Through the eyes of a six year old

Chris and I didn't take many photos from this trip. Luckily however, Colin took 328.

Just before our trip, Colin found an older, pocket sized, camera of ours. He asked if he could have it.

"Sure. Why don't you bring it on our trip?"

And so he did. Big time!

He was taking pictures and video from the minute the mini van pulled out of the driveway at 4:30 a.m.

I enjoy seeing the trip from his perspective though :-)

4:30 a.m

View from the back

And this is pretty much the position I was in for 18 of the 20 hours! Passing out snacks and keeping my passengers happy :) (I'm being dramatic.... sort of)

Selfie action:

He was also into taking pictures using the self timer. Sometimes it worked......

Sometimes, it almost worked.....

 He took lots of wildlife pictures.

Can you spot the baby alligator?

Or the lizard?

This type of bird was so interesting to all the boys! He has to dry his wings off before he can fly. So there he'd be, shaking his wings as we walked past.

 

Well hello mr. turtle.

Animals NOT indigenous to Florida:

Though worth taking a few pictures of.... according to Colin. :)

(side note: Everett, who is cuddled into my side while I write this post just made his only comment so far and it was about the above picture. "I love that picture!" he said)

Colin had a knack for "surprise" shots, catching his subjects natural and unposed .

Even himself:

Ahhh, the beauty of a gas station. Some people might pass up the opportunity to photograph it. But not a six year old! :)

I think this last picture was from the ride down. I didn't realize that he'd kept his flip flops ready to go, for whenever we finally hit warmer weather. What a perfect spot for them, don't you think?

And in case you're wondering where any pictures of his brothers are or if he took any, I'll tell you. There are few pictures but LOTS and I mean LOTS of videos. Videos filled with brother's being silly, goofy, hyper, showing off lego creations and having a great time. :)

Thanks Colin, for capturing our trip with spirit and curiosity! 

Florida 2015!

We are home! Surrounded once again by snow. Piles and piles of snow.

Even though the only thing I blogged about while on our vacation was Owen's finger injury, which was slightly traumatizing (but healing nicely!), on the whole this vacation was so so wonderful.

For both Chris and I, this trip seemed to represent the beginning of a new chapter in our family's lives. I think we may be inching ever so quickly out of the baby phase and into life with five boys! Sure, Owen is still a toddler, still in diapers and can still be an x factor of sorts when traveling. But managing one toddler feels a whole lot different than three, or four, at a time! Now that we have one successful trip under our belts, we are dreaming up more adventures and trips to take together as a family. Watch out world!

Also, I'm pretty convinced that if you have a whole bunch of young children, there is no better place to vacation than at a community filled with seniors! The seniors at the place we visited could not have been kinder, friendlier, or more welcoming to our family. Multiple times a day, people would stop us to say "hi" to the boys, ask them their names and ages and even point out a turtle or something interesting for them to see nearby. No one seemed to be in a hurry. Constantly we'd hear comments like,

"What a wonderful family you have!"
"Five sons? You are SO blessed!"
"You are so lucky to have five sons!"
"Look at them, one just as cute and sweet as the next!" 

Every day, over and over we'd hear these positive sentiments about our family.

Which is so very different than what I usually hear in my day to day life. When out and about with the boys, I've become used to hearing, on a sometimes daily basis,

"Are those ALL your kids?" (followed by a shock/ horror face when told, "yes")
"Five boys?! You poor thing!"
"Are you still going to try for a girl?"  
"You sure have your hands full!"
"Better you than me!"

Anyway, our day to day life there was filled with refreshing and positive experiences. We needed this trip!

The other aspect about this senior filled community, which I feel is very compatible for a mom of young children, is that happy hour starts early, the Cabernet is flowing and then everyone goes home to bed by 8:00. Yeah, my kind of place! ;)

Colin and Carter 

"Can't swim but still enjoying myself!"

Another one of Owen because I can't resist his sweet face!

"Here are my muscles!"

"Oh yeah, we have muscles too!"

A bunch of studs 

One of these days, we're going to take a trip somewhere warm, without the darling children. Someday!

My Mom, who is a retired teacher, worked with Colin each day on his studies. Thanks to her help and patience, he kept up with his school work and made an adorable journal of our vacation. I'll treasure it for years to come!

Hanging out with my two favorite Owen's.

Last night in Florida shenanigans!