the other pool

a few days, we went to the "other" pool.  it was probably the overall favorite, and it was only called the "other" pool because you had to walk down by the bay to get to it.  nonetheless, it had a great water slide, and all the kiddos loved it!

"swide down, mama!  swide down."

we tried to get one of those cool pictures of everybody jumping in at the same time, but the three 5 year olds and a 4 year old had a hard time jumping on cue.

even with uncle crank's  (we re-named him this trip since that's what reed calls him...i think crank fits him perfectly!) help, it still didn't really work!

after more playtime...

and rest time...

we were sure to not forget snacktime!

all that hard work was followed by a trip to cosmo's.  you know the people working at front desk hate to see you coming and when you say, "17 and a high chair, please"...well, let's just say that they are probably pretty happy to see you leave!!  but, we had a great meal and were entertained by some cute dancers!

and yes...we really did go to the beach while we were at the beach. maybe i'll get that in on the next post!

i have to split this up

this past week, all 18 hensons spent the week at the beach.  with 8 kids under the age of 5, it can get a tad bit loud...but they didn't seem to mind!!   chase told me there was no way i could do just one post since i had so many pictures.  so as not to bore all 4 of my readers, i'm going to split this up and do several posts to help out you and me both!

after some early morning cartoons in which somewhere between 2-7 kids piled in william and wes' bed, they were ready to start the day each day!

every day, we split our time at the pools, lazy river and water slides.

don't let that picture above fool you.  that is the only time they were in those floats.  yes...i now am the parent to those annoying kids that swim through the lazy river without an inner tube.  the ones that swim like a bullet underneath your tube, splashing, hollering...yep, those are my kids.  and yes, i said not nice things about those kids in previous years.  yay.

that's reed practicing his scowl for when he turns 14!

and we made sure to stop on this day (and every day) for snack time!

in the afternoons, most everybody would take a nap.  reed tried to convince me on several occasions that he would totally not bother anyone and sleep perfectly with william and/or wes.

the little squirmy man did not win that battle.  maybe next year!!

after naps, we would head back out and play some more.

sam had a death grip on that bee's antennae, but he looked cute floating around!

i didn't get any pictures of reed swimming because i was in the water with him, but by the last day he was jumping off the wall at warp speed.  over and over.  and over.  followed by a nice little fit when i made him get out.  nothing a popsicle or two couldn't fix, though!  bribing is perfectly accepted while on vacation, right?!?

stay tuned for part 2, 3 and maybe 4! :)

hello, pool

the little people have been enjoying the pool for a while, but i just now got to join them since the cast finally came off.  and enjoy it we have!

we might need to work on the rotation of his flip!!

let me just throw in a big thank you to our super cool neighbors with the super cool pool in their backyard!!  i've been trying for ages to talk chase into a pool.  he says no because i can just walk a few feet and be at their pool.  i hope they don't stop liking us!  :)

happy day to all you fathers

just wanted to give a shout out to my dad today and say happy father's day.  anybody that has ever been around him for even a second knows that he embodies the true meaning of a servant.  selfless servant.  i hope my kids get at least half of that gene from you!  i love you.

(i ran across this picture and just thought he was too cute back in 1987!)

and a happy father's day to my father-in-law as well.  i couldn't have done any better in that department.  he's almost as easy-going as i am.  almost.  :)

as for the father in this house...y'all know he can't stand the tributes that everybody writes on their blogs/facebook pages, so i won't.  he got an iPad for our anniversary a few weeks ago, so i'm going to say that is his father's day present.  but don't think that is all he received on this special day.  last week i asked william and wes what they wanted to give daddy for father's day.  they had specific requests.

william: "i'm gonna get him a flashlight in case he needs to go to the bathroom at night.  that way he'll be able to see when he gets up."

wes: "i'm gonna get him some chicken noodle soup so in case he gets sick, mama can cook him some to make him better."

so there you have it ladies and gentleman...every father's dream.  a flashlight and soup.  what more could you ask for?!?!?!

and since i can't write a tribute, i'll leave you with this video dedicated to chase and all you other awesome dads out there!!

4 months later

february 15th - date of injury

june 14th - final (4th) cast removal

i've still got a splint and never-ending physical therapy to look forward to, but after 4 months i am finally on the road to getting my right hand back!!!