Our vacation in numbers

15 - # of hours it should take to drive to Myrtle Beach
19 - # of hours it took us (including 11 thousand bathroom stops)

36 - eggs our family consumed during the week (don't ask me how our family managed to eat so many)
0 - # of meals I prepared in the last week
17 - # of meals Tim prepared in the last week

60 - # of minutes it took after leaving the house before someone asked "Are we there yet?"
11 - # of times we asked eachother "Can you believe the weather we're having?"
30 - degrees Celsius every day
700 - # of pictures taken this week

0 - # of fish Tim caught on the pier
12 - # of shark the old lady caught on the pier

350,000 - # of bikers in Myrtle Beach this week for the Memorial weekend bike rally
3 - # of those people we saw wearing motorcycle helmets
6 - # of times I lost something (i.e. all the money) during the week and thought I was losing my mind
20 - hours spent on the beach

6:20 - time alarm set to wake up for early morning shell hunt

3 - # of stuffed cats Emily purchased with her vacation money
4000 - amount of money Tim could have been fined if he had been caught bringing weed killer over the border
0 - # of bags of weed killer Tim brought over the border
17 - # of times we thanked God no one was sick

He thinks it`s ghetto, I think it`s brilliant!

We're driving to Myrtle Beach for our family vacation.

  It's supposed to take us 15 hours of driving time.

It'll likely take us more than that...seeing as there are four female bladders in our car which equals many many bathroom stops.

But that's ok with me...it's part of the adventure of a road trip.

And plus...with today`s modern gadgets

we have the option of having a tv in the car.

Mazda wanted us to pay an extra $8000 to add the built-in dvd.

Ok...maybe not $8000...Tim`s at work right now so I can`t verify the exact price...

but, believe me, it was not worth the high price they were asking.

So Tim, with his ability to make anything, gave us our very own built-in dvd system.



It attaches to my headrest.




It both pivots AND swivels.




Seriously,  look at the craftsmanship on this thing.



When I told the girls this morning about the marvel that is their dad,

Alison replies:  ìt`s a good thing you married him, mom.

I totally agree.

And then I started thinking about how maybe we were making life too easy for our children.

When I was a kid we went on long long road trips every year.

I didn`t have a t.v. strapped to the back of my mother`s head.

We read books and played license plate games.

But we also sat without booster seats or seatbelts

and lay flat on the floor of the minivan to sleep.

And of course there was the heavy usage of gravol

...which I may or may not also do...we`ll see.  :)

Either way...my kids will get to travel in style...

even if it is a bit ghetto.

A Look Back at 2010

January

Hannah's 8th birthday party at the local nail salon.

February

-I begin my job with Catzy's Creations working one evening per week.

Emily's 4th birthday

March

-I become an Aunt again on March 5th to Paul Marcus Zegers!

-I attend a live conference with Beth Moore as the speaker.

 

 We take the girls to Spring Fling at the Roger's Centre.  Expensive...but a fun winter treat.
 

April

We celebrate Easter at the cottage. The girls participate in a community Easter egg hunt. 10 000 eggs were placed on Wasaga Beach`s YMCA property. We spend the afternoon on the beach. Do you remember how warm it was that weekend?



May

Our first road trip!! We loaded up our Mazda 5 and travelled to Myrtle Beach.

We had the most perfect weather.

June

My garden was coming along...this is one of my peonies. They say another name for the peony is "the Dolly Parton of the Garden".

We started work on "Project Pergola". I say "we" but I really mean "Tim".

July

I took the girls to the cottage for a few days. We celebrated Canada Day at Blue Mountain's The Village.

Tim took the girls on a Father-Daughter camping weekend. Too much candy was consumed and late nights were had by all - the girls loved every minute of the trip.

The pergola was completed to a point that we could go ahead with our 2nd annual "Under the Patio Lanterns" Party. Breathing made us sweat that night!!

August

We had our family camping vacation at Killbear this year All four of us are blurry in the picture...but I wanted you to see the luxury we were afforded for the second year in a row. Check out the 37 foot trailer Tim pulled and we lived in for the week. Many thanks to our friends Dave and Gail Clements.

A rare family portrait.

September
-I continue doing child care for family friends two days per week and working for Catzy's Creations when Emily is in school.

My youngest child heads off to school.

27 women register and attend the Beth Moore simulcast with me. I prepare and make gift bags for each of them.

-Fifty seven women sign up and attend our fall women's bible study!! I had hoped and prayed that at least 6 would come....I was totally blown away and thankful to God for answered prayer beyond my wildest imagination. We journeyed thru the Fruit of the Spirit together.

Alison celebrates her 7th birthday

October

-I rejoin the world of Facebook. I join the world of Twitter.

I try my hand at "picnicking".com.

November

-I launch my blog.

Tim starts playing the ukelele. So do the girls...

December

The girls were given a DSi for Christmas - not sure if they were more surprised than I was!

I have truly enjoyed beginning this blog. I have so many ideas percolating in my mind and often find myself writing a post while doing the dishes or trying to fall asleep. Now if I could only get myself to actually write those posts....:)
 Thank you to everyone who keeps checking back to see if I have added a new post. I love your comments! And many of you have said to me in person things like "I totally laughed out loud when I read that on your blog" or other such niceties.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Have a blessed and happy 2011!!

HELP: I must be quite honest: this post was really difficult to do. Does anyone out there know of a more blog friendly way to post pictures? Each of my pictures posted to the top of the post and then I had to manually drag each down to the correct spot. It took FORever. Maybe blogger isn't the best option for me. I welcome all help. :)

UPDATE:  thank you friend......my problems are no more.