Ten on Tuesday

1.  These are the Tweedles.  As in Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but don't tell them that.  They are so fun and so funny.  They love each other big, play big, and fight big.  They aren't part of the "big" kids team and they aren't babies, they are just Tweedles.  They answer to this name without question. (They also like to call each other butt face when they are fighting. I told you they can fight big.)
2.  Just in case you are new to my blog, I will tell you where I have been for the last month.  My mom has a house on Tybee Island and for the last few years my sister and I have spent the month of July there.  With my mom, my 3 kids, and my sister's 3 kids.  (The husbands come the first week and then some weekends.)  It's a 3 bedroom house so it's close quarters.  It goes by super fast and super slow, depending on the day.
3.  I love to read in the summer.  Love the hours I can spend reading and not feel guilty about it.  I've read a few books already and I'm currently reading Steve Job's biography.  But one of my favorite things about this July has been reading Harry Potter to my kids before bed. I am a huge Harry Potter fan. HUGE.  I told the kids I was going to read it and all I got were groans.  "We don't want to read that. Mom. Ughhh."   This conversation turned ugly as I told them (in a stern but guilt inducing voice) that I love this book and have waited for the day when I could share it with them. Could they please just do it for me?  And that they didn't have to believe me, but could millions of kids be wrong?  Then I brought out the big guns and declared that no one would be going to Universal Studios in Orlando or watch any of the movies unless they sat quietly and listened while I read.  That threat got me through the first night and by the second night they were hooked and by the third night they were asking me to read extra chapters.  Mmmm  hmmm.  Told y'all it was good.  (This really has given me such profound happiness.  Not exaggerating.)
4.  The first weekend we were in Tybee I got a text saying that my next door neighbor had a stroke and was in a coma.  A couple of days later he died at age 51 leaving behind a wife and 18 year old son.  My kids have all of their grandparent and 3 great-grandparents.  Death is something they have never been close to.  Telling them Mr. Mike was gone was really hard.  Emory cried and Jay just put his head down.  Packy asked a few questions.    Mike was a great guy.  Always funny.  We mostly talked driveway to driveway but he was still in my day to day life.  He shot bats at dusk in his backyard, but was always kind enough to send me a text that he was about to do it.  It hit me again when I came home Friday.  Tears flowed as I realized again that he would not be there to greet me in the driveway.
5.  A month is a long time to be away.  I usually have a freak out moment at some point during the trip.  This year my freak out moment came via Emory.  We struggled with some back talking this summer and one night I just had enough.  I will spare you the details, but it was not my finest parenting moment.  The next day, I stayed home while Lolly napped and everyone else went to the beach.  I needed alone time.  I think this is the hardest part about our July, no alone time.  I prayed, wrote (about 4 blog posts that I never posted), and rested.  I made amends with Emory and moved on.
6.  I love Hattie's sweet smile.

 7.  This year we had lots of activities.  We had an awesome time with our new kayaks, the boys went deep sea fishing and I tagged along (never again), lots of bike rides to the beach, really good waves to ride on our Boogie Boards, riding bikes at Fort Polaski, a pirate adventure on the Savannah River, lots of gelato from Seaside Sweets.  The big girls went to YMCA camp for a week. We really didn't watch TV at all which is a nice break for my family.  We played less UNO but more Rat-A-Tat-Cat.  Betsy led morning devotions with the The Gospel Story Bible.  But despite all of our planning, the best part for the cousins is the free playing.  The big girls play pretend for hours.  They go on the upstairs porch and let their imaginations run wild.  The Tweedles also can play for hours (with a fight thrown it at some point). They play Mommy and Daddy mostly.  This leaves lots of reading and napping time for the adults.  (You can usually find some adult on the porch after lunch with their mouth wide open in the napping position.)

8.  Every year Betsy and I seem to leave Tybee with some regrets.  We didn't do this or that.  We should have done this more. Why didn't we do this?  Although I did feel this way driving off the island, I really think we did good this year.  We didn't have crazy expectations and I think that takes the pressure off of all of us. The kids will remember being together every summer and not all the things we didn't do.
9.  For the second year Jason's brother has come to Tybee during July bringing his two children.  This has been fun because he stays in a hotel and gives us pool access for a week.  Mirabelle joins the Tweedles and Haden gives Jay a boy to play with for a few days. It's so fun to merge cousins!

10.  I have already booked my flight for a September trip to New York. So, even though I was sad to see my girls leave, I know I don't have to wait until Christmas to see them again!