Where do I begin?

Our "08" vacation is in the books. Relaxing yet stressful is how I can sum it up. Saturday morning we got up and had to get the house cleaned by 10. We turned the keys in and headed to the beach for one last plunge. The kids loved all the things that were available to us while we were there. But, I think they would have been just as happy going to the beach everyday. I will be uploading pictures and a video sometime today.

Now for our upcoming schedule. Since the change in protocol we now will be taking Cody up to NY for two weeks a month. Diane will be going up the first week and I'll be going up the second. At first glance this was very unsettling because of the time that Diane and I have to take off from work. We both are blessed with jobs that permit us to work remotely when we can. One great things that will be happening this week is that the kids are going back to school. Oh, and did I mention that Cody will be going back to school also? He will be doing kindergarten again. Although his math skills are better than most 2nd graders, his speech and word pronunciation are lagging. He truly needs this. Although I think it will be a very hard transition for him again. His temper is an issue so we know that we will be going in for many parent-teacher meetings. We will take it! The fact that school is starting for all the kids will help Diane and I get back on a better work schedule. Ya!!!!

On a fun note:
Many of you who know me from Runners World know that I have more than my share of funny stories. Well I have another from this vacation that ranks right up there with the best. Friday we took the kids on a Pirate ship that was very much like the one that we went on in Baltimore harbor this past spring. They sing songs, find treasures and fight bad pirates on the trip and the kids love it. Well, somehow I got shanghaied into performing a crucial task on this trip. During the voyage the kids have to find a treasure map to help them "find the treasure." Well, at this point the kids are told to close their eyes and start chanting a "make the map appear" song. This is where I come in... LOL.. While all the kids have their eyes closed and are singing their little hearts out the captain pokes me with the rolled up canvas treasure map and says "throw it ........." I was caught completely off guard.... I look at him and ask "throw it where?" He gestures with his hand in the direction of the side of the boat. Diane says something to me but in the momentary panic state that I was in I threw the map over the side of the boat. Well you guessed it, that is not where the captain wanted me to trow the map. The captain stopped the boat and the crew tried very hard to scoop the map up but it sank to the bottom of the bay like a rock. Can you say embarassed? I spent the rest of the trip as the punch line of all the jokes and the kids had to use a 'Florida' map on the back of a crew members T-shirt. Diane and I started laughing multiple times on the way home about how stupid I was.. I have to admit it was not one of my best moments. The captain and crew did say that it gave them something to remember about this 08 season.