Vacation 2009

Yes, I am a blog slacker. I find it difficult to blog when the kids are needing me 24/7. Any whoo.. to vacation.

We started off Saturday.. we only had to go back into the house 4 times.. I think that was a record LOW! With all four kids, two dogs and loads and loads of stuff.. we were off to Grand Lake, Oklahoma.
It was bad karma from the get go...we had to stop and add water to the van twice, once Lonnie didn't even notice that the van was about to EXPLODE! I noticed the "dinging" alarm! humm, need your hearing checked? I was praying the entire time that the new dog would NOT vomit in the van.. (she was good) It must be short choppy trips or my driving that makes her sick...

A 3 hr trip took us 5. We stayed the first night at the in law's house. Lonnie had a plan to repaint and touch up the roof on the house. With the help of his nephew and niece the paint job went really fast! oh, and by the way the paint swatch we picked out was tannish and the paint came out sort of burned orange.. OH MY!

While painting the house, his nephew found a tree frog on the side of the house. It captivated Ashton's attention for hours and hours. Then when the poor little frog had no more energy Ashton let one of the dogs (not one of ours) sniff the frog and she gobbled that little frog right up! SAD! Note to self: "Don't let the Lab sniff frogs or they will disappear!"
We had a little drama about it, but what could we do?

Then after a fun day and dinner, it was time for bed and a new day...I pushed the reset button but apparently it wasn't working....

Lonnie had some business to tend to on Sunday. He would not return until about 1 pm. I awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee! Ahhh... so nice.. After enjoying a few cups.. I called my mom and decided to take our dogs to her house since she had two fenced-in yards. I alert the children that we would be making a drive to see Mema and return in time to check in to our cabin. But first I need to add water to my van. So I pull back into the shade to add the water.. all is good.. then I pull up a little closer to the porch in order to put my bags in the van...
I hear **clump, ka boom, cleek** (yea that is hard to describe) Well I had 'run' over something.. what was it??? By the look on Ashton's face I knew it wasn't good! It was a RAKE!! and no ordinary rake.. it was a tiller looking spider rake! ( so I looked for a photo but couldn't find one, and I was to damn pissed off to take a picture of it)
Anyway.. I ran over it and punctured a hole in my front tire. So know imagine my R A G E !! I had the biggest tantrum and adult could have... I was soo mad that I wasn't going to be able to do what I wanted to do that day..
In the brink of a nervous breakdown, I hear Ashton say " Great! Now were going to die.... in the country!" I started laughing so hard I could help my self..then I say "okay, I get it" (me talking to God) It isn't a big deal." I tell Ashton that everything is alright and that mommy was just having a huge tantrum, but it was over..

I notice that the tire isn't deflated or anything.. I'm thinking it didn't make a hole... I load up all the kids and dogs and head to the gas station. I put gas in my van and I needed to put air in one of the tires anyway... I pull up to the air compressor and to my not so amazement.. the front tire is flat! I guess it did make a hole. I air it up and head back to the in laws house.

As soon as we pull in to the drive way... can you guess what happens??







Gabby vomits in the van.. and misses any form of protection.. she hits the one spot on the floor that is NOT protected...gross...figures..

It's about noon and I know that Lonnie will be returning soon. I decide that I will jack up the van and get the tire off and ready for him to take somewhere to get repaired!

I get all my stuff out ready to go. The tool to the jack is smashed and you can't get the handle out... I find a way to get it pulled out of itself ( of course nothing can me smooth moves for me) I get the van all jacked up. Of course it is sooo difficult to get the lug nuts off of the tire. I have to stand on the "tool" to get them loose. I get to the third one and I slip off of the 'tool' and the freakin things swings back and hits me right in the lower shin!

OKAY.. I'M DONE!! Lonnie pulls in like 5 min's later...if only I had waited.. but I was trying to be helpful!
Every place is closed.. being Sunday and all! Lonnie buys a kit and repairs it himself... we are all good and ready to get to the cabin.

We head off. The resort is beautiful! They gave us a cabin close to the pool... I'm thinking this is great! The cabin is a queen studio. Across the street I notice two bedroom, full kitchen, washer and dryer mobile home cabins..... get this... for the SAME PRICE! I was a little upset by this.. so lady.. when I called two months in advance and said what do you have that would accommodate a family of SIX... this is what you gave me?? Her excuse... "I didn't think you wanted your kids running across the street to get to the pool" HELLO! what kind of dynamics do you think I've got going here??? You think I just let my kids run around like wild coyotes? Something I had to quickly get over.
That night we rode wave runners with Lonnie's childhood friend. We were exhausted ! Off to a good night's sleep.
Monday was our first day with the boat. We had to drive 1 hour on rural curvy roads that made me sick every single time... OH.. And we got lost!
Lonnie's and Raegan's goal was to get Raegan up on skiis... they worked on it for about an hour on Monday.. She got really close..
Tuesday: My mom and Sister with my nephew and Niece meet up with us for a fun day on the boat. All the kids went tubing, with the exception of Sydney.. she got it in her head that something was going to get her from in the water ( I have NO idea where she gets this from, because I Love being in the lake :) )
It was the most hilarious thing to see her ski with out skiis and without being pulled by the boat. When she fell off of the tube and was "in" the water... just imagine.

Soaking up the sun on the boat deck was just her cup of tea!

Wednesday was our last day with the boat and we enjoyed every minute of it and did not want it to end. Raegan got up on the skiis twice that day. I attempted to ski, but after near drowning twice, I gave up. Plus I didn't know what was about to surface from the bottom.. gives me the creeps just thinking about it..

Thursday, we meet up with my childhood bff, Tonya and her kiddos. We all decided to take a tour of the Pensacola Dam. Something that none of us had done. We all grew up in this town and never took the opportunity to learn about the history of the dam. It was very interesting. We had a great tour guide! Afterwards we drove across the dam to "Pistol Pats" for a famous dip cone. This was our lunch. Very tasty I must say.. Lonnie has great memories of trips across the dam to visit his grandparents. On the way home his mother would stop at Pistol Pats and get a dip cone for the both of them. Lonnie would eat his right up and look at his mother and her 1/4 eaten dip cone and would give her the "puppy dog eyes" and she would hand it right over. (what a great mother, I would never do that) He tells these memorable stories to the kids at night before bed. I think it brought back some great memories for Lonnie that day. Sad, but good times remembered.

On our day out, we met my dad, brother, his girlfriend and their son for brunch. Then it was "on the road again"! I think we only had to stop one time! It was nice to be home and be in my own bed!
**Yes I will be adding pictures to this post!