Summer vacation, part...um. Hm. Part 3?

Our never-ending summer vacation is rapidly drawing to a close. We spent a little over a week with the Farrell's again, and then the kids and I made our final drive to Valdosta to spend a few days at the Crosby's. Today, we made the (looong) drive to the beach, where I am staying tonight and then leaving the kids with Gigi & G-Doc and going to New Orleans to pick up Justin in the morning! I'm really excited...but the kids are soooooo ridiculously giddy to see Daddy again soon.

Anyway here's the last week in pictures....

We did a lot of this. Apparently being in the sun all day, swimming
and beaching and eating a lot, make for really tired kiddos!

Everything awesome about summer, in one shot! 

Enjoying the SI Beach Club...

#selfie

SuSu the Dolphin...

More sleeping. More #selfies :) 

Last Saturday, it was raining on St. Simons, so Mom & Dad took Jack to the movies to see Echo (which he loved!) Anyway, after I put Caroline down for a nap, I took a shower, and then I went to take Winston out to go to the bathroom. He wouldn't walk outside by himself, silly dog who didn't like the wet ground, so I picked him up and stepped out to walk him down to the grass. I took either one or two steps (not sure,) and my feet slipped out from under me. I threw the dog on accident in order to catch myself (thankfully he's okay!), and landed HARD on my elbows on the top tile step. I slammed my head back too, but I had a towel wrapped around my wet hair (thankfully too!) I slid down a few steps on my butt and completely knocked the wind out of myself. 

The poor dog knew I was in bad shape. He immediately came over and started sniffing me gently to make sure I was okay (and if you know Winston at all, you know he doesn't do anything gently!) I got him inside, shut the door, and laid down on the floor. Literally everything hurt. The pain was so bad that I threw up on the floor. I knew I was in bad trouble, but I wasn't sure if I had broken anything. 

I crawled over to the recliner and sat for awhile, catching my breath and letting my body settle down. As the pain in certain areas started to recede, the pain in my left elbow kept getting worse. I couldn't straighten it out and touching certain spots was like stabbing needles into my bone. Finally I gave in and called Dad, who was thankfully on his way home. Mom got right in the car and took me to St. Simons Immediate Care.

The offending steps. 

The immediate aftermath - waiting to get x-rayed.

I was so lucky that I landed more on my forearm and not directly on my elbow.
Nothing showed up broken in the x-ray, but I had BAD swelling & bruising, and they
called it a sprain and put me in a sling - "until you can extend your arm fully again."

Yea. Seriously. 

Later that night...still swollen. 

Caroline making fun of my sling!

I spent Sunday on painkillers and the kids hung out with SuSu and Pop-Pop,
cutting the grass, playing in the sprinklers, and having a great summer day.

 Later in the week, we took the kids and Winston to breakfast and over to the SSI Pier to walk around, go to the playground, and run out some energy.

Hi Winston!

Um. Caroline doesn't look happy, but I promise she is!

The historic SSI Casino.

We also took the kids to a puppet show at the Brunswick Library...which Jack LOVED....

And we kicked off Jack's birthday week celebration
with sea creature HAPPYCAKES! I can't believe he will be 5
on Thursday!

Swelling and bruising, day 4-ish. It still hurt. 

 On Wednesday, we were SUPER SUPER sad to say goodbye for the summer to Pop-Pop and SuSu...but we hope we will see them again really soon. It's always very hard to say goodbye after such a long trip together...but I hope they enjoyed the relative peace and quiet after we left :)

On the ride to Valdosta, I let Caroline feed herself M&Ms...lol. 

Feeding her baby mid-diaper change. Demanding baby!

Look! Another #selfie! 

Miss Diva Toddler-Pants in action. 

 I spent a few minutes visiting newborn baby Charlotte Hull, who was born last Friday. She's so adorable and that new baby smell...ahhhhhh!!!!

I got my nails done and the polish that just looked pink in the store
was SERIOUSLY NEON outside!!! Whoa! 

Looking at the fish at the hibachi dinner place!! 

The kids had a blast!

Caroline got her nails done again (SERIOUSLY)

And even dried them like a pro.

Bruising day 7! Still sore but not nearly as bad.

2 kids in a pool.

Tired last night, watching the iPad together. 

So yes, we've had an AMAZING time, and we are definitely looking forward to our week of vacation with Justin next week! Then, next Sunday, it's back to California (and back to school and schedules and routines!) for all of us!! Until next time....