Mini Vacation

2 excited preschoolers, 3 happy infants, 2 anxious parents, clothes, baby carriers, shoes, pajamas, baby monitors, beach towels, baby blankets, 3 pea pod portable beds, snacks, hats, sunscreen, bug spray, coolers, diapers, bottles, formula, bumbo seats, stroller, bathing suits, fishing poles, and a 24 foot speed boat and we were ready to go! The van was packed to the limit last week as we headed off for a couple of days in the mountains. It's amazing how much "stuff" is required when traveling with 7 people for just 4 days.

JACK AND COLE WATCHING SOME TV DURING A DIAPER CHANGE AND GASOLINE PIT STOP

The trip was fantastic and a much needed break from the heat and humidity of Florida. Although it was still kind of hot there, it did cool off at night and the mornings are gorgeous- not at all like the 80 plus degrees we tend to wake up to here. We did end up trailering the boat up there so we got to spend a whole lot of time on the water and the kids had a blast. In fact we were having so much fun that I forgot to take many pictures- sorry! It's tough to juggle three infants and a camera on a boat going 50 miles an hour- I only have two hands :)

RYLEE LOANING ME A SET OF HANDS TO HANG ON TO BABY JAKEY

It took us 13 hours to get there and the babies did phenomenal with the long drive. They did start to melt down towards the last two hours but it was really late (like after 10:00 by the time we got there) and they were just so tired. Coming back however, we left earlier and took a different route cutting the drive time to only 11 hours and getting us back by bedtime for the babies (6:30). As long as we kept the bottles coming and Mickey Mouse playing on the TV they were as happy as could be ;)

RYLEE SINGING "OLD MCDONALD HAD A FARM" TO JAKEY AFTER A MUCH NEEDED DIAPER CHANGE

We have had our eye on some lake property up there for a while so the motive behind this trip was to take a look at some and actually have the chance to walk through a piece we were especially interested in. We want to invest in our little piece of paradise and start building our forever home now, and we've been looking extensively in the blue ridge mountains for a few years now. There is a small but real chance that Mark could actually have the opportunity to work out of that area in the future and we'd love to raise our kids there, but even if we never got to raise our own kids there we would like to have a place to vacation with them for now and retire to later. I don't want to be the grandma with the boring condo in downtown Boca that no one wants to go see. I want my grandkids to say "Alright! Grandma's house! Get the fishing poles, I've got dibs on the jet ski and ATV!!". We've got 5 kids now so I'm assuming we'll have at least a couple of grandkids eventually and with Mark looking to retire in about 10 years we've got to get cracking on the planning.

JACK CLIMBING ON MY BACK TO CHECK OUT THE VIEW OF THE LAKE FROM THE HOMESITE... AND JoJo CHECKING IT OUT FROM MY FRONT.

In the end the property we had taken a liking to was gorgeous but just not the right place for us. I think we both have a very specific vision in mind of what we want and we're not going to be satisfied until we find it. Being in the military we have racked up dozens of moves between the two of us and we want the next place we move to be the last place we move- so we're only interested in building up our dream there and nothing less.

As for the rest of the trip we spent our time hanging out at the lake. We rented an amazing cabin on the water and spent a great deal of time watching the kids jump off the dock and swim around in the clean mountain water. They loved it and even Jack who spent the whole drive up complaining that he had to leave his computer behind (I know, my 4 year old is an addict) said he never wanted to leave the mountains. My little sister was able to drive up from Charlotte to meet the babies and hang out with the big kids whom she hasn't seen in over a year. She even babysat for us Friday night so Mark and I could take the big kids out to dinner baby-free.

AUNT KERI WITH JoJo AFTER HER FIRST BOAT RIDE

About a year ago we had friends from Florida that relocated up to the mountains so we spent the day with them on Saturday. This was a big treat as we just love this family and their six-yes, six-kids. Their three youngest are almost exactly the same age as our three "sets" of kids so they had playmates all day which was nice. We had 11 kids between the two of us- four of them under the age of 6 months- and it was a loud, energetic, and exhausting day on the water.

ALL 15 OF US!

WELL, ALMOST. SOMEONE HAD TO TAKE THE PICTURE

The babies had their first boat ride and did great. I thought they'd scream in their life jackets (required by law or I'd never squeeze a baby into one of those torturous things) but they actually seemed not to mind them for most of the ride.

THE FIRST BOAT RIDE

It was a short trip but very much needed. I am always up for a nice break from the day to day monotony around here and taking the kids to the mountains is about my favorite kind of break. Hopefully one day we'll find our perfect piece of paradise and then be able to drag the kids up there more often. As for now though Florida will have to do. To quote my daughter as she pointed at a highway overpass at 3 years old "Florida DOES have mountains mom!" *sigh* I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder, right?