Spring Break--Part Deux

After our FANTABULOUS time in Dunedin, I did my best to keep these two kiddos entertained while switching gears and getting us ready for the second half of our week.

Part 2: Another Day in Paradise

With a car loaded to the hilt, Eli, Jude and I headed down to St. George Island along with 3 other families (the Crumbakers, Hanlons, and Miquelis). Each family has 2 children, so that is a whopping 8 kids and 4 mommies. The dads joined us on Friday, and another family came for the day on Saturday. It was a wild time with as many as 10 kids and 5 families there on Saturday, but it was truly paradise. The weather was near perfect, and the dolphin sightings each day were icing on the cake.

The kids kept busy with all kinds of activites: play-doh, coloring, reading, blowing bubbles, playing games, and of course....playing on the beach.

One evening we walked all of the kids down for a late afternoon ice cream treat at BJ's. Too bad we timed it all wrong and barely got any dinner in them before bedtime that night.

Speaking of bedtime...eek! That was the wildest and craziest time of the day for sure. Trying to get that many kids down was a challenge, but thankfully the moms won and the kids slept....eventually. And we weren't far behind them. The beach really wears ya out!

Second only to bedtime, mealtimes were also a bit hectic. We often ate in shifts; kids first, of course.

The kids did extremely well together and played wonderfully. Definitely a few melt downs here and there, but seriously not nearly as many as I expected. It was a joy to watch the "big" kids play make-believe and use their imaginations,

and you could often find the "little" ones hovering around and loving on Jude. The little girls were a little obsessed with the baby, but who can blame them, right?

Though it was Jude's second trip to SGI, it was his first time down on the beach. He hung out in our new shade tent most of the time, but I made sure to dip his toes in the sand

and in the Gulf. That water was C-O-L-D. The boy is not a fan of cold water, so he cried instantly, and I laughed. Oops....is that wrong? In fact I did it again and made people watch. I'm so mean, but it was too funny.

Otherwise, he was a happy fella and loved watching the action all weekend long. He was never starved for any kind of attention or love.

Then it was back home and back to reality. It has been nice to get back into what little bit of routine we have these days. Missing all of our family and friends that we spent the week with though. Lots of preparations and work still to be done as we get ready to celebrate the marriage of Aunt Kristi and Almost-Uncle Steve. 1 more week!