Beach Trip -- Day 2

After the long post below, I wanted to throw some more beach pictures up here. So here goes Day 2. Pretty self explanatory!

My brother Mike, sister-in-law Andrea and nephew Holden arrived Monday night to spend the rest of the week. That last picture with the ferris wheel still makes me cringe. For about 30 seconds, I lost Philip in the middle of downtown Myrtle Beach. There was a kids' night at the boardwalk with blow-up bounce houses. Philip and Braewyn went into one which had a slide out the side. Braewyn came out and back in about 5 or 6 times. I told her it was time to go and she needed to get Philip. She said she didn't know where he was. I called for him with no answer. I asked the man "working" the bounce house to find a boy with black shirt and red shorts. He pulled out a 3-yr-old! I was beside myself as it was now about 9pm and there were hundreds of people all around us. I think either Mike or Andrea finally noticed Philip through the mesh still inside that bounce house. He could see a nearby stage from the top of the slide and was watching a magic show! My sweet, attention-focused boy had scared the life out of me! I cannot imagine really losing a child. Praise God we didn't that night.

My Time Spent Wisely in a Different Way

Last week, Philip attended science camp each day from 1-4pm.  It was my plan to arrange play dates for Braewyn, take Juliet with me to the science center, and spend the time waiting on Philip reading my schedule making plan book.  Well, the week didn't go as scheduled but I can clearly see it was according to the plans God had for me instead of the plans I had for me.


Monday, I took Braewyn across the street from the science center to a water fountain park.  It was a lot of fun until another little kid ran right into her and she literally skidded across the concrete.  Bandaids on both knees and one forearm and then we were headed home.  Matthew thankfully only works two blocks from the science center and so he was able to bring Philip home.

Tuesday, Braewyn did play at a friend's house while I spent three hours attempting to read through my scheduling book while Juliet napped on a bench.  Alas, I didn't know dance camp would let out in the hall where we were and Juliet ended up awake most of the afternoon, happy yet attracting lots of attention from passersby!

Wednesday, Braewyn and I joined a friend and her daughter for a swim date at their neighborhood pool.  It was a relaxing afternoon and a special time to catch up on what was going on in each other's lives.  She also lent me a precious baby float.  It makes Juliet look like she is floating in the middle of a flower!

Thursday was intended to be a day to drop Braewyn and Juliet off at my mom's and return home to clean.  Well, I ended up staying as my parents bought one of those plastic baby pools and it was too much fun watching Braewyn "go underwater" in one foot of water!

Friday was a great day for Philip and I to spend together.  A field trip was scheduled for this last day of science camp.  Maybe I'm overprotective, maybe I'm appropriately protective but I wasn't going to sign the release form for Philip to ride with an insured parent whom I had never laid eyes on.  I decided upon receiving that form that I would be the insured parent and drive him myself. It worked out well as I drove Philip and another 7-yr-old boy just 5 minutes down the road to a beautifully landscaped garden which I'd never been to before.  It was a fun day and a nice unexpected escape from my busy life.

However, I have been plugging along with reading the scheduling book and have written out mine and Juliet's Daily Activity sheets.  On this, you list all the activities you feel God wants you to do in your day and state how long each activity takes.  Here's the rundown on my typical day.

Quiet Time with the Lord -- 1/2 hr
Nurse Juliet -- 3 hr (obviously not in one sitting!)
Prepare breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Eat breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Prepare lunch -- 1/2 hr
Eat lunch -- 1/2 hr
Prepare dinner -- 1 hr
Eat dinner -- 1/2 hr
Exercise -- 1/2 hr
Laundry folding -- 1/2 hr
Morning chores -- 1/2 hr
Afternoon chores -- 1/2 hr
Sleep -- 7 hr
Computer time or read -- 1/2 hr
Time with Matthew -- 1 hr
Shower/hair/makeup -- 1/2 hr (we'll see if I can stick to this!)
School (Philip 2 1/2 hr; Braewyn 1 hr) -- 3 1/2 hr
Kids' bath or Book time -- 1 hr
Individual playtime with Mommy (Philip-T/Th, Braewyn-M/W,Together-F) -- 1/2 hr
Evening family devotion -- 1/2 hr

It feels really good to get it down on paper!

My Favorite New Book

More beach pictures are on the way but in the meantime, here's what I have going on this week. Philip is attending Science Camp this week each day from 1-3pm. He chose the Invertebrates (bugs!) camp to attend. It's for ages 6-11 so I'm excited to hear about what he gets to do and any new friends he meets. Since it's two hours long, I plan to drop him off and then spend my time wisely reading my new favorite book, Managers of Their Homes.  A friend gave it to me and I felt like it was a literal gift from Heaven!  It's a thorough manual with other real moms' sample schedules and a scheduling kit for me to use.  I'm excited to begin our third year of homeschooling however with Juliet's schedule added to our family and the neverending housework (I'm really trying to overcome my feelings of archenemy as my house is such a blessing from God!), I was really in a big need for some schedule overhauling!  Therefore, I'm going to bring my book along and scan through it this week while Philip is in camp and Braewyn is either dropped off for a playdate or entertaining Juliet with me.  The following two weeks (last two weeks of July), I'm working HARD at nailing down our own schedules (yes, every member of our family will receive a schedule; Matthew's on his own although their is a chapter in the book for Dads to read about how to support and encourage Mom in sticking to her's and the kids' schedules).  School will begin the first week of August and I pray to hit the ground RUNNING this year!  I'll keep you posted.

Just a picture to post...

Juliet LOVES this Bumbo seat. She's simply overflowing with joy!

Back to June -- Beach Trip, Day 1

So we left the kids' dance / tumbling recital around 5pm and arrived at Cherry Grove Beach at 10pm. We vacationed at this same beach and the same condo building three summers ago so we knew the place when we got there. Only difference this time was that our room key didn't work! Yes, three tired kids hung out on the balcony with Mommy until Daddy returned with a resort employee 20 minutes later. Actually my mom and dad (Nana and Papa) arrived at the condo just 5 minutes after Matthew left to go meet the resort employee.

The next morning, Braewyn and Philip were all smiles. They loved being at the beach!

And she's all suited up and ready to hit the beach!

Juliet tolerated the sun and sand very well. Too bad she won't remember her first beach trip.

However we did make sure she felt the sand in her toes!

Philip was a ball of energy on the sand. Thankfully the kids had lots of room to run!

And now Braewyn will herself remember being at the beach as she was just one year old the last time she was there. She had a ball running around. Cherry Grove is a wonderful, family-friendly, non-crowded beach! We'll probably never go anywhere else (in the Myrtle Beach area that is.)

Juliet snoozed comfortably under her own little cabana which I borrowed from a friend. It made staying down on the beach a possibility with an infant.

The sun and water wore us all out that first day at the beach. I am so thankful that I came across this great, low-priced condo as it has everything we need and is oceanfront! Can't beat that! (Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see the ocean out the window.)

Juliet is such a happy baby. I think Cherry Grove Beach got a big thumbs up from her -- great place to sleep and eat!