The One Where We Go To NJ And Everyone Gets Sick (AGAIN)

We've been in NJ for a little over a week. On Sunday before we left  Nora had a fever. Later that day I found out Matthew had Hand-Foot-Mouth disease, and figured it was probably what Nora was coming down with. Our first few days here she was miserable. And sleeping horribly. And so grumpy - literally hissing at anyone that tried to say hello to her and only wanted to be in my arms. So that was fun. She's finally feeling better and the hissing has mostly stopped.

First day we went to the beach with my aunt Marita and cousin. Kids had a blast boogie boarding, sand castle building and playing in the pool (beach club) . Then I think the next day we went swimming at Aunt Kathy's. Then we went down my cousin Jackie's and went paddle boarding and played in the bay. That was probably a favorite of all the kids. Olivia and Abigail were naturals on the stand up paddle boards. We also spent a day at the boardwalk going on all kinds of crazy rides and eating lots of delicious food.

A highlight of the trip I don't want to forget - my Aunt Jeanine came down from New York to visit and we decided to go out to dinner. After much debate we decided to try a hot dog place in Keansburg. When we got there my mom is upset to find out it was only hot dogs. We thought they had burgers and stuff, but it was strictly hot dogs. No menu. So we almost left, but my dad insisted we were there so it was fine. Hot dogs for all. We were about halfway through our meal when we saw a familiar face walk through the door- my aunt and uncle were taking Nanny out to dinner -- and of all places they ended up at this hot dog restaurant as well. To top it off - it was pouring rain! This place is on the boardwalk, right by the beach. Not a place you want to be when it's raining. What made both of us go there I will never know, but I'm so grateful! I never get to just "run into" my nan while out and about. So just happening to bump into her was special for me.

We also got to meet up with our good friend Jess today. She grew up in NJ and also ended up in Yuma. Now she's moving to the east coast so that was a lot of fun to get to see her in our native homeland. We just hung out and chatted and gosh I just love that girl.

Overall the trip has been cram packed with family time, delicious food, and relaxing. Everything you can ask for from  a vacation. I am really not quite ready to go home.

Tomorrow and Friday are our last days here and then we go home to melt in the Arizona sun. We're flying home late at night. Just me and 5 kids. It's going to be fan-freaking-tastic. Hoping they will all fall asleep and be perfect angels.  Then the kids will be starting school next week - and just like that summer vacation is over.

Family Time

The other day we had spent almost all day looking at screens, I finally decided enough was enough. I told everyone to put it away and we were going to play charades. We were laughing so much and having so much fun. Nathan cuddled up on my lap and said, "I wish I could write about this in my journal so I always remember it." 

He has been on wanting a journal kick. He randomly says he wants a pet snake. I told him if he still wants one when it's his birthday we'll talk more about it. "I wish I had a journal." He said. "Why?"  "Because then I could write, December 17th - remember I want a snake!"

Nora has been utterly exhausting lately. It seems the last 10 years of my life have been, one kid growing out of the absolutely exhausting stage, just to have another one fill their place. I'm looking forward to the future and not having toddlers anymore. As I write this, she is emptying every toy bin into the living room. It's easier to clean it up when she's in bed than try to stop her now. The other day she emptied all the tupperware - no big deal. But then she got her squeezy applesauce and made sure to get some all over every single piece. Today in sacrament meeting she would not sit still to save her life. She just loooves to go up to every single person and say "Hi!" and wave to them. Fortunately most people are happy to say hi back, and she goes on her merry way. But I still feel like I should be able to control her better. Any attempt to keep her in my lap resulted in her hitting and biting me. She also requests fruit snacks about 100 times a day.  She's also still sleeping really crappy and so she's easily trigged by everything. In fact, she's now moved from destroying the toys to emptying the pantry so I better go.