We survived Spring Break 09!

So a few days before Spring Break began, my friend Elizabeth (Tripp's mom) called and suggested we take the kiddos somewhere like Sea World for a day during Spring Break since both of our husbands would be slaving away all week. Fast forward a few hours and our plans had morphed into us taking all four kids to Port Aransas for four days and three nights. If you happen to be thinking, "Wow, that sure was ambitious of them to take 2 three-year olds and 2 six-month olds to the beach," you might want to rephrase that and replace the word "ambitious" with "stupid." 

Actually, "stupid" is the wrong word, too, because in reality we had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My mistake was solely in thinking of the trip as a "vacation" because that was exactly what Elizabeth and I seriously needed by the time we pulled back into Austin. Exhausting, but a blast. 

Here are Emmylou and Tripp during the first few moments of the drive to Port Aransas. You can't tell but the car was packed.  There was so much baby gear and kid stuff that we just "had to bring" (ok, that I just had to bring) that we could've moved to Port Aransas. 

A couple of hours into the drive we heard a weird sound from the back... 

Tripp decided to open the tent for the beach.

Do you think we pulled over to put it away? No time for that! Must get to beach!

Finally, they fell asleep. A miracle of all miracles. Or maybe not, since we told them we'd give them money if they'd take naps in the car. 

A while later we arrived at the condo.

Me: "Hmmm... You guys are exhausted after a 6 hour drive? I know! Let's go to a crowded restaurant where we have to wait 30 minutes for a table!" That was fun.

Ahh... the roommates are finally settled into their beds for the night.

The next morning:

Us: "Aren't you guys so excited to go down to the swimming pool and the beach?!"

Emmylou and Tripp: [pointing at TV] "Dora's on."

Us: "Yep, that's what we drove 6 hours for."

We finally convinced them to head out to the beach except that Emmylou refused to take off her "beautiful yellow princess dress" to put her swimsuit on. Love Tripp's pirate ensemble- skull and crossbones from his head to his toes!

So lady-like.

Jumping over the waves was fun.

The babies stayed in the condo with Elizabeth...

Flirts!

The weather was beautiful. Here's the view from the condo:
When we came in from the beach it was time for a heavy-duty bath. 

Ho, ho, ho...

All spiffed up and ready to party.

Wait, you guys are exhausted again? Perfect! Let's go out to dinner! (Some mommies never learn.)
Elizabeth and I spent most of the weekend bribing or threatening Emmylou and Tripp to behave. This surprise was one such bribe:

Remember the money they "earned" by sleeping in the car? They got to go shopping:

After perusing the shells and trying on various hats, Emmylou decided what she really wanted was this "tiny pink princess cup."

Wait, let's get a closer look at that...

For those of you who can't make out what it says, let me help. It says: "Caution: Instant sex machine. Just add alcohol."

Exactly the kind of souvenir I was hoping she'd pick out! (No, I did not let her leave the store with it, people!)

The outside of the store was an amazing sand castle so we took some pics:

Throughout the vacation Miller got some quality time to put the moves on his girlfriend Tate.

"Hey, Baby."

"Come on over here."

"Your hair is so soft and silky..." [Tate, looking a little worried]

What a shame-- as Elizabeth pointed out, every single candy machine we encountered from Austin to Port Aransas had a sign that said "I'm sorry, I'm broken!" on it. Here are Tripp and Emmylou reading it for us. 

And sleeping on the way home (we didn't even have to pay them this time)...

So yes, it's difficult taking three-year olds and babies on vacation without daddies, but we really did have a great time (and besides, being outnumbered is difficult no matter where you are). Elizabeth, Tripp and Tate were so much fun to be around and Elizabeth and I were still smiling when it was all over (the wine helped a lot) so I'd definitely call it a success. We planned lots more adventures for the summer so stay tuned for more lunacy!

And on a little side note, I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. Not only did Gary repeatedly tell me how impressed he was that we took the kids to the beach ourselves (he even said things like "I don't know how you're doing it!" when we talked on the phone), but when I got back home he surprised me with a new MacBook (!) and had already asked my mom to babysit so he could take me out for a nice dinner! So sweet! Thanks, Babe, should I leave more often? :-)