do's & don'ts

A few lessons learned on our vacation.

DON'T leave the tripod at home or schedule THE family picture for one hour before you are checking out. Still; here we are on the last day of our fun family reunion in the mountains. We are lacking Elias, Becky's husband. While on the tour bus in Asheville, the tour guide couldn't get over how many kids we had and called us the most fertile family. In what world?? At this point we're balancing on "perfect American family" with 1 or 2 kids per family. Not saying it's going to stay there. . but really. Maybe it's amazing that my parents had 4 kids, that we all married amazing spouses, that we all love each other (still), and that we like to be together (at least once a year). Maybe. What's absolutely true was that it was truly a blessing to be with everyone. And, who can say what the Most Fertile Family will look like in another two years when we try for this again.

DO post on the internet slightly awkward, completely hilarious picture that you discovered after you sent your husband on a walk with the rest of the family. Really, I'm just trying to show you Ben & Jen's new van. :-)

DON'T wish you could take your little niece & nephew home with you; it's not gonna happen!

DO bring your best friend on vacation with you.

DO pick a place with an amazing view!! It made any tiny inconvenience in the house inconsequential. When the power went out for a few hours one night, I sat on the porch, rocked & read. Most relaxing hours of the vacation.

DO keep a weather eye for stranger people wearing way too many clothes on a hot day & playing the flute when you're in downtown Asheville. Apparently, this is what makes Asheville great.

DON'T forget what it's like to go on your first bus ride EVER! In case you've forgotten, it's pretty fun! Especially if it doesn't take you to a first anxiety filled day of school but rather a fun, family-filled day of walking, shopping, eating, and freak-sightings.

DO take your kids to a creek & let them play!!! (Thanks to Ben's friend for a great tip!) This park was located in Montreat, NC (5 minutes from Black Mt). It was shady & a creek ran through with many good spots of wading, splashing, excavating & lots of clambering. There were also play-sets, but who cares about swings when you can splash in the water!

DON'T trust the random guy at the bottom of the "mountain" who says the paved pathway doesn't go all the way to the top. Ask someone in a uniform. :-) But conversely, DO be thankful for grandpa's & brother-in-laws who can do the baby-lugging for you when your real baby carrier is fishing. (Thanks Dad & Patrick!)

DON'T listen to handsome, extremely photographic brother when he says, "Let's take this photo 19th century style." Especially when he nor youngest sister follow orders. At least Susie got it spot on!

DO bring a baby carrier along on hikes in the mountains! I'm sure glad I did. :-)

DON'T have high expectations about kids taking a beautiful, planned portrait! :-) Don't even expect everyone to smile OR look at the camera. Or, in this case, ANYone look at the camera.

but of course, DO plan on laughing a lot, kissing a few boo-boos, playing a few games, reading a book, watching Psych & Brian Regan (did I mention we laughed a lot), and wreaking havoc everywhere we went -- out for pizza, to the an Appalachian music concert, on a tour bus, to a park, a pool, on a hike, or just for a walk!

* This is my second post today, so don't miss the one about Rachel.

st. george, portraits

Since I did not get a great shot of our family on our LAST beach vacation, I was especially determined to get one this time. But, as photo shoot doesn't top anyone's list of fun things to do on vacation, it got pushed to the very last evening, and even then I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Jonathan saved the day by becoming our photographer, and then Jen, Ben, & co met me for their photo shoot. We had to do our work quickly, both for the sake of the children as well as our later dinner reservations (more about that later!)









The sun had set lower by the time the Johnson's get to the beach, so some of their pictures came out a bit dark. I have since edited them, but am still trying to work out the best tweakings. I'm completely inexperienced at color adjustment & basically am just going by what looks good! This picture & the picture of the couple w/ the kids playing behind them looked pretty great in my picture editing software, but seem quite light when added here.

The Honeymoon Shot -- still in love after 5 years!

I felt particularly proud of this shot. I think I was inspired by one of Kelley's wedding photos. :-) I didn't bring my telephoto lense on the vacation, but that might have given a different effect, with a blurring of the girls in the background. But, I kind of like it as is -- if only I could get the coloring/brightness/saturation/contrast all correct! (Help Renee!)





I'm having trouble posting photos today, but I persevered. There are a few more that you may like to see, & I will try to load tomorrow. Some of this is for Jen, who hasn't seen some of these yet.

Also in an aside, my first day of school was today & it was great! I will miss this summer though. I think it was my best one yet!

st. george, on the water!

Although the beach we were staying at was pretty enough, we got the opportunity to visit a barrier island with the clearest, greenest water -- perfect for snorkeling & keeping an eye out of jellyfish! We rented a pontoon, nothing as deluxe as the one we rented on the Lake Nanta., but large enough for quite a group of us. We didn't think that the younger ones would do well on the boat all day, so we decided to the leave the babies at home with some babysitters on shifts. Jen, Lydia, and I went with the boys in the morning, and we had a blast! We didn't actually brave the ocean, but explored the bay at Port St. Joe. (Apparently, pontoons & ocean waves don't make a good match!) The first place we stopped for snorkeling had clear, green water, and although there was a current, it did not feel like you were swimming in the ocean until your face or eyes dipped in. It was so hot, we practically HAD to jump in just to cool down. Lydia did very well, even when we saw fish & jellyfish in the water. Thankfully, since the water was so clear, we were able to avoid any contact with them. The barrier island was beautiful! It would have been an incredibly romantic place to take a long, uninterrupted walk with gorgeous surroundings, but I was hanging with Jen & Lydia & the boys were all exploring the waters surrounding the barrier island.

We had lunch on the boat.

Do you need a flipper, Josh?

Jonathan was the first to find some photo-worthy underwater life. I had never seen or touched a live sand dollar. The texture was a funny - there were little cilia or something all over so, it wasn't smooth. And, the color itself was a bit surprising. Several people thought they remembered that it was illegal to remove sand dollars, so we didn't bring it home.



Andrew found a largish hermit crab & I wanted a picture of it so badly that I swam back to the boat, got the mesh bag that the scuba gear came in, swam back to fetch the creature, and then back to the boat where the camera was! He very obligingly came out of his shell & tried to high tail it off of the boat.


These jelly fish swam slow enough for me to see them, grab my camera, and take a picture. Unfortunately, none of the other fish (shark, stingray, or dolphin, and unidentified swimming fish) obliged us so well.



We got back in the boat & motored down the shore of the barrier island. We got into several large beds of sea oats (I think) & the boys were brave enough to snorkel even after we had seen a shark & stingray in the area! Though our glances were fleeting, it was definitely very cool to see creatures normally seen in the aquarium right next to your boat! The shark was approximately 2 or 3 feet long, so not that big, but still pretty exciting. The sting ray was pretty big, but booked it pretty fast! Lydia got so hot, we had to get in the water, but the girls stayed right by the boat, looking out for sharks, stingrays & jellyfish the whole time! Not relaxing! The water was much deeper, and was much darker because there was seaweed on the ocean floor, so it was harder to keep a good lookout. Thankfully, nothing happened!

This little girl didn't last long on our trip back to the marina.

Our fearless navigator!

Jen kindly thought to take a picture of Josh & I. We had such a great time that day, I would have done it again the next day!


We met Jenny, Lisa, Kate, Lauren, and Grandma at the marina, and then realized that we were going to be too many people to return back in my car. Unbeknownst to us when we had made the shift plan that morning, the power was turned off at the house for a few hours, and so Grandma, Mima, Jenny, and the girls all had to leave the house. We ended up driving home in Lenny & Jenny's 4runner, with Jen riding in the back cargo area! What an adventure! Lisa & Jenny enjoyed their afternoon on the boat with all of the guys.

On our last day, several of us rented jet skis on the ocean for a half-hour. Man! That was so much fun! Josh & I rode together. It was definitely more fun to drive than to ride. I got less water in my face when I drove for two reasons: I didn't drive as fast as Josh & I was further up the jet ski & that helped. That was the major drawback to skiing in the ocean -- the water in the eyes was killer. I think that if we had to do it again, we'd try to rent on the river. There aren't the waves to ride, but you'd have less of the salt stinging the eyes. Even with salt water streaming down my face, it was tons of fun & definitely worth it. Get this, though. Andrew took Jenny with him on his jet ski. And they both survived!

I love going to the beach & hanging out, but it was definitely fun to do some water sports as well. It just gave some variety to the week & was a way for Josh & I to have a lot of fun together. He doesn't get the same kind of kicks & giggles out of reading at the beach as I do.

st. george, good times

The home we rented was quite deluxe. There were 5 bedrooms, 2 of which were HUMONGOUS master suites. Josh, Kate, and I shared a (smaller) room, and things went pretty well. One night she did wake up and start calling for Mom about 3:30AM. In the stupor of sleep I went and got her out of the pack n play and carted her to bed with me, thinking she might fall back to sleep again on me. I put her back in the pnp, but she would have none of it. I was so tired, that even when Josh brought her back into the bed, fully awake & wanting to play, I managed to slip into blissful sleep anyway. He said that they didn't fall back asleep until 4:30. We all woke up at 7:30 in the (queen) bed together. I have to admit, it was pretty sweet to see her sleeping face right next to me in the bed.

First thing every morning, Kate asked to "find Lydia" or "find Lauren." The girls had so much fun just living with each other, and I'm still having to explain that Lydia & Lauren aren't "downtairs," they're at their home! Of course, they also enjoyed playing bumper cars with all of the aunties, mimas, gagies, mom, dad, and all of the loving arms that would "hold me." Fun activities from the indoor playtimes include playing with "tabow" (playdoh), "moofies" (movies), and most impressive of all -- threading "neckaces" with Mima. She even warmed up to her cousins Jofen & Andoo. The sweetest thing happened on one of the last nights. Several months ago, Gagi went to the hospital because she had a lot of chest pain. We prayed for Gagi a lot those two days, and this made a huge impression on Kate. Our ni-ni sing times are often concluded these days with Kate requesting, "pay Gagi." Well, that night, she asked me, all of a sudden, to "pay Jofen" & "pay Andoo." It was so cute! Of course, it's very likely that it is a stall tactic, but I indulge it! Well, until she starts asking for repeats. Then you just MIGHT hear me say, "We already prayed for Gagi." or "We already sang Jesus."

There was also a private pool at the house & we made pretty good use of it. The girls just weren't able to put in hours at the beach. So, several days we stayed at the beach for a few hours & then went back to the pool for lunch & swimming time. There was an outdoor shower that made the beach to pool transition pretty easy.

The girls escaped their parents after being washed in the outdoor shower & made their getaway to the pool. At least we stopped them from getting INTO the pool. :-)

As I already mentioned, Kate couldn't wait to see Lydia every morning. Same was true for Lydia. Jen, Ben, & Lydia's room was opposite ours, so they could hear each other. Here they are watching "Curious."

I love it when they hold hands!

Yawn! I'm still tired!

The girls got to bathe in the master bath -- quite munificent! I also gave the two older girls a shower in the walk-in shower. Man, I need one of those!

Kate was trying to "wash Lydia's body," even while Lydia was swimming. Earlier that day, we caught Lydia trying to ride Kate. I guess it was payback time!

Once again, why do I buy toys?

I just can't get enough of her smile!

Lydia blowing bubbles in the pool. This is a big achievement for her!

I'm coming to get you!

There was a small leak in the pool, so we had to add water every day, much to Lydia's delight! She loved watering the pool. . . & people, too. :-)

One, two, three, (and then she takes a big step she calls a "jump!")

Lydia kept trying to convince me that this was NOT a hammock, but a swing. :-)
These girls are best buds.