I guess we like to keep it crazy here.

We had a big outing planned for yesterday. Well, without kids, it would have just been a day trip. But with three three year olds, it was a BIG outing. My brother-in-law, Chris, and his girlfriend, Kim, live about five minutes from the beach. They were having a cookout yesterday afternoon but some of us planned to hit the beach earlier in the day.

I think the worst part of getting out of the house is all of the stuff that needs to be packed. Anna's medical supplies, pull-ups and swim diapers for Anna, wipes, sunblock, plastic bags, snacks, juice boxes, bathing suits, beach cover-ups, beach shoes, clothes for after the beach, extras of everything in case someone vomits or has a potty accident, beach toys, beach gear. Rich and I need to pack stuff for ourselves as well.

We left as early as possible, which given the fact that the girls slept until 8:00, was not all that early. The girls slept until 8:00. I was, unfortunately, stuck on the couch cushion bed wedged between Anna and Emily. I was afraid to move an inch for fear of waking them because they really needed sleep and I didn't want to deal with grumpy kids all day.

We hung out at Chris and Kim's for a bit before we hit the beach with some family, including the girls' baby cousin, Clive, from Virginia. We all had a blast at the beach except for the fact that the water was a bit dangerous. There was a quick drop off to deep water and the undertow is fairly strong so we had to hold the girls' hands at all times. They couldn't really play at the shoreline which they like to do.





After the beach, we headed back to Chris and Kim's for the cookout. Here's what the inside of our van looked like when we arrived at their house.



Note that we only let them sleep for approximately 15 minutes.

The girls had a ton of fun at the cookout and were very well behaved.

I took some pictures of the girls with their cousin and then, quite randomly, Allie decided to pose like this. Anna joined her.



And where was Em? She ran off to get more potato chips and would not participate. My plan to photograph the three of them together with their little holiday outfits didn't really work out.

We changed the girls into their pajamas before we left (because it was late.) I think Rich and I both envisioned carrying sleeping children to their beds. We arrived home at 8:45 and our plan was 33.33% successful.

I have more pictures that I may post later. Too tired now.