Family Camp 2017 was a little different this year.  Who am I kidding?  Each year we’ve gone to family camp it has been crazy different.  The first year, I had just suffered a miscarriage and Emmie was fresh out of the hospital with her new headgear (halo brace).  Second year included a jet lagged new son and daddy.  And this year…I was 33 weeks pregnant.  We knew we were in for a fun weekend when we met this little guy staring back at us.

Holding this girls hand as she gets to sleep never gets old.

Emmie had plenty of friends hanging out with her while Mark and I did a few races during our family olympics.  Mr. J is a family favorite!

Zoe determined that our family olympics group would be Team Fun because, ya’ll let’s face it, I didn’t get to help much and we have a lot of littles.  Zoe kept reminding me of that when she told me to get my life jacket on to do the mother/daughter kayak race.  At 33 weeks pregnant.

I sat in our kayak.  It had a hole unplugged and I started going down.  The guys kept saying it would be fine…I think they were snickering behind me.  Either way, I wasn’t going out on the water until they plugged it.  Successfully done…we were off. We tied for last but we finished.  Honestly, it wasn’t my pregnancy that gave me issue..it’s turning around!  I can never get the turns. Pretending to paddleboat.  The only way it’s really fun! Family Olympics is always a big hit.

Team Fun!

Archery tag was a new and fun activity!  Seriously, who doesn’t enjoy pelting their siblings with rubber arrows?!

Another fun feat…I hiked up the Little Stone Mountain Mill Trail. We started way down where that little road is. And Emmie?!  She also hiked the whole way up.  Mark and I were in tears.  We didn’t go up the first year.  Last year, Mark carried her the whole way.  And this year…she walked all on her own.

Such a lesson to us to take our mountains step by step…knowing that sometimes God is carrying us through the years…other times we just need to hold His hand to remind us He is with us.

Lulu is always eager to help kids do school!
She also is very loyal at guarding the bathroom.  Seriously…not hands…a tail. Our kids passed around a fun virus in July through August.  It included a day or two of fever and then feeling fine for a day or two.  Then, the fever would come back.  Usually, this lasted a week.  A couple of the kids kept having the fever but several doctor visits later and a few blood tests yielded nothing more than a virus.  Thankfully, everyone was better before we left for the beach.

This is a pile of taco shells on fire.  Forgot they were in the oven from the previous night when I set the oven to broil and make toast.   Thankfully, nothing but the taco shells caught on fire and I used my brain before taking a picture. Aunt B and I have had some pregnancy brain issues which meant a few kids lucked out and got to extend their birthday celebrations into August.  As you can see, they were totally (not) disappointed. This was the look of a puppy who needed mama time so bad she fell asleep on my computer chair. Silas decided to make a paper crown for Emmie and the result was pure happiness.
After over a month of being timid of Mark, Lulu finally decided he was okay and climbed over me to cuddle with him. My belly is still a great prop for her though.Zoe working on getting her id for SAT.

At the end of the month, I was able to take the big kids to a Samaritan’s Feet event volunteer.  For three hours, we cleaned out water tubs, washed kids’ feet and handed out new shoes and socks.  It was a ministry to a lot of kids but it was also a huge blessing to us.  

We headed out bright and early on the 21st to find a good spot for the eclipse.  Unfortunately, as we drove, we kept getting in to the pop up showers.  We made it to a decent spot and found a church where we could park.

Make sure the angel’s eyes are protected.

Unfortunately, as we sat watching the beginning of the eclipse, a storm started coming in.  We made a snap decision to load up and try to outrun it to see the total eclipse.

We didn’t make it to where there wasn’t cloud cover but we definitely got to see the effects of the eclipse.  It was like night time for two minutes and then quickly changed to daylight again.

Silly clouds!

We were all amazed even if we couldn’t see the shadow bands or diamond ring from the eclipse.  We’er anxiously awaiting and planning the next one in several years!

As we drove home and away from the storms, we realized that the eclipse wasn’t over.  Mark pulled over at an exit and we hopped out to watch the last few minutes as the moon crossed in front of the sun.

What a great memorable experience for our crew!

Earlier this year, we started making plans for the eclipse.  We knew we wanted to be close to totality and started out planning a camping trip in the mountains.  Then Tobin came along and we realized, camping in August at eight months pregnant would not be fun.  For any of us.  So, we went with plan B.  A weekend beach trip and a drive down to totality.

We went to Myrtle Beach.  It’s close and slightly more affordable since all we ever do is the beach and pool.

We ate out the first night at River City Cafe (it was directly in front of where we stayed).  Ya’ll it was really, really good.  One of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

Ace got this huge Pizza Burger.

And put the whole thing in his mouth!

Tried to stay with low carbs but the onion rings were calling.  So, I compromised and ditched the bun on my chili cheeseburger.  It was still very good.

The next two days were full of sand, sun, and pool time. I’m not kidding.

As soon as the kids woke up, swimsuits went on and didn’t come off until we were back in for supper.
Sand castles were built. Races to the ocean were had.

We ventured out one evening and got some family pictures.  Since it was August, it was still very crowded and so we got some other friends in our pictures…oh well. Beautiful sky! Quick maternity pictures which I’ll do on another blog post. And Mark and I managed to get pictures with each of the kids.  I love each of their silly personalities shining through.

We left out early morning to try and find a spot for the eclipse.