munchie monkey: Florida sunshine, Family, Slip-n-slides, BBQ and badminton...the Evans way!

Well the last two weeks have been a blast!!! but definitely tired me out...
So DH and I decided it would be fun to drive down to FL for a couple days I thought this the perfect opportunity to bring my little bundles of energy down to meet the great uncles and maybe get some R&R, since their grandparents and aunts and uncles would be in the area. We made a plan for our departure and a crazy one at that! my DH had to work that day 12-7pm, we decided to be crazy and leave right after he got off of work. I would stay home, pack everything, get the kids ready, pack lunches (well dinners), make sure the animals were taken care of...then head up in town and pick up my DH at work and drive the 8 some hours to his parents house...already seeing the crazy part in the plan? well that is exactly what happened....NOT! the moment DH left for work my oldest thought this would be the best time to "unpack" all the packed bags...and dump all the clothes on his beloved younger brother this was followed by the annoyed cry of my youngest...*sigh*. So on to re-packing everything grrrrr...only to find that my oldest had opened the shampoo bottle and thrown it back into the suitcase resulting in a massively gooey mess in my suitcase "@#$%^^&*&*" .........time to sit and refocus I told myself........sigh.........five min later this is what I hear "splash-giggle-squeal-giggle-splash-giggle-squeal".....What in the world????....I got up out of my quiet spot and headed toward the noise. The noise was coming from the bathroom (Oh noooo!, I thought, anything but that...) can you guess?...yes, my youngest had found out how to raise the toilet seat and was now happily splashing away in bowl...with a big huge grin on his face ;-) and my oldest was in the shower trying out different soaps aaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!! (add extra emphasis on the aaaaargh part!) this was going to be a monumentally long day! finally got everything packed and the kids somewhat fed (not sure who ate what since they decided covering each other with food was far more fun than plain eating it) I struggled and pushed the kids in their pajamas. I soldiered on and persisted to pack everything we needed and set it by the front door, the car had been pulled up and was ready to load. I grabbed the first couple of items to place in the car and started to open the door...SCREAM!!!!! my oldest screamed and rushed toward me and grasped my leg and entwined his little body around it (I assume he thought I was leaving without him). I can tell you this much; loading a car with a screaming toddler attached to your calf is far from easy! car was loaded after a grueling hour. at this time the 8 hour drive down was looking far from adventurous and exciting and more dumb and insane, nothing to do about that now my hubby was waiting... I somehow managed to get everything done to somewhat satisfactory results, and the kids cosied up in the car...we were off to pick up DH. I arrived at his work looking frazzled and very unhappy, I shoved the keys in his hands and hissed "drive!" lol (poor DH most likely was wondering what in the world I had been through and he's learned NOT to ask "are you...ok? honey???" ) After 8 hours we made it to his parents house (I do feel the need to tell you that even though my kids are crazy when getting ready for a trip, they are excellent travelers in the car and they slept the whole 8hours down) by 3am Sunday morning ...only to wake up at 9am to go to church (I do not advise this!!! grumpiness may occur! and again my kids are champs at traveling!).
DH's brother was only down for that Sunday so naps were out of the question that afternoon, for us adults that is! but we had a great time with friends and family! see pictures below for our awesome Evans experience...We really missed our SIL and nephew in NC though wish you could've made it!