Home Again! Home Again!

We're back! Well rested and not so worry free. I don't really understand why this always seems to happen, but it NEVER fails -- If we take a family vacation, the market takes a dive, Jonathan is inundated with phone calls, the bad mood sets in and well, we came home a day early so he could get back to work. At least it was the last full day so it wasn't that big of a deal -- and the rest of the week was fantastic! We had a view of the ocean from the 2nd and 3rd floor balconies, the weather was terrific and the kids had their own "little apartment" on the ground floor. We played and ate, and swam and ate, and jumped in the waves and ate, and then we came in and ate, play some more and then we'd find the nearest ice cream shop or dessert cafe and eat some more!!! That's what it's like when you vacation with me -- you eat, A-L-O-T!!!

Oh, I figured out a new trick for when you're kids have had about all they can take of each other (and I had had about all I could take too!). We were out on the beach and the girls had been fighting all morning -- I was tired of the sulking and the ugliness so I got every pail and shovel and beach toy we had. I put them all out on the beach in a line at different intervals, making an obstacle course. I made a starting line in the sand and told both of them they had no choice -- they had to race. They looked at me like I was crazy until I told them the winner would get $2.00. Oh the power of money! All of a sudden they were into it -- racing to the first pail, shoveling sand in it, taking it down to the water to pack it all in, then heading back to the course to turn it over and make their first form. Then they were off to the next stop where they had to make a fish out of sand, then fill up another pail, and on and on. They loved it! And it only cost me $2 bucks to turn their attitudes around. If I've learned anything as a parent it's to distract them from their moodiness -- even if it takes a bribe! Try it sometime and let me know if it works for you, too. I plan on having regular races in the backyard now everytime things get a little too rowdy indoors! Here's a slide show of our week. (Click the 'X' if the slide show stops)

It's good to be home now though. I always love coming home -- except, of course, for all the unpacking that Momma always gets stuck with. It's a small price to pay for a great week, I guess. Now it's time to catch up and get ready for the big week ahead. Art Camp - AGAIN! - and bible school at night. I'm helping out with bible school and we just found out that I'll be leading Macy's class -- I didn't even request it so we just got lucky but she's really excited.

We stopped by in Troy on the way to Destin to visit Sarah's grave. It always makes us all so sad to visit. It's been over four years and it's still so devastating and hard to believe. Jonathan and I miss her so much. And it's that much sadder when the girls tell me they hardly remember her -- especially when Madison says it -- she was so in awe of Sarah and worshipped the ground she walked on. Now she only remembers things because of the stories we tell her or the pictures I show her of all the fun times we spent together. Here are a few pictures of the visit and there's one of Jacob after we told him he was named after Sarah. He understands the letters "J-A-C-O-B" so we sat him underneath his namesake.