Threes Company: May 2013

I'll start by saying that this years beach trip was a MUCH MUCH Better trip than last year. In case any one forgot, last year was the first time any of the babies had slept out of their cribs and in pack and plays for an extended period of time. We were still doing bottles every four hours and they were doing two naps a day. Basically, it felt like someone was up and needed something all 24 hours of the day. Katie and I actually came back more exhausted then when we began the trip. That was not the case this year. While we did have a few bumps along the way the kids adjusted very nicely to their new surroundings and by night 3 were pretty much back into their usual routine. While there wasn't as much getting up in the middle of the night this trip there was still a lot of waking up to one of them crying but they could usually get themselves back to sleep within a few minutes. I would say that we probably averaged 3-4 hours of sleep a night last year and that number was closer to 5-6hrs this year. It may not sound like much but it really made a HUGE difference. Here's to hoping for 7-8hrs next year :)

The big trick this year, we thought, was going to be finding a way to keep Kade in the pack and play. the problem is that he can climb out of it and would continually do so over and over again if we did not find a solution. The good news is that we found a way to keep him corralled (We got a crib tent - basically its a mesh tent that goes on top of the tent so babies can't continually crawl out of their cribs) So, here we are about 3 day before we are set to take off for our trip and what happens? Well, Kade's brother Larkin decides that its now time for him to learn to climb out of his crib! You betcha. Instead of having to worry about one little monkey crawling out of the crib now we have to worry about two. The bad news is that crib tents have to be ordered and there is no way to get a new one in time before we leave. Soooo, that means we will have to decide which little monkey gets locked up and which one do we leave to climb out whenever he feels the need. I thought it was going to be an easy decision. Kade would get the tent. He's been climbing out more frequently, has more confidence in his ability to climb and usually sleeps the least out of the three. Whoa was I in for a surprise though. After about 48 hours of wild non sleep action thanks to our little teddy bear Larkin we were forced to make a change. Our strategy needed to be rethought and a new game plan settled on. You see, what we did not take into consideration was the fact that little man Larkin was our tried and true Army brat who lived and died by the routine. If the routine was broken he would fight and fight until the new routine was settled on. And fight he did. He just refused to sleep the first few days and since he was able to escape his temporary sleeping apparatus that was holding him during nap and night times he would simply lift a little chubby foot over the side of the pack and play, apply downward pressure and pull his golden curled head and body over the side to freedom. He did this over and over and over again. Just ask Grace and Katie. They were more a witness to it than I was :) So, after putting our heads together and deciding that we must, at once, switch the tent to Larkin all was settled. Basically, from that point on sleep was not to big an issue.

As for the trip itself. We had a wonderful time with the kids at the pool and beach. Every morning after breakfast and the sun had a little time to warm up we would take the kids either to the beach or the pool. It was usually around 9:30 or so. They would play for an hour to an hour and a half and we would pack them up and head back to the condo. We would then feed them lunch and put them down for a nap. (usually around 12) The great thing about having Grace with us on this trip was that now Katie and I had the next 2-3 hours to go to the pool or beach and just RELAX!!! We didn't have to worry about them during that few hours. We could just take a nap in a chair or sit by the beach with Rusty, Leslie, Bitzy or Aunt MB and Uncle Dave or we could take the Kayak out into the ocean in search of marinelife. It was great! We would head back up between 2:30-3 as the kids were getting up from their naps. From their we would get them ready again and either take them to the beach or one of the smaller pools that was a little closer to us. Again, they would usually play for about an hour or so and then we would pack them up and head back to the condo for dinner and baths. Once those were done and we had put at least two of the three to bed Katie and I would get ready and head out for dinner. Again, this is a huge benefit of having Grace with us. It allowed us to enjoy our nights without having to worry about the kids. We did the following for dinners:
1. Café Tango
2. Shrimp Boil at Bitzy's
3. BBQ Chicken at the condo with Family
4. Bud and Alley's
5. Bently's Steak House
6. Old Florida Fish house
7. Pizza at Seaside

Like last year one morning we got up, put the kids in the car and headed to breakfast at Another Broken Egg at Baytown wharf in SanDestin. We recreated the picture of the trio on the big chair (at least attempted to) and had a great morning.

There were some funny events for sure

1. Kade crawling out of the crib with a poopie butt and no diaper (Don't ask - but is was funny)
2. Learning how to say "Aw Man" or "Moon" with a Christopher Walken accent so that we sound like Larkin
3. My great fish tale with Rusty on the Kayak - "Battling 7ft swells with nothing but a paddle to stay on top of a school of Jack Crevil's"
4. Katie telling me I was the worst person in the world to go out on a kayak with (B/c I told her stories about sharks biting people in the gulf the whole time :)
5. Mother's Day Dinner where I shared a little to much info about what Mom and I have in common

All in all this was my favorite week with Katie and the kids. I had a blast and can't wait for next year.

Oh, and i'm getting a golf cart b/c the boys LOVED riding in it with us

Check out the pics and video's below :)