and grandchildren (Mya had already gone to bed). We thought we were funny and all had icing on our noses!

Ok, we're off to the lake! 2 Mommas and 4 kiddos.... It's going to be a LOOOOONG drive!

SNACKS: Check

SIPPEES: Check

BOTTLES: Check

TOYS: Check

VIDEOS: check

MOMMA'S FLASK: Double Check!

WE MADE IT!

A 6 hour drive to one of my favorite places on Earth with 4 kids (6,5,2,10 months)...How bad could it be? Well, the trip down was really quite successful. We made a quick snack stop (5 minutes into the trip), a 40 minute lunch stop, and a bathroom stop. There was some whining, a little crying, a few naps, and even a few quiet times! Overall, it was pretty good! We arrived at the house, ate dinner, played a bit, and were ready for bed. Mya, being the youngest was the first to turn in. We were getting ready to take her nightly bath when it happened. We heard a loud bonk, followed by a moment of silence, and then the scream. I looked to my right to see Ty (2) with his head on the floor and his hands behind his back. He had hit his head on the hardwood table and had a large gash on his head. Blood was everywhere. My sister became hysterical. The one who once said, "how bad could it be" now has a situation on her hands. Our house is approximately 20 miles from the hospital. Because the roads are windy and somewhat dangerous, it would take over 30 minutes to make the journey. We had to decide if we should call 911 or make the trip ourselves. Remember, we had already driven 8 hours and Mya was in desperate need of her bed! Andra decided she couldn't do it herself. Me, being the calm and collected teacher that I am (my parents told me that! :-), gathered our things and drove us ALL to the hospital. Ty, who refused to sit in his carseat, was gushing blood and falling asleep. It was a pretty intense ride! We finally made it. After 2 hours of driving around (this makes 10 total hours of driving) with 2 kids (a large McFlurry kept them happy for awhile) and a baby (some screaming and brief moments of sleep), Ty was release from the ER. He was very brave. He got 4 stitches and directions to NOT get it wet. Interesting for a vacation at a lake

This is kind of gross, but it gives a sense of the amount of blood that was gushing from Ty's head.

With our emergency room visit behind us, we were ready to go boatin'! We still had an obstacle in front of us. Mya had to be introduced to her life jacket. I was a little worried about how she would react to this bulky new feeling. To my surprise, she was pretty mellow about the whole thing! She even took multiple naps on the boat while wearing the jacket! We were lucky that it was a scorching hot day. I'm not sure how she would have been then!

Mya and Mommy on the boat! It tended to make Mya very sleepy; even though Tyler kept yelling, "Momma... faster!"

Brady and Carly had a blast swimming off Mimi and Papa's dock. They also loved jumping off of the diving board... although I had to initially pay Carly $2 to do so!

Mimi gave Carly and Brady some shaving cream and paint to "explore" with. Their Mommy said she wished Mimi was there to play with them since it was more "her thing!" With or without Mimi, they had a blast! Somehow their exploration turned into body painting!

Mya enjoyed a snack, but she ended up with some in her hair!

Ok, so this is actually only pictures from the first 2-3 days of our 8 day vacation! Unfortunately, my camera's battery died! BUT---- My sister and Mom had their's. Hopefully, I can get them to send me the pictures and I will post them. There are lots of good ones!