Can you believe I’ve done this nonsense for 250 weeks? Caroline wasn’t even BORN when I did the first one. So I suppose I can’t even think about quitting, despite the fact that I can barely remember to do them. This one is late and I had to check my dates three times because it’s so hard to believe a week ago we were still on vacation. Real life happens SO FAST.

Sunday:

Evan is doubtful that 3 people in a one person kayak is wise.

Linc loves vacation

Caroline is ALWAYS ready for more pictures

Monday:

If you look hard enough, you can almost see New York down the river

I liked the reflection in the back of that tanker

Linc is happy to see all his stuff again

Tuesday:

Caroline is writing a song

Grumpy pants needed a walk to get ready for bed

I really, really love this front porch.

Wednesday:

The zoo was so fun.

I will never get tired of these photos.

I had three ladies tell me they liked my hair and none of them even notice I was nursing a baby.

Thursday:

Lunch at Quincy Market should always involve a lobster roll

Boston Children’s Museum

Linc was over Boston (and I was over my poor choice of shirt on a 90 degree day)

Friday:

SUPER COOL PRESS EVENT POST COMING SOON

I was really good at juggling, if my really good you mean terrible

Red Lantern at Foxwoods = ORDER ALL THE SUSHI

Saturday:

They must have bought those water bottles at Target. Poor confused children.

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaap

What? I’m hungry.

I forgot I had Virginia vacation photos to post, plus I have the post about our fun date at Foxwoods, so as long as I don’t die of heatstroke (we’re on day 5 or 6 of 90 degrees plus) I’ll have more new blog stuff up soon.

I lived in Massachusetts for a few years in elementary and middle school, which is one of the reasons I like living in New England so much – it reminds me of all the fun stuff I did as a kid. My parents/school/church youth group loved Doing Stuff so I Did A Lot Of Stuff between the ages of 9 and 14. We went to amusement parks and museums and cities and zoos, and one of the places I have vague memories of is Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Mass. This week we went up to check it out during the day trip portion of our summer vacation, since it’s only about 75 minutes away.

What I didn’t remember is that it’s a private zoo (I’m not sure I even knew that was still a thing?) and that it’s in the middle of nowhere. Our GPS took us down what I swear was a 3 mile driveway to a grass field…that turned out to be the parking lot. But the inauspicious entrance didn’t mean the zoo was a disappointment – in terms of animals they had more variety than our much-beloved Roger Williams Park Zoo. Plus they had the deer forest. I love the deer forest. We all love the deer forest, even E, although after I discovered how much he loved the baby goat farm I’m not sure why I’m surprised.

Southwick’s Zoo had a really nice military discount too (E was free, the rest of us were half-price) so it is definitely worth the drive for us. My tips: show up right at 10 am, park close to the entrance, and pack a picnic lunch in your car so you don’t have to buy zoo food. Let your kid pick ONE ride each (Evan picked the Skyfari, Caroline took a pony ride) and don’t waste money on the other tourist trap stuff. Bring lots of quarters for deer food. There are a ton of hills and it’s surprisingly big (my Fitbit said we walked 4.87 miles) so wear comfortable shoes. Wearing Linc was definitely a better choice than pushing a stroller up the huge hill at the end of the day would have been.

The tiger had a huge enclosure but was hanging out RIGHT next to the building. It must have been feeding time.

She saw an ape swinging from some ropes and was AMAZED.

It was clear they’ve done (and are doing) a lot of improvements/updates to the zoo, which were really nice. Zoos sometimes make me a little sad, but conservation and awareness seemed to be a big part of their program (for the record, this isn’t sponsored or endorsed, I just liked it).

Not tall enough for anything. Yet.

You’re not allowed to put the corn in a plastic bag, so we used the hat Lincoln refused to wear.

We couldn’t give Linc the corn to feed the deer because he kept eating it.

IS THAT NOT THE FAKEST-LOOKING DEER YOU’VE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE? I’ve seen taxidermied deer that look less animatronic.

I went to the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. When I was looking at colleges, I picked out ones with strong marine biology programs because I was 1000% sure I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. And look how that worked out! Here I am, an extremely successful marine biolo- what? I’m not actually a marine biologist, because sometimes the thing you decided you wanted to be when you were 7 years old isn’t a thing you are actually good at? I never would have believed you when I was 17.

When I was 16 I learned to scuba dive and went on a 3 week dive trip in the British Virgin Islands, which made me even more sure I wanted to be a biologist. One of my instructors/adult supervisors was named Will and he was a professor at the College of Charleston. He also drove a motorcycle and had a huge scar on his leg from where he was bitten by a nurse shark once. I figured if C of C was cool enough to have him as a professor, then I should definitely go there.

After I narrowed my college choices down to a handful, my mom and I drove south for 8 hours to visit the schools I was thinking about. We drove down I-95, took the exit for I-26 and followed that directly into downtown Charleston. I hadn’t even gotten out of the car before I decided that was where I was going. During the campus tour I barely paid attention because it didn’t matter – I was moving to Charleston. My mom suggested I apply to some of my other schools at back ups, which I did, but only because they didn’t require essays. There was no point. I was so in love with Charleston I would have moved there even if I hadn’t gotten in.

You can tell I really love my husband because I was willing to leave my favorite city to be with him, although I did insist my entire family, all my friends, his entire family, most of his friends, plus my husband himself (who had been transferred to San Diego) all come back to Charleston for the wedding.

It’s just a perfect coincidence that Kiawah, the site of our borrowed beach house, is just outside Charleston. This year my college roommate (who feels the same way about Charleston as I do, at least I’m pretty sure) had the good idea to stay an extra night in the city before the beach, so we could eat there and walk there and take pictures there without dragging all the kids back in from the beach. I think we’ll make it a tradition, so I can get a picture of my kids in this alley every year for the rest of their lives.

Our hotel is that one right behind Evan. I’ve alway wanted to stay there, and not just because I love that fountain.

That restaurant is where my college roommate and her husband got married, so obviously we all had to go there.

That pink house is the narrowest house in the city, less than 15 feet. I would live in it in a second.

This is our fifth year in this borrowed beach house, but only the second time E has been able to come. Technically he was there for 24 hours last year, but I did the 2 day drive by myself so that doesn’t count as being there. He drove this year, the whole way, and I got to sleep and hand stuff to the kids in the back which is the perfect start to vacation. It turns out Linc is an amazing road tripper and his presence barely slowed us down, so the driving was well worth the end result.

Kiawah is amazing. It’s an incredible vacation just because of the setting, but the key to a true dream vacation is to have more bathrooms than you have adults. Never having to wait for a bathroom or use a bathroom on the same floor where everyone is eating or worry someone is hearing you in the bathroom or having to take a cold shower because everyone else used up the hot water is an amazing luxury. It’s why rich people are so much happier than regular people. Bathrooms.

Bathrooms are especially key when the main sources of beach house entertainment are eating and drinking and drinking. We’ve gotten pretty good at our menu and consolidating our shopping down to two big trips and then only a few smaller trips for emergency supplies (like limes, and another 5 pound bag of sugar since we managed to use the first one up in less than 36 hours). There was cake and more cake and an apple crisp and Lowcountry Boil, which is seafood and corn and sausage, and Bo Ssam, which is huge plates of pork with rice and lettuce and ginger sauce, and one thousand cocktails, which is the appropriate number of cocktails on vacation. We ate until we could barely move and then we played cards, because even though we were on vacation we are all responsible adults now and can’t get falling down drunk at 2 pm. I like cards better than throwing up anyway.

I took thousands and thousands of pictures, culled and edited them down to several hundred, and I uploaded exactly 100 photos for this post. I know that’s a ridiculous number and I ought to feel bad about my self-indulgence, especially because even though there were 7 adults and 6 kids at the beach house 99% of my pictures of just of my children. But I don’t. While we were in the kitchen, trying to remember specifics from previous years, one of my friends pulled up pictures from a previous year. I was surprised she still had them on her laptop, but she said actually she didn’t, she just looked at them on my blog. So it’s my duty to document this glorious vacation for posterity. Or at least so I can show the kids in a couple months and remind them that they are some very lucky children.

Previous years: 2011 2012 2013 2014

There is a hair in my lens. It makes that shadow in the top right and the line just left and below center. If I print anything I will take the time to clone it out, but for now I don’t care enough. It ONLY shows when I photograph landscapes/sky at 28mm.

Vacation is over as of bedtime tonight, so back to regular life we go. But if ever my children say we never did anything fun with them, I have tons of photographic proof their childhoods were MAGICAL.

Sunday:

Linc felt he needed a snack JUST as the tide started coming in.

Boogie boarding

The Russian judge only gave them a 8.7

Monday:

It’s Pims O’Clock – time for Pims Cups and cards

He likes the beach house

I love the beach house

Tuesday:

Good bye bunk room

Good bye pluff mud

HELLO LAKE HOUSE

Wednesday:

Topless at Walmart, because we’re super classy

Drinking and boating (when you’re 4.5)

Drinking and boating (when you’re 1)

Thursday:

Water fun

Bucket head

Poor baby has no idea he isn’t a big kid who can kayak

Friday:

Linc loves the ugly couch

On your anniversary you don’t have to split a dessert

Happy 11 years to us

Saturday:

How many guys does it take to deflate an air mattress?

It’s a good thing he was wrapped or he would have climbed right onto that horse

Evening cruising and tubing and water skiing and kneeboarding

Want to hear something crazy? Even though we’ve been on vacation almost 2 weeks when we get home we get to have a staycation for a few days. We plan to alternate between doing all the things and doing nothing (preferably at the lake) so we can enjoy the last days of summer before school starts. I’m not ready for school. This year I have two lunches to pack every day and there is nothing I hate more than packing lunches.