Where do I start?

Where do I start? I guess I'll just post some pictures and talk about that. Alex has been working at some condos out at Seabrook Island. It's about 30 minutes from our house and a nice drive. Alex made a deal with one of the condo owners to trade some free labor for

some time at their condo. So, this past week we were able to leave the Holdgate Island and spend a few nights at Seabrook.

We were right across from the ocean and a pool. It was great for Alex because he just had to walk outside to get to work. As for us moms, do we ever get to leave work? So, having 3 children in a 2 bedroom condo leaves a bit to be desired. The 2nd night we were there, our friend James and Hillary and Brooks (1 1/2 ) spent the night, so one more little one was added to the mix. It was a lot of fun.

However, me taking the kids to the beach left a bit to be desired. Ryan, the fearless swimmer, kept testing the limits of how far he could wade in the water. I let him have some distance from me until some other beachers yelled "Stingrays!". That stopped that. James was content to play in the sand with the few toys we had. Olivia was not happy to be in her carseat so the beach trip ended fairly early. We tried the pool and again, a baby crying in the car seat and 2 boys trying to grab every other toy they could find that was not theirs. Apparently, we don't have enough pool toys and James and Ryan think it's okay to go through other poolers beach bags. So, it was a short time at the pool also.

So this leaves me with a few questions: When do vacations really become vacations? And when do parents get to enjoy vacations? I think I know the answer to this, but I still have hope every time we plan a getaway that it will be different this time. But just to be sure that I don't sound ungrateful for the generosity of the condo owners, the time away was greatly appreciated and we did have some good times at the beach and pool. Ryan is a fearless swimmer and with his swimmies he will run and jump off the side of the pool and then "swim" to the ladder. James is not so fearless but will go swimming as long as dad is there to hold him.