The Bolling Bunch!

"There's a story, of man named Darren, he was living with three kids of his own....." Okay, so our song wouldn't really go like this, but this week we do feel like the Brady bunch! My father and step-mom are moving from their home in Raleigh to a different home. I offered the only HELP I knew how and offered to keep my two little sisters as well as their 10 year old cousin from New York. Currently, I have 6 kids under the age of 10 to care for and tend to for a minimum of 3 days/ maximum of 5 days. Their ages are... (3) 2 year olds, (1) 4 year old, (1) 6 year old, and (1) 10 year old (Gianna). Surprisingly and in an eerie way, things were beyond smooth today. Here's a sneak peak into our day!

Our agenda is rather intense as this week Tyson is signed up for 2 camps with a potential to go to three.

8:45 pm Leave for Sports Camp at West Salem Baptist Church - Gianna is also attending it and loves it.

11:45 pm Head home for lunch.

12:30 pm Head to the Greenridge Recreation Center for "Extreme Recess Camp"

5:30 pm Ty returns home.

5:30 pm Dinner

7:00 pm Baths for the three littlest ones

8:00 pm Bed for the three littlest ones

8:0oo pm Baths for the three older ones

9:00 pm Bed for Ty and Salene

Gianna just stays up with me at night.

I a BEYOND thankful for Dana Reed, Lauree Brown, and Jenny Murphy for all of their help with transportation so I do not have to drag 6 kids out all day long. Thanks to them, I am able to spend some quality time with the younger ones. Today we played outside until 11:30 pm. The kids napped from 1:00 pm - 3:45 pm. We also did the pool later in the evening.

All 5 kids took a nap in the same room. I'm still not sure how I managed to pull that one off successfully. You can barely see Jax, but I took a video clip of it because I was so astonished. Keeping my fingers crossed that this happens everyday. It allowed me to get my dishwasher unloaded and my laundry caught up.

At dinner, we played "thorn and rose". We asked the kids what their thorn and their rose were for the day. Gianna was really the only one who answered. She stated, "My rose was going to Sports Camp, my thorn was when we got locked out of the house." I took the kids for a wagon ride at 3:45 pm (100 degree weather) and we got locked out. UGH. Poor Darren had to come home from work early to let us in.

Also, here's a little taste of life with "triplets" instead of twins. This was taken after BATH time.

I love their little hineys.

Our Trip to Paradise Island, Bahamas

Here is the video that Darren created from all of the video footage he took, not a lot :(, as well as many of the pictures I have already shared with you. Enjoy it! It's interesting, comical, and fun to watch. I still have photos of Day 5 of our trip to share, which isn't MUCH, but there are a few good shots. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures as much as I did/do. If so, I think you will enjoy the video even more. My hubby has a gift for creating these videos. My only complaint EVER is that they are NEVER long enough.

A Trip To Paradise - Day 4

Day 4 of our trip was very bitter sweet as you can imagine. We were really, really, really, REALLY enjoying our time together in the Bahamas. The quality time, the special times, the laughter, the relaxation, the uninterrupted sleep, EVERYTHING was just something we not only really NEEDED (afer 6 years of only 1 other trip ALONE), but also APPRECIATED immensely BUT on the flip side, we had never been away from our children for that many days, so we were anxious to greet them.

On Sunday morning we headed to breakfast and then stood in line to pick our water excursion. It was pretty crazy to wait until the day of our excursion to book it. We were lucky honestly that the excursion we had planned on doing this entire time was available. We chose SNUBA diving. Not SCUBA, but SNUBA.

As described by the Atlantis website, snuba defined is....

"For resort guests who aren’t quite ready for scuba but nevertheless eager to dive beneath crystal blue waves off Paradise Island; Snuba offers the opportunity to experience the undersea marine life, without being scuba certified. Learning is easy—Snuba is perfect for vacationers who enjoy the freedom and simplicity of snorkeling but would like to experience the wonders of breathing underwater."

We weren't sure what to expect, but were really excited. We chose this excursion because we didn't want to waste our precious vacation time (4 hours) getting certified for scuba diving, otherwise, that would have been what we chose.

The entire experience was really amazing. It was so beautiful under water. We were fully submerged 15 feet under and saw all kinds of gorgeous fish as well as a sting ray. I was so focused on taking pictures and learning the process of breathing underwater that I failed to really value the fact that I was supposed to be searching for marine life. On the way back to our resort, via boat, we were able to see Eddy Murphy's island that he bought and owns, Oprah Winphrey's home, and a bunch of cruise ships. The entire experience lasted about 5 hours.

Upon arriving back to our resort, we hung out, relaxed, and got ready for dinner. We chose to eat at Casa D'Angelos again because we both really love Italian food and it was our favorite restaurant there. We were serenaded by the restaurant staff as they sang, "Happy Anniversary to you, Happy Anniversary to you, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary to you, WHOOT WHOOT!" It was a real HOOT!" Also, this was the restaurant 10 years ago we ran Rob Lowe and snapped a photo with him. So, we thought MAYBE we'd see someone NEW and FAMOUS that night, but it didn't happen. We were the only celebrities there, lol!! NOT! I'm grateful to be a no name.

I do have pictures of day 5 and then... that's it!!!! ENJOY the photos of day 4 below.

Trivia on a road trip!

On the way to Myrtle Beach over the 4th, I got in the back and spent some time quizzing the kids on things. It kept their minds active and occupied, not to mention free from electronics. Ugh... how I loath electronics even though they are the greatest and cheapest form of babysitters I know.

For each question they got right, they got a quarter. Some of the questions were a little harder than the next, but they earned a decent amount of money. Now Ty wants to play this game all the time. Yeah, easy for him to say. I am the one dishing out the money.

Ty earned $1.50

Lilah earned .85 cents

Jax earned $1.25

An example of a question I asked Tyson: Name the 3 states that each of your grandparents live in. He answered, "Florida, Virginia, and Raleigh." LOL! Close enough.

An example of a question I asked Lilah: When we go to the park, what is the name of the item we go up and down on? She answered, "Swide!" Yea!!!!!

An example of a question we asked Jax: well, VIEW the VIDEO instead for the full effect. It's not a Godly question, by any means, but it's something he needs to know. He's laughing so much, it's hard to understand. So view it and then read below.

Mommy: "Boys have a...?"

Jax: "Ding-Ding!!!!!"

Mommy: "Girls have a ...?"

Jax: "GINA!"

PS. YES my BOY is sitting in a PINK car seat. Sometimes the twins think it's funny to swap seats. They laugh for about 5 minutes. Children's laughter is the BEST.