The vacation house. A friend of the Bredbenners volunteered to let us use their home for the week while they were gone. It was an amazing, generous thing for them to do! What amazed me was that the home was built for a family of four, but it housed 14 people quite comfortably! It was set on 10 acres of land, so this girl was in heaven! There was also the school bus for the kids to explore, a golf cart to drive around, a giant pile of dirt for little hands to enjoy, and too many blackberry bushes to count (yum!).
Corban was taking his turn with blowing up the gigantic pool for the backyard. Brennan was taking his turn supervising.
We spent a day at the National Zoo. The elephant was pretty cool to see up close.The highlight of the zoo trip was seeing the pandas. All three were out and about for viewing pleasure.
So cute!
This gorilla enjoyed jumping up against the glass and scaring her audience.
This was the only picture we managed to get of all the kiddos together. They are at least all in the same photo...(L-R: Eva, Corban, Brennan, Sydney, and Savannah)
Story time always drew a crowd. The book was an even bigger hit. Eva requested it more than any other!
They played together pretty well, despite some differences in age.
The pool was great fun. The water came from a well and was shockingly cold. If you were in the pool too long, you basically went numb. Thankfully, it was a hot day!
It was Kate's first time flying a kite!Things I learned while on vacation:
1. The funniest child mispronunciation of a word I think I have ever heard was Eva calling the golf cart a "go fart."
2. "That dishwasher gets a better workout than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking competition!" --courtesy of Dan
3. Brennan does not sleep well in a pack and play, resulting in a very tired boy and very tired parents.
4. Bonfires are good, except when you are the smoke magnet.
5. Makeshift curtains can sometimes work a little too well. The sheet and blanket we hung up in our room turned into blackout curtains!
6. A cat named Spazmo is appropriately named. It spent the entire first night roaming the upstairs hallway where everyone was sleeping and howled. No one got much sleep that night.
7. The HOV lanes in DC are "limited access," meaning it's best to not get on them if you need to exit within at least 10 miles of where you entered it.
8. Traffic in the DC area is ridiculous.
9. Earplugs are a marvelous invention.
10. Naps are even better.
11. Vacation with friends is wonderful.
1. The funniest child mispronunciation of a word I think I have ever heard was Eva calling the golf cart a "go fart."
2. "That dishwasher gets a better workout than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking competition!" --courtesy of Dan
3. Brennan does not sleep well in a pack and play, resulting in a very tired boy and very tired parents.
4. Bonfires are good, except when you are the smoke magnet.
5. Makeshift curtains can sometimes work a little too well. The sheet and blanket we hung up in our room turned into blackout curtains!
6. A cat named Spazmo is appropriately named. It spent the entire first night roaming the upstairs hallway where everyone was sleeping and howled. No one got much sleep that night.
7. The HOV lanes in DC are "limited access," meaning it's best to not get on them if you need to exit within at least 10 miles of where you entered it.
8. Traffic in the DC area is ridiculous.
9. Earplugs are a marvelous invention.
10. Naps are even better.
11. Vacation with friends is wonderful.
