The Last Summer Trip??

We went up to Branson this weekend as our last trip before school starts. Before we left I received a letter in the mail from Lexi's school welcoming her into Middle School. As I started reading this letter it hit me- she really IS going into Middle School!! As the tears came I tried calming myself knowing she's a great kid, she is rule follower, so sweet to others, and loves learning. All these things are great, but what if someone makes fun of my little girl, or is mean to her? I don't want her feelings hurt. I called Darrell and talked to him about all my worries and sadnesses- his response was- everyone is going to get made fun of or treated in a mean way. NOT what I wanted to hear! But it's true, we all went through it and still do I guess. There are just mean people out there and we have to learn how to deal with them.

So with that little letter I was so excited to take a little trip where we can have more time together. We went to Silver Dollar City Friday night, it was busy, but still very fun. Baylee had her first theme park rides and thought they were great. She did not understand the concept of waiting in line. She was signing please like crazy, the fun times of learning patience have started. Here are the only few pictures we took through out the weekend- I feel bad I forgot to get more!

It was really hot, so the first ride for the older kids and Darrell was American Plunge. Carly hasn't ever been on a water ride, and was a little hesitant. As I watched her screaming like a crazy person, I thought she must hate it. As soon as they were done with the drop I heard her little voice say, " THAT WAS AWESOME!" She can't wait to go again. Yes, a picture would have been great here...

Before shopping we went to a new favorite diner- The Hard Luck Diner. Friends took us there a while ago, and we LOVED it! Our waiter this time was one of the top 10 males singers on American Idol. He sang to Lexi and made her blush, he took another lady's sunglasses and sang to her, then came back and asked Ashlee to dance with him. Lexi and Ashlee have my love of public spotlight- the less the better! So I was surprised when Ashlee got up and danced with him. She too was bright red- but was laughing like crazy. Baylee and Carly were sung to by other waitresses, and Baylee was the happiest baby to be able to dance and be as noisy as she wanted. If you go to Branson, you really should go there- it's so fun, and the food is good too! A few more picture's would have been good here also!

We went to the outlet mall and I didn't know tax free weekend was such a big deal- apparently it is. The parking lot was insane, and the crowds in the stores were just as crazy, but we had so much fun! We split up for a while and shopped for Carly Lexi and Ashlee. Baylee will get her shopping another time. We really wanted to focus on what the older girls liked and would wear.

They each were allowed 7 new outfits. I can not tell you how many outfits and pieces of clothing I have given away or donated because I thought they were cute, but my older girls didn't. I cleaned out closets- gave away 4 garbage bags full of clothes to friends of clothes that had only been worn a few times, and still have more that I will take to Goodwill this week! Sadly, their closets are still FULL, at least they don't have to shove things to get one hanger to fit on the rod. I am not going buy them anything unless they are with me.

We ran onto some friends in the mall, and I will admit I was slightly jealous that they only had ONE daughter to be shopping for. Jealous because it's always easier to shop with only one child, and holy cow it's a lot cheaper!! But, I love my girls and wouldn't want it any other way, well, except maybe when they are fighting and making me crazy...

One of the mom's asked me how we can do it. I looked at her kind of funny and asked her what she meant. She knows I stay home, so we live off one income, but she also knows how expensive girls are. I've never really thought about that. It's just normal to me to live off one income, so I didn't have a very good answer. I told her I won't pay full price for anything. I love clearance sections, and going to the mall on Wednesday because that's usually their markdown day so you get better choices in the clearance section. I'm not afraid to use a coupon or stand with crowds of people because it's a great sale. Those things are fun to me. It's so fun to go in a store like Gap and spend $80, and come out with 6 shirts, 2 pair of shorts, one dress, and one pair of leggings. That is a great feeling!

After shopping we were still full from lunch so we decided to skip dinner and swim. We originally planned on going back to SDC, but our feet hurt and the kids were so tired of crowds. We swam and had ice cream for dinner, and everyone slept in until 8- almost 11 hours of sleep!

This summer has been a hard one for me as a mom, to juggle every one's interests, and keep everyone happy. I have been very frazzled and am excited for the school year to start to get us all back on routines. But I am going to miss the kids (sometimes I have to remind myself that I REALLY will miss them)- we've done so many fun things as a family. I went to bed last night very thankful. I love my little family. Sometimes it's full of laughter and other times it's lots of time outs or groundings in rooms, but I am so thankful for the little things that happen to show me that we're doing alright. I wonder if we will all survive this- how can a house survive 5 women?? But I know somehow we will live through all the craziness- hopefully we come out as sane people though!:)