Port Aransas: 20 kids and counting style!

A wise friend once told us that when you take your child{ren} with you on vacation, it's no longer called a "vacation" but instead a "trip".  We've not yet had a chance to ask him what a vacation is called when you bring 20 kids under the age of 6, but I can only guess that his answer would be "complete chaos", and after this weekend, I'd have to say that's fairly accurate.  That being said though, it's also a ton of fun.  Although I'm not sure that my pre-kid self would have agreed.

Left to right, top to bottom...Catcher, Caroline, Jackson, Henry, John Clayton, Jev, Ned, Vivian, Lexi, James, Caroline, Aubrey, Jack, Nicholas, Connor, Tillie, Haddie, Scout, Charlie, & Kian

This past weekend, we went to Port Aransas with a bunch of families from our Sunday School Class, and we had a blast.  This was our third annual trip together {the first one was to Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop and the second was also to Port A} and quite possibly our best one yet.  There were 10 families all together and 20 kids under the age of 6 {and 2 on the way}, which made things a little hectic, but vacationing with your kid{s} is far from relaxing to begin with, which is why it's called a "trip", so why not bring some of your best friends {and some of your kid's best friends} along, too?  Two sayings coming to mind..."there's strength in numbers" and "misery loves company".

Thankfully we had these koozies {and their contents} to help get us through.

I'll be the first to admit that this koozie doesn't scream "Sunday School", but let me explain...  A couple of years ago, we changed our class name from the "Young Couples" class to the "Modern Families" class when the church requested that our class be more all-inclusive, and not long after that, the guys started using the above abbreviation when referring to the members of our class.  Although no one would claim them at first, a box of these koozies mysteriously showed up with us on the trip, and I'd by lying if I didn't admit that they were quite the hit!

We left for Port A this past Thursday and did our best to align the four-hour drive with Jackson's nap.  That morning, we wore him out at one of our very favorite splash pads before driving about an hour to San Antonio for lunch and a little bit of playground time.  He was up about an hour after that and then slept for all but the last 30 minutes.  Overall, the drive went great, but we definitely couldn't have done it without the iPad or the sound machine app that we listened to on full blast over the truck speakers.  It sounded like we were sitting right next to the engine of a large plane, and I feared that we might be deaf by the time that we got there, but at least he slept.

Right before he managed to somehow lose his grip on that ice cream cone and slam it right into the side of Ben's head.

Watching him snooze in the back seat, I couldn't help but think of last summer's six-hour drive to South Padre and the fact that he never even once took a catnap.  Such a cute baby, but talk about a long drive!

Once we got to the our beach house and unloaded all of our personal belongings {all 500 million of them}, we headed straight to the beach.  We knew that Jackson wouldn't remember it from last year, but he does have a couple of books with the beach in them, so we were anxious to see his reaction, which was nothing but pure joy as he ran straight into the water without the slightest bit of fear.

It didn't take him long to realize that the beach is also somewhat of a ginormous sandbox though, and that's exactly when his days of hanging out in the water were over.  Nothing comes between this boy and his diggin', so it was no surprise that we spent most of our weekend doing just that.

Between the 10 families, we ended up renting three houses in the same little community, which was within walking distance to the beach.  I was put in charge of figuring out which family would stay in which room/house, and after getting everyone in either their first or second choice, we lucked out and ended up staying in a house with some of Jackson's very favorite friends from the nursery {Caroline and Jev}, their baby siblings {Violet and Kian}, and a family of "older" kids {Catcher, Scout, and Tillie} who were so sweet to the little ones.

Nothing brings kids together quite like the glow of an iPad.

Unfortunately the babies {Violet and Kian} didn't make any of the pictures, but they were definitely a part of the "Ships Ahoy" family, too...as was Jev's rasta Elsa doll.

Each family had their own bedroom and private bathroom, and we ended up in one with a single king size bed.  Our original thought was to put Jackson in a pack-n-play or on a pallet on the floor, but when one of Ben's friends offered to let us borrow a blow up mattress, we decided to bring that with us, too.  We weren't exactly sure who would end up on it {Ben or Jackson...but definitely not me and my big ol' belly}, but as soon as Ben got it blown up and realized that it looked more like a pool float than a mattress, he decided to take one for the team.  It's no wonder his friend loaned him not one but two and suggested that he stack them.  He slept {most of} the first night on it and didn't complain in the slightest, but once we realized that the bed was big enough for all three {and a half} of us, that's exactly how we slept from then on.  A Jackson sandwich, if you will.

In terms of cooking, we paired up and then took turns cooking either one or two meals over the course of the long weekend for the entire group.  It really is such a perfect way to do it, and we were in charge of Friday lunch {sandwiches} and Saturday dinner {fajitas}, and that was it.  Easy peasy, and all of the food was so good -- lasagna, sausage and eggs, pancakes, pulled pork sandwiches, and breakfast tacos.  We also took turns going out for both a guys' night and a girls' night for some local seafood, which was fun, too.  Of course, we didn't get a picture of the guys, but the girls took one before heading out.

Meisa, Kaycee, Whitney, me, Sarah, Cassie,

 Katie, Kim, Laura Lee, & Erin

Most of the rest of the trip was spent on the beach and doing exactly this.

After breakfast, we would all head down to the beach and stay there till lunch time.  When it was time to put all of the kids down for a nap, I always thought about napping myself, but both days, I ended up just sitting in the living room enjoying both the air conditioning and the adult conversation.  As soon as nap was over, we either headed back down to the beach or let Jackson entertain himself on the iPad while we got dinner ready for the group, and then after dinner, we put all the kids to bed and again hung out in the living room with our bevvies {sparkling water for me!} and baby monitors.

As soon as I got back to our beach house, and I saw the picture above, I thought: "Yikes, what a bad angle.  I definitely need to remember to take another family picture tomorrow."  However, as it turns out, it wasn't the angle.  Turns out I really am that big, and it's a shame that stripes aren't quite as slimming when you're almost 9 months pregnant.  34 weeks and counting!  

A real-life motor grader on the beach was just another one of the many highlights of the trip...in the eyes of our construction-obsessed toddler anyway.

This morning, after breakfast, we headed down to the beach to do our best to wear Jackson out before the drive back home.  We stopped for lunch at a Whataburger in Corpus Christi along the way, and not long after that, Jackson put his blanket up over his face...

...and just like that, he was out.  Thankfully he slept a good chunk of the ride home, and before we knew it, we were back home...with our sand-filled bags and loads upon loads of dirty laundry.

This trip really was so great, and although I was a little nervous about going on a trip {especially such a long road trip at that} this far into my pregnancy, I am so glad we went.  We had so much fun with all of our friends, and on top of that, just knowing that it's the last vacation...ahem, trip...that we'll take as family of three made it that much more special.  I'm so thankful for my boys, and I know that I will treasure the memories that we made over the past few days {of diggin'} forever.

Father's Day 2015

"I never knew how much I loved your daddy

until I saw how much he loved you."

This past Sunday was Father's Day, and we spent the weekend celebrating the three dads that are the most special in my life -- Ben, Opa, and Pops.  Although I'm fairly certain that this particular day is meant to be spent doing exactly what all the dads/grandpas want to do, we instead celebrated by doing the things that Jackson enjoys most...mainly because his dad and grandpas are the best and also because "if Jackson ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

On Saturday, my dad and Patty came in town, and we all went to Central Market for lunch.  When you're a parent, restaurants that have both good food and a playground are definitely where it's at.

Growing up, my dad always told us that he loved having two girls and wouldn't have it any other way, and although I still believe him, I also know how happy he is to finally have his boy {and another on the way}.  The coffee cup {and a bag of local dark roast} says it best: "Opa is the Greatest!"

That afternoon, we wanted to take Jackson somewhere to wear him out {the story of our lives}, but because it looked as though the sky was about to open up at any given moment, we abandoned our original splash pad plan and ended up at Lowe's instead.  We had a couple of things to pick up {in addition to the pool noodle that Jackson just had to have}, and Jackson has always loved exploring both Home Depot and Lowe's.  Plus, what better way to celebrate Father's Day than with a trip to every man's favorite store?

Sunday morning, Jackson insisted that Ben open his Father's Day gift as soon as he got up, and then the boys celebrated with a doughnut breakfast {and a little bit of screen time} while I got ready for church.

We have only taken Jackson with us to the service a handful of times, but because it was Father's Day and I know how much Ben likes taking him with us {plus the only kid that was already in the toddler room was crying, which I knew would freak Jackson out}, I suggested that we go to church as a family and then only take him to the nursery for the Sunday School hour.  Thankfully, he did pretty good overall, but what I didn't think about ahead of time was how much chattier he is now than he was the last time that he went with us, which was on Easter and almost 3 months ago.  It was so much harder to keep him quiet, and the boy definitely hasn't mastered the skill of whispering, but we sat near a bunch of our friends from Sunday School who also have young kids, so thankfully it didn't seem to bother them one bit.

Sunday after Jackson's nap, we headed over to Kyle and Steve's house to celebrate Father's Day with a delicious steak dinner and the usual digging, swimming, tractor-riding fun.  Needless to say, I didn't get the most perfectly posed picture of the three generations of Liggett men, but sometimes the outtakes are even better than the "good" ones.  I can only hope that Jackson {and his brother} will be just like the two generations before him -- hardworking, selfless, and so good at spoiling me.

As for the rest of this week, we've been busy getting ready for our upcoming Sunday School beach trip.  We've done laundry, grocery shopped, and packed, and we even made a quick trip to the mall to pick up a couple of things -- although unfortunately, it was not as quick as I had hoped.  Because I had to buy my new flip flops in the shoe department, I had to stand in a long line with a sales clerk who moved slower than molasses and behind several customers who literally asked one question after another, and then, as luck would have it, Ben's boxers didn't ring up on sale, so I had to go back to the men's department and stand in another long line to check out there, too.  About halfway through our first wait in line, Jackson asked to get out of the stroller, and for the most part he did a good job of staying close, but the walk back to the men's department was a disaster {see the picture below for proof}, and the second wait in line was even worse.  Needless to say, he won't be pushing this stroller when there's a baby in it.

Just as it became my turn to check out {for the second time}, and I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, I looked over to see Jackson pulling every single tie off the display table.  I immediately went to retrieve him, and after promising the sales clerk that we would pick up every single one of them just as soon as we paid, the lady behind me said: "we were just saying how impressed we are that you're here shopping with him".  Um, thanks?  Honestly, I'm not even sure how I responded to that, but as soon as Jackson finished helping me pick them up {good parenting can be such a slow and painful process sometimes}, we were out of there.

On our way home, we stopped by the Clarksville Park & Splash Pad to let him burn off the rest of his energy, and it's a good thing that we did because he was all over that place -- digging in the gravel and running through the water.  While we were there, we also ran into Stephanie and Ashley from Stroller Strides and their kids, so it was fun catching up with them while the kids ran wild.

It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago, my mom and I were saying how sad it was that the city was replacing so many of its pools with splash pads -- because now that I have a kid of my own, I know exactly how wonderful these places really are.  With their ability to wear a kid out just as much as any playground while also keeping them and their mom {relatively} sweat-free on even the hottest of days, they really are amazing.  And the fact that they don't have display tables of perfectly arranged ties just asking to be messed up or ridiculously long lines is just icing on the cake, too.