When Luke suggested rather last-minute that we go to St. Simons for Spring Break, after I freaked out a little over the amount of laundry I would have to do to get us here, I started a mental checklist of all the things I wanted to do on the island.

1. Sleep late. {Check}
2. Go to the beach. {Check. But only once because it's been pretty chilly.}
3. Sit in the jacuzzi tub. {Check, check, and check.}
4. Read lots of fluffy fiction. {I've finished The Desperate Pastors' Wives and Matter of Wife and Death. Working on Katt's in the Cradle.}
5. Spend time in the Word with no study agenda. {God keeps leading me to passages on praise. Appropriate for vacation week, yes?}

I'd done Numbers 1-5 by Thursday which left bike riding and a Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks on the list. Being the multi-tasker that I am, I decided to hit both of those at one time.

Now, Starbucks didn't appear to be too far from the house but apparently my judgement was a little skewed by the fact I was reading the fluffy fiction books while hubby was driving. (And obeying all the speed limit and traffic signs, I should add. You can cheer, homies!) So yesterday morning I jumped on the bike thinking I could get to the Starbucks in no time, drink my Caramel Apple Spice at one of the picnic tables and generally enjoy a bit of solitude before the fam was up and moving.

Whahahatever.

I knew I was in trouble when I had been riding several, several minutes and passed a skateboard park that only takes 30 seconds to reach by car. I considered going back then, but visions of Lance Armstrong and Live Strong started dancing in my head and I convinced myself that I could do this thing.

I pedaled on.

And on.

And on.

I rode past parks, swamps, resorts, the airport, a fire department and I still wasn't there. Just when I was beginning to cry, Luke called to soothe me by saying something to the effect of "would you mind biking across the bridge into Brunswick while you are out and picking me up a few things?"

Smart alec.

After I whined a minute, he agreed to come get me if needed but after all the laughing that was going on I decided, come pulled hamstring or unfortunate highway crossing accident, there was no way in heck fire I would humiliate myself by letting him. So, even though I could almost see the road I would need to turn on to get to the Starbucks., I decided to ride back home just to prove I could. And truthfully, at that point, if I went any further my chances were dicey.

Whoever said the trip home is always quicker than the trip there (or almost there) has never made that trip by bike. And to make matters worse, somehow I missed my little side street and ended up at the local elementary school before I figured out I'd gone too far. Add that to the list of town amenities I'd visited on my excursion.

I can't tell you the joy of finally rolling into our driveway. The reason I can't tell you is because I fell to the ground when I jumped off the bike because my legs were so noodly.

But not noodly enough to keep me from dragging myself to the truck and driving back to Starbucks like any truly civilized, lazy girl should have done to begin with.

Who says I'm not an athlete.

And a driven one at that.

(hardy har.)

It would take multiple posts to tell you how much fun we are having on vacation. There would be the Sleeping Post in which I detailed how many hours (not less than 10 per night) I have slept and the intensity with which I delighted in each one. There would be the Doing Nothing Post where you would learn of the various chairs I've sat in to, well, do nothing. There would be the Reading Post where I would list the books I brought along that did not have one single foot note in them. And then, there would be the Eating Post where I would show you this picture:



No doubt you have a huge question mark on your face.

We went to Chic-fil-A last night because we wanted a quick meal before we headed to the grocery store. That trip got waylaid because turns out, we were under tornado warnings. You can be assured of one thing - if a tornado is coming, I want to be home hunkering in the bathtub belted to my children (I'll have to explain that another day) instead of blowing away with strangers and sandwich meat and Doritos. It's just a personal preference, that's all. If I can't control the winds, I can at least control where I am and with whom I'm sharing them when they sweep us away.

So back to Chic-fil-A. My Boy Three is quite the instigator and at some point in our meal, he decided to taunt Luke by telling him he was too much of a sissy to cram his ice cream cone in his face.

Men, please tell me how even at 42 all it takes is for someone to question your manhood to make you lose control? And that someone doesn't even have to be your own age. Any garden variety 9-year-old seems to do.

So Luke, being the mature minister that he is, obliged by cramming the cone right in that boy's face. And I just happened to have the camera because I saw it coming when the boy said, "Come on, big guy. Why don't you just bring it?"

So he brung it. It was a fine display.

So for all of you who expect that your pastor's family represents you well when out in public? Well, then this never happened. Step back from the screen and wipe the horror from your memory.

We'll try to behave when we get home.

You may want to start in Georgia and work your way south..as in all the way south to St. Simons Island. 'Tis true..We've flown the coop for a few days of unstructured rest and relaxation. We need it, y'all, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

But thank the Lord for whoever Treehouse is, because I have a lovely little wi-fi hotspot right here in the bedroom of Luke's aunt and uncle's home where we are staying. Something tells me the hubby will prefer my not blogging much, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist sharing the lastest fun we've had. So far, the only real plans we have is to visit the new skateboard park and eat some Sweet Mama's pork pops and key lime pie in honor of darlin' Shelly and Mandy. Oh, how I wish you were here to share them with me, Mrs. Griffin and Thompson!

Okay, so hubs is home with the milk so I'm off to cook some cereal. Y'all have a great week!

Can anyone possibly tell me a better place for a girl to be spending her birthday?



You should know this picture was totally posed. When Kodak said a picture is worth a thousand words, I bet they didn't think those consisted of, "Put your arm around your sister right now or you are grounded from the ocean!"

For those of you who've been following the Vacation Saga, here is the new house. And, glory be, Luke and I have a fireplace and enormous flatscreen in our bedroom. Do you hear the angels singing?




There's spiritual implication all over this entire series of events but I'll save that until a later post. As for now, I plan on lying on the beach and celebrate being 37 years young.

Have an awesome day, my peeps!

Well this was the bait. A beautiful home with an advertised view of the lovely Gulf of Mexico.

It has a quaint personal boardwalk that was supposed......

to lead to a beach that looked like this...

..but in reality led to this:

As an added bonus, there was also a fishing pier at the end of our little boardwalk.

Wouldn't you be thrilled to have your kids splash around in that?

There are details here. Lots and lots of details. Lots and lots of phone calls. Lots and lots of visits to other properties. To keep it simple, I'll just say that I have to give props to the management company for refunding the majority of our money since it was agreed the location of the house and beach quality was grossly misrepresented. I won't be happy until we get it all, but that's an issue that is yet unresolved. Also unresolved is where we will be staying after 11 a.m. tomorrow because we are SO out of here.

I know in the grand scheme of things this little situation no where compares to the plight of the hungry or fatherless. However, I can't apologize for my own reality. I live a life that only gets one vacation a year for my kids and dadgummit, we want that vacation to have fluffy, white sand and the sound of ocean waves - especially when I rolled all my change to get here.

So I'm wondering, have any of you ever had a vacation from Hades? I think it will make me feel better if yours was worse than mine.

Nothing like someone else's misery to put your own in perspective.

Y'all are awesome.

Luke and I had the most hilarious conversation yesterday and it involved you girls - yes, you whom he lovingly refers to as my Imaginary Friends.

Apparently he hasn't read my blog in a few days so he decided to catch up. After a few minutes he turned around to me and said,

"I absolutely can't believe you blogged about your toe. And more than that, I can't believe anyone even cared! I can just see me, a guy, telling the world about my hurt toe and some other dude actually replying (in an effeminate voice), "Oh, I'm so, so sorry about your toe...I hope it gets better..."

Oh, the boy just doesn't get it. Does yours?

That's the beauty of blogging. It's girl talk on steroids. You know, my toe pain consumed the better part of my whole week. Affected how I walked, how I whined talked, how I moved through this world. As far as I'm concerned, that's a sharable moment. And whether you really cared how much it hurt, I don't know. But you were sweet enough to act like you did and for that I am forever grateful. BTW - It's all better.

As for now, I'm washing piles of laundry in hot preparation for leaving on vacation Sunday afternoon. We are still in a ball tournament an hour plus away. My other boy is having a ball party Thursday on the same night as our Church Girls' Group so there will be some creative attendance going on there. BUT the good news is that my editor no longer wants my book manuscript early which means I am back on schedule - further proof that there is a God in heaven and He loves me very much.

Hope you girls are enjoying these last few weeks of summer and that it's been full of great times with your family. See ya in a bit!

If you aren't yet convinced that the McKay's lead a thrilling life, I should tell you what we did yesterday.

We rolled change.

Lots and lots of change.

Other than the fact it took hours and got my hands some funky dirty, it was actually pretty exciting. See, Luke and I have been saving our coins since Christmas in hopes we would have enough by July to pay for our gas when we go on vacation to Florida. Though that was a lofty goal in December, the gas hike has since made it essential that I clean out every old purse, dig out the sofa cushions, and look under the carseats for every spare nickel. And of course Luke helped the most by emptying his pockets into the change jug every day. We were like two stupid kids trying to hurry and finish counting so we could see how our diligence had paid off.

After all that work the Grand Total Was...***drum roll**** $297! That sounds great until I tell you that it takes $150 to fill up Suburban one time. We are praying we can make it on 2 1/2 tanks round trip so we almost, almost, have enough in our stash to make it. I'm so stinkin' excited that the change we barely missed is going to help so much!

Which makes me curious - do you girls and boys have any tips for saving money on vacation? With a family of six, I need all the help I can get. What are some fun things you do that cost very little/no money?

Vacation 2007 is officially over and the time has come to return to a life that no longer consists of lying on the beach with the sun on my face and sand between my toes while the ocean waves provide the perfect backdrop to hours of Alistair Begg Podcasts. *Sigh*

I should also mention my new and improved Tips for Traveling with Kids. I experimented a bit with activities that would benefit both of us, sort of a Quid Pro Quo - Suburban Edition. Here area couple that worked for me. You will not believe I gave you this advice for free.