catching up: Part 1 : the Breakers

We had an AMAZING vacation with my family in the early part of July. Let's just face the facts: it isn't easy traveling with all 4 kids, but it is BETTER when the adult to child ratio is 1:1. I do believe the simple site of our family is, well, a bit terrifying for anyone near us in security and of course there are the usual eye rolls and mumbles of 'oh dear God they are on OUR flight?!" when we roll up to the gate, but the flight out was FLAWLESS(at least it was on the way there - the screaming/gassy/loud baby on the flight home may have been one of ours, but its not necessary to get into that one)! Thank you children for being your precious selves.

I am a HUGE fan of the travel time from Palm Beach Airport to complete heaven. It was so fast, so simple and I imagine if we didn't have loads of stuff it would seem even more amazing. Nothing is more fun than traveling with 4 car seats, 1 stroller, and 4 suitcases, I mean 5 suitcases - one being full with just food. Yes, there were grocery stores, but you can't be certain there will be enough to feed your kids for 8 days ... its too risky in the land of the retired, plus the empty suitcase proved to be well utilized, packed full with goodies on the way home.

Basically the next 8 days went like this:

Wake up

Sunscreen

Breakfast beach-side

pool/cabana/repeat

Lunch pool-side

pool/cabana/repeat

back to shower/get ready

dinner

sleep

Along the way the kids accomplished all sorts of things: hammock swinging, seashell searching, wave avoiding, pool-toy squirting, waffle eating, pool-lounging, etc.

The parents got a date night and a few late night trips to the cool aquarium bar for the most amazing Jalapeno Margarita... ahhh

But the BIGGEST accomplishments thus far:

#1. Isabelle decided the hotel gummy bears were WELL WORTH her efforts to use the potty and in 8 days she went from occasionally trying to FULLY trained. No accidents, no fights, ALL clear and TOTALLY trained. Yay!!!

and

#2. The twins began really REALLY CRAWLING, all over each other, all over the place. Which of course meant all sorts of redesigning would have to be done when we got home. We were THRILLED

So below you will find lots of pictures from our trip. THANK YOU to my amazing parents for tackling this adventure with us. We were happy to come along and grateful for all your hands on, constant attention and care. You guys do a lot to make things easier under all our chaos. =)

Beach Baby

Attacking his sister

Mommy caught him!

Madeleine wins!