Myrtle Beach

This weekend we took a little trip to Myrtle Beach. I trust that you realize that this blog is not necessarily a view of how life really is all the time. I was grumpy on this trip and will admit that there was chaos and crabbiness and quarreling going on this weekend and it wasn't all me! Callie and Marian were fighting about pretty much everything and that was no fun. Still, I am going to only show the pictures of us having a good time, because, honestly, that's what I hope to remember. It's what I hope the kids remember best too.

We went to the Ripley's Aquarium, which is way cool. And they give a fabulous military discount. The kids enjoyed it. The little girls loved the fish slide!

Joshua did have a good time, but was a pickle about getting his picture taken.

Rylee had a great time. I know this because she was happy to stay in the stroller and just look around. Look at her face.

Did I mention how awesome this aquarium is?!! Look at this shark! It is above us, overhead. The aquarium has a tunnel you can walk through and there are fish (and sharks!) all around you. Very cool!

The girls enjoyed the fish. There were so many and they looked so different and bright.

Marian may need her own fish tank. She loved to just stand against the tanks and watch the fish. This is the Manta ray tank. There were a couple sharks in there too.

And here they could pet the rays if they came close enough. Yes, I was a bit concerned a few times that someone was going to join them in the water!

We also took advantage of the hotel pool both days. Callie and Marian both learned to dive. Actually, they learned to hurl themselves at the water and flip. So sometimes they landed on their heads, sometimes on their back, and occasionally, they would get in a full rotation. Unfortunately, my camera had an issue and deleted nearly all the pictures of the pool. (And all the pictures of playing miniature golf.) So, here is Rylee hanging out at the pool.

As for the mini-golf. I thought it would be putt-putt golf, but it was just mini-golf with no fun things to play through. It was a little disappointing. Joshua really liked it though and actually played, unlike his sisters who just hucked their ball on thru in a race to be first.

We also made it to the beach. I thought it would be too cold, but the kids jumped right on in. They actually raced into the water before we even set down the bag! Here, Marian has talked Dan into "jumping" her over the waves.

Delaney ran herself all over the place and had a ball.

Rylee just ran. She seriously just ran! She took off and never cared what I was doing or if I was following.

One of the rare times she looked back. She took off across the beach and only stopped this one time to giggle at me. Such a pickle!

The girls had a lot of fun in the sand. We brought an extraordinary amount of it back home with us too. Ug.

We were there in the evening and as the sun went down, it got chillier. Here's Callie, so cold, and so cute!

I'm not sure I adequately described Rylee. She did run away, but she also ran into the water- repeatedly. As in, when we got there, she dashed to the water. She ran into it and didn't stop! I was exceedingly astonished. I took her out of the waves and back up to dry beach and she did it again. And again! Since the last time we took her to the beach she just cried, I didn't think she would even get near the water. So she was not properly dressed. I had to remove her clothes and she ran around (and away as fast as she could) in her diaper and was quite cold by the time we managed to corral her and wrap her in a towel.

I did take a video of her dash to the water. It doesn't show her manic persistence quite as well as I would have liked, but you get the idea. Well, as long as you know that she was running in of her own accord, you might get the idea!

Cute kids. That I have.

We took the 2 oldest to get passports. In preparation, I took a couple pictures of Joshua so he could see what he looked like. He was cute.

This is the slightly painful fake smile.

This is the no smile.

This is the small fake smile, which tends to better avoid the hideous fake-smile-grimace.

And this is laughing at his sister.

I love my boy!

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We got in some playground time this week which was nice. It was just cold enough that you had to keep moving or you would get a little chilly.

Someone had no problem keeping in motion!

Marian was too cute, trying to help Rylee. I drew the line at her climbing to the top of the structure with her baby sister.

Marian showed me her monkey skilz. She was so funny. She left her shoes on the ground and swung across the monkey bars. You can actually make a full circuit swinging across 3 sets of bars and never touch the ground. Marian was doing some shoe-less circuits. I asked why she took off her shoes and she told me, "Monkeys don't wear shoes!"

Rylee was obsessed with trying to climb up the slide while Delaney had a blast going down the slide.

Marian finally took Rylee down the slide. Rylee LOVED it!

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The kids' school has a running club that meets after school once a week. Joshua shocked me by saying he wanted to be in it this year. I had tried to encourage him before but he wasn't interested so I was pleased that he wanted to do it. Callie and Marian also said they would. We went for the first time this week. The chaos in the gym proved to be too much for Marian and she didn't last 15 minutes. It always surprises me when her Asperger's jumps out and this was one of those times. You saw 100 kids and thought "one of these kids is not like the others." Poor Marian. It was just too much noise and craziness. It was fine. She hung out with me and the little girls while Joshua and Callie did their thing. It looked like they had fun, but they sure did run!!

Check out the sequence shots of Joshua doing some drills:

That's some fancy footwork!

Yep, Callie may not have liked the running, but she loved being out there with her friends! That's Delaney, pawing through Callie's backpack looking for snacks.

Tidbits

I have to share a story about today. I had Milk Duds for the kids for General Conference. I make them go to the Sunday Morning Session at the building. It is not very fun and I never get as much out of it, but by golly, we are going to go to church on Sunday! Anyway, they were not well enough behaved to even bother trying to bribe them with the treat, so I waited till they were in the car buckling up to head home before busting them out. Delaney managed to drop one of hers on the floor. As I was pulling the van out of the parking lot, I asked what happened to it. Joshua said he had stepped on it. I asked him to make sure the milk dud did not get left in the car. He said, "Too late, Marian ate it." I said "Eeeewwwww!"

Marian, in a perfectly reasonable voice said, "Why did you say eeewww? It was a MILK DUD!" Like it was perfectly reasonable to eat it because it was a milk dud, no matter where it had been! So funny!

And to randomly skip topics, Savannah went home on Thursday. It worked nicely because Uncle Dan came into town on Thursday. The kids were happy to see him.

Yep, very happy to see Uncle Dan!

I think Uncle Dan may have been thinking he was safer at home. He was a good sport and let them play jungle gym with him for a while. Perhaps I should keep him.

Uncle Dan was also useful in other ways! Callie's bike had a ripped tire and popped tube. I got the necessary replacement tire and tube, but had no clue how to replace them. Uncle Dan to the rescue! And he was good enough to let Callie be his assistant. She is now racing her bike all over the neighborhood again, and complaining that it is a boys bike.

And today, Delaney left her apple on the table. Rylee was thrilled to snatch it away.

She was so pleased with herself and her new gnoshing technique.

I was thoroughly amused by this. But it became less amusing as she forgot that she needed to swallow before biting off more. Apple eating ended after the gagging began.

You've had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

We have a busy September in our family and just this past week, we got to celebrate THREE birthdays! It was fabulous. I do love cake, you know!

First was Rylee's 1st birthday. I know, I can't believe she turned one either! I can't believe I survived it. Whew! Here are the kids all waiting for cake. I went with an angel food cake with strawberry and whip cream frosting. Yummy!

Rylee agreed that it was tasty cake. She only got small pieces so there wasn't much chance for a huge mess.

Callie gave it a thumbs up and asked for seconds.

And the loot... ah, the loot! Rylee loved the attention, and her big brother and sisters were all to happy to help her figure out what to do with the gifts.

She had a good time and it was a fun first birthday.

Dan also had a birthday! He got his favorite- Jello Poke Cake. It was also quite scrumptious.

Someone desecrated it by adding ice cream though. Bleh! Marian said it was tasty and asked for a picture. Perhaps I should have said no.

I think Dan enjoyed his birthday. I know I did, and I know I enjoyed the cake!

Aunt Miranda also got to celebrate a birthday while she was here! Yay! I had hoped for chocolate cake (which is why Rylee did not have a chocolate cake), but Miranda asked for Fruit Pizza Pie. I thought I would have more time to make it, and we were rushed, so the strawberry layer was added as it was served. It was amazingly delicious though!!

And we had to get her some fun presents! heh heh heh!

This is my personal favorite! We gave Miranda something to help her feel better next time she has a bad hair day!

(hee hee hee! I think I am SO funny!)

So the astonishing thing is that with 3 birthdays, we managed to not have any chocolate cake! I may have to make one tonight, just to make myself feel better.

Cousin Camden

We have enjoyed baby Camden visiting! The kids are thoroughly enamored with their little cousin. He bears their close perusal with good grace. He is fascinated by them for a while. Then he is a bit overwhelmed. I'm sure you can understand! Check out how much fun the kids are having with Cousin Camden.

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And now for something different. Rylee is a hoot and has learned that she can scoot the step stool across the kitchen floor. Here she is doing it with great gusto, if you watch the video.