Wow - I have been away from the blog a long time! We had such a nice time on our vacation.

I learned a few things:

1) Three rowdy kids + a hotel room = a big headache

2) Caleb very much enjoys slinging the door open while I'm using the bathroom at the Theme park.

3) Someone could make a whole lot of money by making car divider walls to put between kids on long drives. Apparently poking at each other is much more fun (and much louder) than any of the car fun activities I painstakingly packed in each of their bags.

4) The radio does not drown out the sound of Caleb and Jamie fighting. It only adds to the headache.

5) God bless the inventor of the Nintendo DS. I hope this person is ridiculously wealthy. The DS is worth way more than what I paid for it. Carson was great in the car.

6) Never pack a swimsuit for my five year old with criss-cross straps to change into at the water park. It is almost impossible to get the straps untwisted when changing in a rustic, small "family bathroom" with exposed pipes in the ceiling when it is in the 90s and humid. Oh, and especially after she looks up at the ceiling and yells "RAT!!! MOMMY DID YOU SEE IT? A RAAAATTTT!!"

7) Always take note of where you park the van, especially in a 7-story parking garage. Actually, Vic learned that one. I think he also learned to appreciate the relative peace of his job.

8) Gas station bathrooms are still gross, but not as bad as they once were I think. I should know because I visited approximately 332 of them while traveling with the kids. We stopped about every half an hour and as soon as we were on the road again after a stop, one of them had to go again. Every time. Once we even pulled over on the entrance ramp to the Highway to let Caleb pee. This was right after we pulled out of the gas station. Once, I tried letting Caleb use an empty water bottle while we were driving. That went all kinds of wrong.

It was a ton of fun. We enjoyed Carowinds, and I think Vic and I have seen enough of the park for a while. We have been there about 12 times in the last 3 years. The kids would probably never get sick of it, though.

After leaving Charlotte, we had a fantastic time visiting with Poppa and Nana. The kids loved playing Whirl Ball in the basement with Nana, watching the rabbits and chipmunk outside, visiting the aquarium, picking tomatoes from the garden, and playing with Pappa Jim who stopped by with Aunt Gayle on Saturday morning. They enjoyed every minute of it, and so did we!

I have put some pictures from our vacation up in our web album. If you are on facebook, they are the same pictures I posted there.

Today, Vic and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. After Jamie's cheerleading practice tonight, it was late and I was trying to decide what I could cook for dinner that would be really fast. He walked in and surprised me with flowers and my favorite Indian food! :) He got me a very nice card, too. We will go out by ourselves and celebrate again soon. Maybe this weekend.