It Began with a BBFT

We finally  made it to the Hurst family vacation mecca that is Hilton Head Island. We have been vacationing there since I was 4 years old so it has officially come full circle since my girls are now 4. It never ceases to be surreal that I am now the mom on vacation rather than the kid. I am the one to yell to the back "kids, we are going over the Hilton Head bridge!!" to slather the sunscreen on little bodies that are  nearly vibrating in anticipation of jumping into the pool, to blow up water wings and pool toys--the list goes on. Vacation is definitely different on the parental side of the fence--not bad different, just different. Gone are the days of lounging by the pool or on the beach for hours, but getting to spend a week just enjoying my family is priceless and definitely a good kind of different.

So, anyhow, not sure if I mentioned how this all goes down and I am too lazy to look at my last post to check, but my thoughtful and wonderful parents have rented a big house for all of us (myself, my 5 sibs, ours spouses and kids) to converge upon for the past several years for one week. Amazing. So on Saturday we all start trickling in to the house after driving for various lengths of time and experiencing various levels of torture on the drive (see previous post) to start our week together. The house seems cavernous at first but we remedy that quickly with all of our stuff that we have toted across the country. Needless to say that a house full of 11 adults and 10 kids (ages 8,7,5,4,4,4,3,2,1 and 5 months) makes for an interesting week. I have to say though that I am surprised at how well we all get along--kids and adults alike. Everyone helps everyone else and we were mostly on the receiving end of the help  this year with our young and numerous brood (a special thanks to all my sibs, especially Aunt Amy for being Jack's nanny for the week!) A great time was had by all. Below are a few funny highlights

THE POOL
The Battles kids had the record this year for the most attempted drownings--3 for the week.  I am not a negligent mom--I actually researched various pool alarms and contemplated dressing Ben in a life vest at all times for the week since he easily opens all doors but then talked myself off the ledge and decided we would be on level orange for pool safety for the week. Despite my best efforts we had attempt #1 by Miss Grace within the first hour of arriving--definitely a record. The pool is THE thing for the kiddos--for obvious reasons but also because I rarely take them swimming throughout the year.  I know my limitations and taking 4 kids to the pool means someone is bound to drown and running through the sprinkler in undies in our backyard is much more manageable and safer too.   So on vacation the kids are practically ripping their clothes off to get in suits the minute the minivan door slides open. This year was no different. I somehow managed to find suits and floaties and was getting everyone seaworthy when Grace decided to ignore the warnings and float her little self and her little dollar store inner tube to the deep end and then promptly slipped right through. Ryan saw it but was up on the deck, I was trying to manage the other 3 and thankfully my brother Eric jumped in fully clothed to rescue her. Battles child rescue #1 for the week. 2 more to follow. The other two attempts were by none other than Benson the great. The first time he was rescued by Aunt Amy, my brother's wife, when she heard a splash and struggle behind her--I had just taken his ever present floatie off seconds before and apparently he felt invincible without it and headed straight for the deep end. The second time was 100% observed by me--I had just undone his floatie and before I could grab his slick little arm he had jumped right in to the shallow end. So there I stood, fully clothed, wondering if I should just jump in or would he be able to surface on his own.  Sure enough he popped right up and I was able to snag his arm and drag him out. Mom of the year, right here ladies and gentlemen.


THE PICKLES

My Dad rarely goes into the grocery store--except on vacation. The grocery store is like the evening activity--a highlight, and when my Dad is allowed to roam the grocery store without supervision there are a few things he consistently buys and one of them is pickles. I don't ever remember seeing one jar of pickles in our fridge at home growing up but my vacation memories of dad definitely include him getting his prize jar of pickles from Bi-Lo. The grandkids know to hit grandpa up for pickles, so at dinner on our first evening there grandpa got out the infamous pickle jar and instantly the grandkids were clamoring for them. He started handing them out one by one and then within a few seconds all of the kids were hollering for water.  Finally we realized that dad had purchased hot pickles accidentally and had unknowingly handed them out to all the tots. Baily, who is 5 and never minces words leaned over to her cousins and said "Are they trying to poison us?"



THE PUKING

I am not bothered by germs. This may be some shocking information coming from a pediatrician so steel yourselves--I let my kids eat food off the ground even if it has been more than 5 seconds! Travesty!  So when kids are sick it doesn't really bother me--except for the puking germs. Those puke germs are so freaking contagious. We had one christmas when it went through our entire family within 12 hours including our dogs!  Dogs, plural!  So when one of the cousins started vomiting we all let out a collective , "NO!!!!!!!! " Then it felt like we were all blindfolded in front of a firing squad waiting to see which one of us, or our kids would be next. The puke germ played mind games with us and everyone was safe for about 48 hours, then the Battles kids were down for the count, minus Baby Jack!   First hit was Grace who did an excellent job making it out of her tent, out of the media room and down the hall to the toilet. Lydia was not quite as graceful and woke up screaming and then puked chocolate pudding all over the white carpet (lots of blotting, laundry detergent and vinegar returned the carpet to its original splendor) and Ben was found asleep in a puddle of his own dried puke in the morning like a frat boy. The bug was NOT quick to run its course--stay tuned for the ride home.


Despite the near drownings, the hot pickles and the puking germs a great time was had by all. I am thankful every year for these times spent together. The memories are priceless.

We recently returned from the annual family vacation so of course a blog post is in order. It may be a little redundant since this has been a past topic but every year is a little different and worthy of a post to record the antics of driving a total of 22 hours, cramming into a hotel room twice, and staying for a week in a house with 11 adults and 10 kids (age 8 and under).

First I want to thank my parents for providing this trip for us every year.  It provides so many amazing family memories that you could never put a price tag on. We love every minute of it--even the comedic tragedies you will soon read about :)

The prep for the trip starts days in advance with list and then lists of my lists and so on. We  packed the minivan full of the essentials for a family of 6 --clothing for 6, 2 pack n plays, a tent, two camping mattresses, helmets x 3, swim gear, stuffed animals, books, multiple annoying noisy electronic toys that may or may not entertain a 2 year old for 11 hours, blankies, snacks--oh the snacks--, and an old person grabber stick to help hand out said snacks and pick up said stuffed animals and noisy toys when dropped to the very demanding back row passengers.  The drive down was painful for sure but relatively uneventful. I was the designated van concierge (I won by default as Ryan can only go from front seat to back seat if he puts his head out the moon roof as part of the transition), feeding snacks to all every hour at least and handing out toys, books and iphones (yes, iphones--anything to entertain the masses). I had to climb into the back about 1,000 times which really put my carsickness to the test especially in the mountains.  We drove as far as Charlotte and stayed in a suite type hotel. The evening started out well--we took the kids swimming and ordered in pizza. We decided to take a risk and put all 4 kids in one room so that Ryan and I could have a kid free zone for the evening and therefore wouldn't have to sit in the bathroom whispering until they fell asleep like we have had to do on other occasions. At first it went surprisingly well but then the first domino fell and it was all a blur after that. Grace woke up crying that Lydia was kicking her (their first time sharing a bed). This then woke up Lydia and subsequently Ben. Since they had a couple hours 'nap' they were now wide awake and raring to go and as Ryan described it 'like little meercats popping their heads up at every noise'. Jack miraculously stayed asleep during the first part of the evening but then decided his role was to fuss whenever the other 3 finally calmed down which kept this cycle going for the better part of the night. A few highlights:

**Lydia reported that she was afraid of the picture hanging above the couch bed--she said it had scary eyes and was looking at her. Ironically this same picture has caused sleepless nights for my sister and her husband when their son Hudson spent an evening in fear and then the following year his younger sister Bailey lived in fear of the pic as well. It is kind of freaky--see for yourself.
Someone needs to be fired for hanging this in hundreds of rooms in this particular hotel.

**Lydia ended up on the hotel floor in our room with a only sad hotel blanket and her sneetch as solace at one point after I threatened that "the next person who makes a peep will sleep on mommy and daddy's floor!'. Lydia peeped and therefore spent at least one miserable hour on the floor sniffling until I finally let her into my bed.

**Ryan eventually slept in the kids room with Grace, Ben and Jack and played the chuck E cheese whack a mole game with Ben and Grace, telling them to get in bed and go to sleep again and again--quite emphatically I might add.


Needless to say Ryan and I were both more than tired in the morning although it was humorous to compare stories--it all seemed like a bad dream. We regrouped by loaded up on the hotel breakfast and caffeine and then strapped everyone back into their 5 point harnesses to finish the last leg of the trip which was relatively uneventful other than a poop-splosion from Ben requiring a modified wet wipes bath in the public restroom, an outfit change into his slightly damp bathing suit which was the only accessible clothing at the time and a carseat washing upon arrival to the vacation house.

Stay tuned for the next installment-- highlights include: grandpa inadvertently giving spicy pickles to all the grandkids,  several attempted drownings by the battles kids and explosive vomiting and diarrhea.


Ben's drawing of a 'tree'. :)