Vacation Time

We found out half way through the month of July that Joel had four days off of work that he had to use by the end of the month. We were hoping they would let us save some of the days for next month when we had our baby but they said if we didn't use the vacation time this month, it would be gone. So Joel and I looked at our calendar and planned four days to go on some kind of adventure.

     For Joel's first day off of work we went to the local water park, Roaring Springs. Brynlee and Annalyn both got free tickets from school and Brynlee had been waiting to go all summer. We have never gone to Roaring Springs as a family and the coupon couldn't be used on a Saturday so we figured this would be the perfect time to go. Joel ended up inviting my brother Brian and his family to tag along and my parent's came as well. It was nice to have the extra help keeping track of all our kids. The kids had a blast playing in the water. Joel took Brynlee and Annalyn on one of the big rides but I don't think they loved it. The three younger girls did the slides in the kiddie pool section over and over again. Brynlee was too tall to ride those rides and preferred to spend her time in the lazy river or the wave pool. All the kids liked the lazy river and Kyla loved the wave pool while Summer hated it. We went to the wave pool one last time before we headed home and she kind of warmed up to that pool. At least she didn't seem terrified. We stayed at the park for several hours and had a great day. The girls were all tired after a while so we packed up our stuff and headed home. Joel and the girls got some food from McDonalds on the way home and we all went to bed early that night. It was a fun day. I was able to snap a few pictures but for the most part I was too busy enjoying the day to take any.

 

Joel ended up taking that next Friday off of work and he came home a little early on Thursday so we could drive up to Aunt Joanna's cabin. We were a little worried that we were going to have to cancel this trip since I ended up getting sick and having to go to the ER just the day before. Luckily I feel like the Lord blessed us and we were able to go. The kids were all pretty excited about this trip. There were several "are we there yets," and we had to make a bathroom break along the way but the kids were pretty good for the whole trip. We didn't have to pull out the I pads at all. Summer took a nap and was ready to stay up and party when we got there. It was almost seven when we arrived so we were all pretty hungry. Joel made us a fire right away so we could roast some hot dogs and marshmallows. Then we went exploring. Joel and the kids all found walking sticks that they fixed up and walked around with. Brynlee got a misquito bite at that point so we all headed inside and turned on a movie. We watched Mulan together. The kids had a hard time falling asleep. They all found a bed upstairs to sleep in but Annalyn was the only one who stayed in her bed. Everyone else ended up sleeping on the floor in the room with us or else they were in bed with us.

 

We woke up the next morning and had some breakfast. The we headed out for a little walk. We played in some water and had fun looking for animals and flowers. We watched some more movies, played games, ate lunch, and enjoyed the day relaxing together. After dinner we took a drive down some curvy roads and found a fun little river with a bridge over it. We had a great time playing in the water and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The kids were pretty tired so we went home and the kids all went to bed much faster and most of them stayed in their beds that night.

   

 

On Saturday we all ate breakfast, played a few more games, cleaned up, and then headed for home. On the way home we stopped and went fishing. Brynlee caught the first fish and was pretty excited. Joel caught three fish but Annalyn and Kyla didn't catch any. Annalyn was pretty upset about that even though Joel let her real in the last fish he caught. The fish just were not biting very much and we needed to get home so we had to call it quits. The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful. Summer took a good nap, Brynlee started to get car sick and threw up in a bucket I had for her. Then she fell asleep and Annalyn was asleep too by the time we got back into town. Joel's sister was in town because Tyson had just returned from his mission so we went straight to grandma Hirtle's house before heading home. 

 

Joel took his last two days off of work on the 30 and the 31st of the month, a Monday and a Tuesday. On Monday he spent the day doing some chores and things that he hasn't had time to do. He took in a bunch of scrap metal and cleaned up some of his stuff at grandma's house. On Tuesday we decided to spend the day at the lake. My cousins were here from Texas so we took Addison and Kennedy with us and my parents came as well. It was a prefect weather day for the lake and the kids had a blast playing in the water. I just enjoyed putting my feet in the water. The kids made some sand castles and we had a fun day spending time with our family.  

 

We had a lot of fun making these memories and spending time together as a family. I am glad Joel was able to take some days off so we could enjoy a little bit of our summer together before the baby comes.