Summer Vacation: Hilton Head Island

I seem to be jumping around all over the place in my blogging, but there are certain things I want to remember from the past four months, and recording them seems to be a priority over organization at the moment.

I don't know if my family would agree with me or not, but this year's summer vacation was one of my favorites.  I had been feeling growing stress in our lives and in our relationships with each other, and I really wanted to spend a whole week focused and loving on each other. 

As a kid, one of my favorite places on the planet was Hilton Head Island because my family vacationed there frequently. I have so many precious memories from my childhood there, and Tim and I had been talking about taking the kids there someday.  I found a great deal on a little condo near the beach, and voila'.  HHI here we come.

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the food.  (Hudson's... yum.)  We ate a lot of my old favorite restaurants (Ben liked my favorite pizza place so much that he said he hoped to take his kids there someday), and we found a few new favorites too (hello, Kenny B's fried shrimp).

Much time was spent swimming, jumping waves, and digging holes in the sand.  More than anything, we just spent time together. It was so so good to be free from distractions and to just be.  Together.  We learned new things about each other. We had important conversations.  And we slowed down.  Which was awesome.  Oh, and did I mention that the condo didn't have internet access?  I had no idea how great it would be to be disconnected from the rest of the world.  It was awesome.  (Have I mentioned that it was awesome?)

I wish we could take trips like that more often.  I had no idea how important it would be for me to reconnect with my kids, and I can already feel the stress of the school year, work, and busy schedules pulling at those connections.  But my hope is that I will find small ways to recreate those moments where we turn the phones off, look each other in the eye, and talk.  Plus, I am still hoping for some time at the beach next summer!

Swim Lessons, Part 2

As I am sure you have already figured out, summer is our busiest time of the year. There isn't a lot of kicking back and relaxing, what with four kids at home All The Time and a husband whose job kicks it up a couple notches when teenagers are out of school. Add to that doctor/therapy appointments, a visiting niece and nephew, and regular summer excitement, and things can get a little crazy at our house (or wherever we happen to be). 

My plan is write about all of these things, but you all already know how that will probably go down.  It may be next May before that happens.  So let's start slow.  Swim lessons.

The three big kids had swim lessons the first two weeks of June. Once again, Kate has been bumped up to the big kids' class because Mama is lazy (ie., the boys' class was at 9, and the class she was supposed to be in was at 11). I don't want to spend 3 hours at the pool chasing Jack, so they all have to do it together. I was worried at first, but she totally held her own, as usual.

The funny one, also as usual, has been Will. You may remember that he and Ben had swim lessons five years ago? Ben loved it, but Will complained pretty much the whole time.  They were 5 and 3 at the time. 

I called to schedule the lessons last month, and Will overheard the conversation and freaked out. I eventually calmed him down enough for him to tell me why he didn't want to take swim lessons:

Will: Swim lessons are scary!
Me: What is scary about them?
Will: I don't know, but last time I remember I was scared. They asked me to do things I couldn't do.
Me: Will, you were 3 at the time. Do you remember what they asked you to do?
Will: No.
Me: Well, they wanted to you put your face in the water, and that scared you. Are you still afraid of putting your face in the water?
Will: No, but...
Me: And they wanted you to swim in areas where you couldn't touch. Are you still afraid of being in the deep end of the pool?
Will: No...
Me: They also wanted you to jump off the side of the pool, and you were scared of that. Aren't you diving now?
Will: Yes (smiling)
Me: So do you think you can handle swim lessons?
Will: I guess so.

He now informs me that swim lesson are soooo booooring, because he knows it all. He doesn't actually know it all. For example, he has now learned to tread water, do the elementary backstroke, and bob to safety in an emergency. But he knows everything.

(And sorry I don't have a picture to share.  My camera spent the first half of the summer broken, until the good people at Canon sent me another one.  Thank goodness for warranties.)

Another Bad Mommy Confession

We are still catching up on the Summer Activities Report with this one. Unfortunately, I have put off telling this story because I am totally embarrassed by it. Ahhh, confession time.

First, a little back story - As a kid, I swam constantly. Like, every summer weekday I was at the pool. Every weekend, at the lake. I spent about seven summers working as a lifeguard. I swam competitively for awhile (although be aware I am using the term "competitively" quite loosely here). I have been swimming so long that I don't actually remember learning to swim.

If you had asked me ten years ago, what is one thing your kids will know how to do before they are five years old? I would have said swim. Obviously, it is a very important life skill, right?

But all of a sudden, I looked around, and I had three children who were afraid of the water. Had I taken them swimming? Had I gotten them lessons? Had I worked with them myself? Yes to all three, but obviously not enough.

This summer, I decided enough was enough. I declared that this would be the summer that everyone would learn to swim! I told them that every chance we had to be in the water, we would be swimming!

It sounds like an excuse, but it really was a challenge to find a suitable pool. That has always been part of our original problem. Our local outdoor pool is freezing and only about three feet deep. None of my kids were going to learn to swim in water that shallow. The local indoor facility has one pool that is warm, but only about three feet deep, and one that is cold and reserved for swimmers doing laps. Again, not ideal conditions. We ended up doing most of our "lessons" in two locations: my uncle's pool in the next town over and in a tiny little pool (that is five feet!) in my hometown, two hours away.

So, a couple times a week I would drive to one of the above locations, put them in the pool, and work with them individually and as a group. We practiced kicking, holding our breath, blowing bubbles, and moving our arms. They were mostly willing to learn, but I'm not going to lie. Every one of us lost our patience more than once. We all got mad at each other those first few times.

On one particular afternoon in June, I almost had a mutiny on my hands. We were at Uncle Ricky's, and we were all upset. All three kids wanted to quit. One of them shouted that he would learn to swim when he was a teenager. I told them that no way, no how, were they going to be the 15 year-old kids requiring a life jacket to swim in five feet of water. They were learning. Now. Yes, Mean Mama, who was also embarrassed at what a bad job she had made of it, had had Enough!

After much weeping and gnashing of teeth, they got back in the water. And they tried. And I tried. And on other days their dad tried. And Daddy John tried. And basically we all worked very hard all summer to not let one more season pass without them learning how to swim.

So, did it pay off? I am very pleased to report, that despite my ineptitude, my children did indeed learn to swim.
Ben is learning basic strokes, and can swim across the pool. He is even starting to learn to dive.
Will was terrified to swim without a life jacket in June. He is now doggy paddling all over the place, and loves to jump in the deep end. And he isn't holding his nose!
Kate NaNa still prefers to hold onto a float, but she can swim across the pool. OK, she can in the shallow end. She can't quite figure out how to come up for air without putting her feet down. But she is only four, so I can cut her some slack on that one, especially since she has conquered her fear of the water. She also has a crazy strong kick that propels her really quickly across the surface.
By the 4th of July, they were able to swim with their cousins without clinging to the wall. Or holding their noses. Or asking 18 times if they could put on their life jackets.

In the end, we still have a long way to go. And I am still embarrassed that I let this go so far. But at least I am now confident that my children will not drown. Or still be afraid of the water at the age of 14 (no offense to those of you who are older than 14 and afraid). We are going swimming at an indoor pool this week, and I am eager to see how much they remember from last month.
I'm sure if I lose my temper again that they would be happy to tell you about it.

Canoeing with Dad

Now that fall is upon us, I realize that I am woefully behind in my blogging. And it isn't just my random ramblings about whatever is bugging me, but rather my posts that I write as a sort of scrapbook for our family. Tonight I will try to at least partially remedy that.

One very hot Saturday in August, Tim decided to take the kids canoeing. We live less than a mile from a creek that is great for taking the kids for a calm ride. It circles through our town several times, so I dropped them off at one landing and picked them up at another. They spent a couple hours on the water playing, learning how to paddle, and spending quality time with Dad. And obviously there wasn't room in there for me, right? Thanks, Tim, for being an awesome dad.

Birthday Party!

My kids' birthdays are at the end of June, August, and October. In the past we have done separate birthday parties, but that is a lot of cake and ice cream in a very short amount of time. So this year, with a little help from Uncle Jacob, I convinced them that it would be a blast to have one big ole party for all of them. OK, honestly, they weren't thrilled with the idea at first, but then I convinced them with promises of pinatas and water balloons, and they were on board!
We had grandparents, tons of aunts and uncles, no less than six cousins, and many friends and their parents. We even had Uncle Jacob here! (He was in town for a wedding.) I wish I could say that I am super-mom because I am capable of pulling off a party like this all by myself, but honestly, it took the whole family to get the job done. Every single person had a job - from my niece who filled water balloons and peeled carrots, to my grandmother who was the welcoming committee, to the men who washed dishes, to all of the relatives who brought food. Somehow we managed to feed 40 people, and the party was a huge success. Once again, Will declared it the best party evah!
Don't be hatin' on the cake pictures. I had to snap them fast before the flames melted Luke Skywalker's light saber!
Now I am wondering what I will have to bribe them with next year so I can get away with only one party again...

Washington, DC

We arrived in Washington late on Wednesday night, and on Thursday took the Metro to the Mall area. We walked around the area, visiting the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. We walked past the Vietnam Memorial and the White House, before getting ice cream and heading to the Museum of Natural History. On Friday we went to the planetarium, toured the Capitol, and had lunch at Union Station. Then Tim took the kids to the Air and Space Museum while I visited the Holocaust Museum. That night we drove around and showed the kids the monuments all lit up, including the Jefferson Monument.

It was over 100 degrees while we were in DC, but the kids were total troopers. Of course, the two littles were in the strollers the whole time, but even Ben, who was forced to walk all that way, didn't even complain. He was too busy asking lots of questions.

My kids ask a lot of questions. And there is nothing quite like a trip to DC to invite 243,687 questions. For most of our time in Washington, Tim pushed Kate in the stroller, while I pushed Will, and Ben walked along side me. Since Ben and I don't walk fast, he and Will had a lot of time to ask me questions. (Whether I could answer them or not is a different question.)

Questions like...

How do we know when to get off the subway?

Why did we fight in World War II? What is fascism?

What is the Holocaust?

Why did every picture I took of the Washington Monument turn out crooked? (OK, that was my question.)

When was the last war? Right now? What are we fighting about? Who are we fighting against?

Why can't we climb to the top of the Lincoln Memorial?

Is this where that Martin Luther King guy stood?

Why did we fight in Vietnam? What is communism? Did we win?

Can we go in and see the President? Why not?

What do you mean there is a garden at the White House? (Look really closely on the far left.)

What is a budget? Why can't they agree?

Can we eat lunch now?

Are we there yet?

The boys enjoyed Washington a lot. They already have a list of things they want to do next time they are there. Kate was much less impressed. She never complained, but when I asked her if she liked it, she said, "No, it was boring because I never got to play golf." I cracked up and asked her to explain. "You know, with the little sticks," she said. It turns out she thought that she would get to play mini-golf while there.

Delmarvelous

Now that school is back in session, I realize that it is time for me to get back to blogging, lest I forget everything we did this summer. (Of course it is possible I am blogging because I putting off some folding clothes or changing a diaper, but let's all just pretend that I don't have anything better to do at the moment.) Who knows how many unfinished blog posts will get published, but I definitely wanted to write about our vacation this year.

One of Will's favorite pastimes is daydreaming about what fabulous city/beach/destination we will travel to next. He and I are always talking about it. This year he and I decided it would be fun to go somewhere we had never gone before, so we started talking about driving up the east coast. He wanted to go to Rhode Island and NYC. I was thinking Boston or Maine.

Before I got too deep into my planning, I realized that it is a long stinkin' way to drive to all of those places in a Sienna with three energetic children. So I started throwing around alternatives... Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina (where we have been, but love), Washington, DC. I did a little research and discovered that the funny little peninsula that sticks out over there is called Delmarva. (Get it? Delaware, Maryland, Virginia - DelMarVa? See, you learn something new everyday.) Better yet, none of us had been there.

First stop on our awesome Delmarvian tour (yes, I know I need to stop making up words) was Cape Charles, VA, on the southern tip. The hotel where we stayed had a small, private beach (it wasn't as fancy as it sounds) and a pool, which were the necessities.

Later that afternoon (Monday) we drove up to the public beach in Cape Charles. It is all on the Chesapeake side, so the water was very calm, which Kate loved.

On Tuesday we drove up Delmarva to Assateague Island. It is a national/state park with no development, other than educational buildings and some trails. It is on the Atlantic side, so there were lots of big waves, which the boys loved.

Assateague is also home to wild ponies. We were on the Virginia part of the island, where the ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Island Fire Dept. (Think Misty of Chincoteague.)

We stayed overnight on Chincoteague Island, where we had Build Your Own Cookie sundaes and played mini-golf...two more necessities. Ben especially loved Chincoteague/Assateague and still asks me when we can go back there.

On Wednesday we drove north to Ocean City, MD, where we had lunch and quickly decided it was waaaay to crowded for our taste (we couldn't find anywhere to park if we wanted to), and so we headed into Delaware to visit their state park beaches. Delaware isn't that big of a place, and there are 3 or 4 state parks along the coast. Unfortunately, none of them were allowing swimming because there was a heavy fog, and the lifeguards couldn't see. We finally ended up at a public beach in Lewes, located on the Delaware Bay. Again, smooth waters=happy Kate. The boys opted for sand castles, but at this point in the vacation, I was apparently taking a vacation from my camera.

That night we were able to meet up with some long-lost cousins of Tim's for dinner. They live in Delmarva, and have two kids, including a four-year old daughter. Who cracked. us. up. This is what her mother calls her crazy eyes.

This concludes the Delmarvelous portion of our vacation. Please stay tuned for Part 2: DC (I can't think of any clever ways to change DC, so we will leave it at that).

I Heart the Lake

As a child, I was on the lake almost every weekend of the summer. It is one of my favorite places to be in the whole world. So when my cousin Dianne invited us down for a couple days on her houseboat, we jumped at the chance! (Plus, we love Di, so spending time with her is a bonus!)

The water was just little nippy, but Mimi was a trooper and got in anyway:) Anything for the grandchildren!

Thanks, Dianne!

(And can you believe I posted 7 days in a row? I don't think I've done that since China.)

Edisto Island, SC

I know I already posted pictures of our 10 day trip to Ohio and South Carolina (didn't you know that they were close together?), but I thought I would post a few more.

After leaving Ohio, we traveled south to Edisto Island, SC, where we met our friends Christa and Alex. It is a pretty little island that is very laid back, which is just how we like it.

We built sand castles.

Ate ice cream.

Swam in the pool.

And hung out with good friends.

(Christa and Alex were forced into multiple games of Cheese Touch with my children. Sorry 'bout that.)

Others of us simply sought out the shade.

Some of us also liked to hang out at the condo.

The boys loved to play in the ocean.

While Kate preferred to stay close to me.

This was as close as she would get to the water without tears.

On Monday we drove into Charleston. The kids were only interested in staying at the beach, but I got them into the car with promises of horse-drawn carriage rides and ice cream. We delivered on the ice cream, but the carriage ride was not to be. It turns out that the horses go home if it gets up to 98 degrees, and it was well over that all week long. Instead, we ate at a deli, where Kate had some yummy (and hot) chicken and dumplings.

By then, the kids were melting, so we put them back in the car and drove them down to the Battery.

Tim insisted that it would be fun to get a picture of the kids sitting on the cannon, but Kate was not in agreement.

Then we tried to go to the Children's Museum, but it was closed. Bummer. So we got back in the car and drove to Magnolia Gardens, a plantation outside of the city.

For some reason, I thought that plantation/garden = shade=lower temperatures. But it was so stinking hot that not even the shade was cool. I couldn't bring myself to lifting my arm to take a picture, so you will have to do without.

(Note to self: Do not take three young children to Charleston when it is 100 degrees outside. Everyone will be miserable.)

We really did have a great time at Edisto, even though it felt like we were on the sun a good portion of the week. But that's what the beach is for, after all.