Father/Son Campout

My only complaint is that they only do the Father/Son Campout once a year. Oh how I do enjoy me a nice, peaceful evening to myself, to do whatever my heart desires, once in awhile. This year, Aaron ambitiously took Hank, Max, Ben, and Joey along on the Campout. Besides waking up freezing cold, it sounds like it was a success! The boys loved running amuck in the woods (closely supervised by Aaron, I'm sure) and they even slept in passed sunrise. 

For my part, I took Rocky on his first date. We went out to pizza, played at the park, ate icecream, and took a bath...all before 7:30! I was amazed at how easily and quickly I was able to move about with just one kid! I loved the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Rocky, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to him joining Aaron next year;)

Grover Family Vacation: much love

Big props to this guy. First of all, 'high 5' to Aaron for his hard work and top-selling to win this prize for our family. Secondly, we wouldn't have survived this 'vacation' without Aaron's perpetual upbeat attitude, selflessness in putting the kids' wants and desires above his own, and tireless physical exertion in carrying kids, pushing strollers, and hauling bags and luggage all over San Diego. I consider myself a fairly hardworking person, but Aaron put me to shame and left me in awe of his service towards us. Thank you, Aaron, for all that you do to make our family happy.

Grover Family Vacation: Legoland

The kids had a really, really good time and that's all that matters, but I wouldn't be keeping it real if I didn't say that Legoland was a rinky-dink rip-off. There. I'm done. No more Debby-downer. 

Some of the kids' favorites were the ball pit area where you can launch balls at each other, the live fireman show, the Lego racing cars, and the miniature golf course. 

Grover Family Vacation: the Mariners

When Aaron learned that the Mariners would be playing in San Diego, it was a no-brainier. He took Hank and Max to the ballpark while I hung back with the littles. 

Grover Family Vacation: pool day

After a few vacation days spent trying to cram as much sight seeing in as possible--which didn't feel very much like a vacation at all--we decided to scrap our plans and spend the morning just lounging at the pool. And, you know what, when we stopped trying so hard to force fun to happen, we actually started having a lot of fun. Hank and Max played catch in the pool with Aaron for hours, The little guys splashed happily on the shallow steps, we order lunch poolside, and we just relaxed. 

Grover Family Vacation: San Diego Zoo

I'm going to look back years from now on my musings from our family vacation and think, either: a. I am the world's biggest pessimist and only have negative things to say about our trip; or, b. I am the world's biggest optimist and that despite an absurd amount of challenge and resistance from the kids we heroically keep trying. And that is the theme of this vacation: despite an inconceivable amount of difficulty involved in keeping five self-absorbed, tired, emotional, and cranky kids happy, Aaron and I kept trying. Points to us for trying. 

We were recently invited to join our cousins on a trip to the Salt Lake Vity zoo. Ordinarily, I would have jumped at the opportunity to take the kids on a mini-adventure. This time, I didn't even hesitate to turn down the offer. After our day at the San Diego zoo, it's going to be a long time before I feel like going back to the zoo. 

1. It was hot. Muggy, sweaty-hair-stick-to-your-neck hot.

2. Who's idea was it to build the zoo on a hill, anyways? No matter what direction you go, it's always uphill. When you're carrying a 35lb toddler or pushing a 50lb kid in a stroller, the hills become cumbersome real quick. 

3. Whether it be crowds, the animals too lethargic to move about, or poor visibility within the habitat, inevitably the animals are all 100 yards away and asleep.

And yet, we kept trying. We passed around fruit snacks and water bottles to keep spirits up. We piggy-backed and gave rides on our shoulders--we even paid Hank a dollar to help push the stroller! I hope when we look back on our visit to San Diego, the kids never remember all the hard work behind the scenes that went into the outing, they just remember the day spent strolling the park and visiting animals. 

Grover Family Vacation: the beach

We packed a picnic and headed to the beach on Sunday afternoon. We really tried to have a good time. We wanted to like it. I don't know if we're just city-folk or what, but after the novelty of the waves and sand wore off (15 minutes), the kids complained that they were cold, wet, and had sand in every bodily crevice imaginable. We huddled under our beach towels and ate crunchy sand-sandwiches, and then threw in the towel on our beach day and headed back to the hotel. A few days later, Hank asked Aaron if we could go back to the beach. Aaron flatly responded, "no." When Hank pressed further, Aaron explained that the beach, "was too sandy." I'm not giving up for good...maybe a few degrees warmer or a little less windy and our experience would have been more positive.