And I Would Drive Two Thousand Miles

Well, we're home from our vacation, no worse for the wear. I was very anxious about the whole driving there and back with four kids ages 1, 3, 5 and 7, but we survived. The key is, just give them whatever it is they want to keep them quiet. Sam played video games almost the entire way, and the other kids watched dozens of movies and shows, plus were given free reign with an old iphone and an ipad, which were both loaded up with games and shows. Plus there was a giant bag of food at my feet, and snacks (mostly healthy) (except for the one pound bag of M&Ms) we administered at regular intervals of about 12 minutes. Parenting WIN!

The vacation itself was also quite nice! I got to meet and snuggle and photograph my two darling little nieces!

Isabel

Penny

They were the absolute best! I can't imagine how tough it must be with two newborns instead of one, but my brother and his wife seem to be doing a superb job. I'm already counting the days until we see them again this summer!

AND! As if meeting their new cousins wasn't exciting enough, we took the kids to both Universal Studios and Disney World while we were there! We only took the big kids to Universal, but everyone, including the Nunnie and Pappy, went to Disney.

With Uncle Danny and his brother Jake

MAGICAL!

Oh, and some not-so-little boy turned SEVEN while we were there! We actually went to Disney on his birthday, so don't listen to him when he whines about not getting a party this year.

Even though I'm a fricking photographer, and I had high hopes for a lovely family photo this year, this is the only one we got all week with all six of us. It's kind of terrible, but I love it just the same!

Family Soup*

We're back to the daily grind now, and I bitterly washed all of our shorts and bathing suits and then put them back into boxes in the attic. There are five days of rain and snow in the next five days, and I just really can't wait for summer. I'll get to squeeze some babies and it will be nice and warm!

*My sister-in-law came up with that one!