Vacation - Part 1: Lake Monticello

Vacation began with a "staycation" at my parents house in Virginia.  With the lake a short walk away and plenty of pack n' plays, my sister's family and my own were all set for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa.  Personalities are shining through in the littlest ones. John is quiet and even-keeled (and a very happy, pleasant, go-with-the-flow baby)...

 While Grayson is high-maintenance, clingy, and alright, I'll say it...down right whiny. His mommyitis phase is clinging for what feels like a permanent residence and I have to remind myself this is only temporary...right? 

 The littlest ones are standing and cruising, which seems like light-years of progress since we were last at my parents and getting excited for sitting up independently.  

Quite the ham

 The beach was an adventure this year.  With four kids in tow (only one of which is walking) and only three adults all hands were on deck at all times.  No books or e-readers were brought to the beach, no beach chair sitting, no napping...we were kept busy for the 2 hours or so that we ventured out between the kids naps. 

This is a good place to put sand, right?

The eldest of the grandsons is camera-shy these days.  But he was with us...I have proof.

He was very brave in the water this year.  Venturing further into the water with the added confidence of his swimmies.  

Using the rake to play with the sand...might seem insignificant, but there was a time where he wouldn't have been willing to do so.

After returning to the house, the boys spent their nap time playing in their cribs...which resulting in this later in the afternoon.  I ended up separating the pack n' plays so that they were on opposites sides of our bed and wouldn't be able to see each other.

My littlest Gamecock!

 My parents have had a blow-up play tent that the kids would play with.  This trip the kids abused it to its capacity, rough-housing in it which resulted in a pretty big tear in the seam.  The giggles between the boys was worth it though...and unfortunately no amount of duct-tape seemed to revive it.

At any given time, you had to watch your step to avoid little bodies crawling around tossing rings or balls on the tile or wood floors.  Chasing after them and tossing them so that they can make as much noise as possible.  

 On the final day of our staycation we opted for the pool instead of the lake.  Adam and Grandpa joined us so we now had an equal amount of adults to children ratio. 

While the week was noisy and busy it was a great visit ending with comments about what the kids will be doing next year...with hopes that we'll have four boys running around instead of one and one that will have left his mommyitis in the past. 

Check back later for our Vacation - Week 2: Outer Banks...