We are home!

We are home from our fun filled July!!!! We had a great time, our first stop was sunny south Florida, I have to admit that some other folks on the airplane were a little frightened to sit by one Mama traveling with 4 kids, I questioned myself at first too, but then I remembered that I am blessed to have the best kids ever so armed with a bottle full of chocolate milk (Mina's favorite treat) we made the trip, and I have to admit I am a little proud that this was the entirety of our luggage as well.  We had a blast in Florida and it was great to see all of our family and Mina had a great time meeting everyone.  I was worried about all of the changes, new houses, new beds, new routines, loads of new people... but once again my worry was for nothing.  The girl loved it, all of us did.  Check out Mina hanging on Miami Beach! We also went to my brothers house for a few days and hung with our grandma and cousins. It was great to see my neice and nephew. Love those kids....  After a fun filled week, me and the 4 kiddos hopped back on a plane and Papa picked us up and we headed straight for our family beach trip!  Fun & relaxing week.  We loved just having some family time, and all the kids loved boogey boarding and looking for little creatures.  One of J.C.'s favorite books is "The Sandcastle Contest" we have read it 100 times at least....well story line of the book is as you may have guessed, about a sandcastle contest, the kicker is that the prize for winning the sandcastle contest is winning a "bathtub full of ice cream" ....So for months I have been promising a sandcastle contest at the beach with the same prize.  So I have been hunting for a bathtubish type container that would hold way too much icecream.. this blue plastic boat thingy was the closest I came, but I heard no complaints when I emerged from the kitchen holding the biggest most ridiculous ice cream sundae ever.  You should have seen the kids eyes, priceless really!!!  The foot photo is the closest we can come to a full family photo, and of course I had to set one evening aside for kid photos on the beach... Surely not a fun family favorite, many bribes and begging involved on my part, but hopefully one day they will appreciate it.  So all in all July was great here in our family....  It is nice to be home and enjoying getting back into our gloriously hectic routine.  The thought of school starting soon is a bittersweet.  My big girl and I will be having a mommy-daughter day on Saturday, I am really excited, a bit of school shopping and a girls only lunch at a Sushi restaurant (her new favorite food)  Thats all for now........