Spring Break

I had planned to spend our spring break having tons of family fun. I had several beach days planned, a movie day, a trip to the science center, a hike on a nature trail. As usual, things didn't go exactly as I had planned.

The week before spring break, some of the girls caught a 24-hour stomach bug that made them throw up. A lot. Gemma and Violet had it at the same time, but the other girls got it separately. That means that the bug carried over into spring break. On Wednesday, the four oldest girls had dentist appointments to pull teeth (in preparation for very, very expensive orthodontic work). Altogether, the four of them had fourteen teeth pulled. Luckily, all of them were baby teeth. On Friday of spring break, all the girls had finally recovered from the virus and the tooth pulling and were ready for my plans, so on Saturday, we headed out to the beach.

We had a great time. We stopped at Toys R Us to buy our beach toys for the summer, and found some really good deals. Gemma was especially excited about beach toys because she and Violet are kind of afraid of the water. They'll outgrow that; all their sisters were the same way.

The best thing was that I was able to lay down on my belly by digging a hole in the sand and putting my towel over it. My big baby bump fit neatly into the hole. Very comfy. It would have been better if I'd remembered to bring a book!

We planned to go back the next day, but I kind of ruined things by not wearing any SPF. I lathered the kids in it, so they were fine, but I got the worst sunburn of my life. For three days, the joints in my elbows hurt, and I had to take motrin before bed to deal with the pain. This was two weeks ago, and I'm still peeling, to give you an idea.

We're heading back to the beach tomorrow, and you'd better believe I'll be all sunlotioned up, along with the girls!


Zoe: It's hard to believe this almost-14 year old is the same chunky baby whose wrists I had to pull up in order to wash her hands, and who hid cheerios under her chins for snacking on later!! She tries to sunbathe on the beach, but we slather so much SPF 45 on her...

Eve: She is 12 1/2 now; where did the time go?? Her favorite thing to do at the beach is throw the football with Daddy.

Sophia: At 10 1/2, she's all arms and legs, and a ton of fun! She loves playing in the water.

Juliet: 9 years old, she loves gymnastics. It's too bad we can't afford classes. :( But at least we can feed her! :)

Tabitha: She'll be 8 in June. She doesn't like going out in the water as much as she enjoys sitting right there at the shoreline and letting the water sink her bottom down into the sand.

Clara: She is 6 1/2 and loves everything about the beach. It's hard to get her to slow down enough to take a picture. The picture doesn't show it, but her skin gets very dark. Most of the girls are blessed like that, but with Clara's blonde hair and blue eyes, the effect is stunning.

Gemma: She just turned four and doesn't really like the water unless Mommy and Daddy are both holding her hands and "jumping" her over the waves. She loves playing in the sand, and she and Violet have been having some fun playing, or trying to play, paddle ball.

Violet: She'll be three on May 11, and hates the water; she won't go anywhere near it. She also likes to play in the sand, but after a few hours, she's ready to go home.