One last look - vacation 2017

Per tradition we packed up the van and then went out to the beach for one last look.

It's always hard to say goodbye.

I slept very little our last three nights of the trip.  Our car battery had died, and I think I worried that our trip to get it fixed would reveal bigger issues.  I was clearly fighting a cold the last night.  We were probably half way home when we stopped for gas, and I was desperate enough to buy cold medicine and lip balm at gas station prices.  My last two trips to the beach have left my lips in terrible shape - cracked, sore, and swollen.  Lesson learned, I will use a balm with sunscreen on my lips if I ever have the opportunity to play in the ocean again.

That's a wrap on vacation 2017.  We left on July 22nd and returned on July 29th.

Whataburger - vacation 2017

We capped off our last night with a group dinner at Whataburger.  In the past vacations have included an outing such as a dolphin cruise and/or a group dinner out at a seafood place.  The budget has been too tight the last few years to make that happen. 

The couples on vacation all managed a seafood dinner, but the kids and singles did not. Usually, the last night is one where we are trying to empty the fridge of the food that Dad over bought, but Dad was not there this year, and the food purchases were more reasonable.  Dinner out had to be reasonable too.

Speaking of Dad, we were three miles from the nearest Wal-mart.  He would have been so proud.

This vacation brought some changes.  The two oldest cousins had to pay their own way.  Because of that we were not okay with the usual pull-out couches for them - seemed unfair to pay your way and not even get a real bed.  Finding a house to accommodate this group gets harder and harder every year.  We love to include more family and close family friends.  This year, my friend Kim stayed a couple of blocks away and on the same beach so that we could hang out.  We will have to do it that way in the future and though we don't want to split up the kids, it may come to that.  Next year, if we vacation together, it has to be much more affordable.  I have a sibling out of work, and Andy and I have two kids in college and two in private school.  Our next four years will be tough financially unless something miraculous happens.

I do not take a minute of vacation for granted.  This one involved a lot of babysitting for Andy and me.  Our van broke down and needed a battery.  Andy desperately needed a time to pull away and rest.  He did not get it, and I am looking for an affordable cabin on a lake for him to get away for a weekend and just regroup and spend some time with his Father.  The demands of his job have pushed him to the edge, and I want to support him in any way that makes this doable.

Ira is crazy about Wyatt. I think Wyatt likes Ira right back.  Wyatt is so good with the little ones.  I observed him walking out of the ocean with a younger cousin holding each hand at one point.  I was in the ocean or I would have raced to grab my phone for a picture.  It was really sweet.

How do you spell her name? F-U-N
Kallie started this pointing game at the restaurant, and we had fun with it throughout the evening.

The adults took turns cooking dinner for the group.  Andy and Zach teamed up with a trip to the fish market for fresh seafood.  Andy grilled the fish, and Zach made gumbo with fresh shrimp and crab.  It was so good, and Andy says cooking with his son was his best memory of the trip.

I just want to add that our oven went out one night while dinner was cooking.  While awaiting the maintenance crew to come and fix it, Andy made hash brown casserole on the grill.  He even cooked Savannah's chocolate chip cookies on the grill.  I married a resourceful man.

Birthday Boy - vacation 2017

Isaac turned four on the day everyone drove back from the beach, so we celebrated his birthday one night while there.

Look closely at the pictures, what I love is the exuberance displayed by his siblings.  His mom surprised them with the birthday celebration, and you can see that they are all thrilled.

Since I learned how much Isaac loves animals during this trip, we went out and purchased a sea turtle, shark tooth necklace and a plastic shark to celebrate his day.  I think he liked them - especially the sea turtle.

Family pics - vacation 2017

Our family pictures did not really work out this year.  We did not do them early in the week which is best to avoid weird tans (check out my face).  When we did do them, I was obligated to babysit, so we rushed them.  I feel like we got great shots of the kids but not really a great shot of the whole family.  My hair was wacky.  I am the ugly duckling of the family, so yeah, I am whining about how I look in the photos - lol.

our photographer
Joshua does a good job, I think.  

While we were on vacation, this girl learned that she has been accepted into architecture school.  This is a change in program for her and more suited to her strengths - art and math.

I tried to get solo beach photos of Wyatt and Julia.  The humidity caused the camera to keep fogging up, so we returned to the house where I was able to get these.  I don't buy school pictures any more, so I do what I can to capture them each year.  Wyatt was out of patience after our trip to the beach, so I only got a few of him.

I did not even take Julia to the beach after my less than successful venture out with Wyatt.  She's not the favorite.  I just have more ideas for girl poses, and she's good at posing.

These last three photos are all the same picture with different cropping and changing from color to black and white.