Hurry up already!

That is my current line of thinking... what needs to hurry up... VACATION! We head out next week for our annual beach vacation. I'm so pumped, I'm so ready, I'm so... thirsty... I'm usually quite thirsty when we are down on the coast :-)!

As I sit here and type (and ponder), I remember the first time we took the boys. Boy, that was nerve racking... getting everything packed, making sure everything was where it needed to be, and that all three were where they needed to be. I was nervous! We had been on one road trip prior to the first beach trip... and to say it didn't go well is a HUGE understatement. Snooker had meltdown after meltdown (mostly in the car of course, where you can get way from the very loud crying). Honestly I don't really remember the ride down (or back for that matter)... so either it was uneventful, or it was exactly the same as previously and I simply blocked it (not uncommon :-). The beach itself was, um, well, Snooker didn't like the beach... it was quite overwhelming for him. Bobcat was sort of not sure about it at all, but was perfectly happy to play in the sand, Bubba... oh sweet little chubby Bubba... the apple of his Daddy's eye... was out in the waves hanging on to Daddio and waving for the camera!

With every passing year Snooker makes head way (he will go in the ocean but much prefers to build in the sand), and Bobcat got over his fear of the water and goes exploring with and with out his brothers, usually looking for cool shells or hunting down coconuts... Bubba, sweet Bubba... he's out in the surf. He likes to boogie board and heck even body surf (I guess that's what you call what he does), but he's always having fun way out in the waves.

The car rides? Heck, those are nothin' now! We are a car trip family. Everyone gets comfy, shoes off, pillows adjusted, and audio book begins as we pull onto the hi-way.

You would think that Daddio and I would be stressed going into any trip due to our personalities (or number of kids who need meds, Celiac disease, dogs, blah blah blah)... we both like to plan things out, we want to organized, have everything just so-so... but when it comes to heading to the coast (or camping) we are a well oiled machine. The only uncertainty is how early will Daddio wake up that morning... he cracks me up... sometimes it is 3 or 4am and he is up and READY TO GO! (No, we don't need to leave that early... he's just that excited!). When it comes to the unexpected... well, it happens, we know that better than most I think... we've had dead batteries, the beast had a smashed window (broken into)... shall I go on??? We roll with it! And we've gotten really good at that (thank you Holy Spirit and Mother Mary)!

Nearly all the prep work is done: newspaper put on hold, mail stopped for the week, dogs have been booked at the boarding house, sunscreen bought in bulk, new suits for the little boys and mommy (yeah for losing weight), beach umbrella borrowed (it is so cool that Daddio's friend let's us borrow it... it is AWESOME)...

Oh... I'M READY!!!!!! Unfortunately... I have to wait... because it's not quite time :-(