30 second update

We're heading out Friday for Destin, FL. Our first vacation in years, and first ever with 4 kids. It's going to be fabulous! Awesome! Best ever! Top of the heap! The best part will be the 6-hour drive!

No really, I am pumped.

Actually, I've been told by a friend in-the-know, also a mom of 4, to set my expectations really low. That way, anything better than the worst will be good. My friend Susan mentioned that she tries to stay neutral. I am incorrigibly positive. I really do think this will Phoenix's big car-ride-breakthrough. There has to be a first time, right? At some point in this child's life, he will get into a car and not scream. This may be the day!

At any rate, there is a lot of preparation going on. Laundry, room-cleaning, list-making, toy-selecting and all that. I am alone in this prep work. I will spend 2 days getting 5 of us ready. That 6th person, well, let me tell you about him. He will throw his stuff in the suitcase at 6am, just before we pull away from the house at 7am.

And I will grimace and punch him and know deep inside that they would all just as soon be heading to Florida with a pack of crackers and a swimsuit. That's freedom, kids. I need to make it's acquaintance again one of these days. Would it really be that bad? I don't know. I just can't bring myself to try it yet...

Before I head back to the inner workings that {I think} make trips flow, let me distract you with some photos of my offspring. Pool time! It takes 2 of us to keep an eye on them all. But I managed to snap some action shots.

Phoenix blowing bubbles...

Jadyn loves to spin...

Cole swims like a fish...

(Sorry, got distracted for a moment...)

Bathing Bella...

The more typical shot of Isabella: lounging by the pool, chatting with our neighbors. This picture always gives me forward-flashes of Isabella as a teen. :)

This was way more than a 30 second update, dude. I must really be itching to get to my prep work. ;)