P.S.A.

On our last full day at the Grand Canyon, we tried to squeeze a lot in.

I ate breakfast around 6ish. Really early but when the sun comes up at 5...well, what are you gonna do?

Following breakfast, we cleaned up the camp site, went and took showers, quick trip to the general store and then a hike. It was at least 85* outside.

We hiked, rode a tram to several look outs and enjoyed our day. By 1:00 none of us had eaten, so we walked from the bus stop to a cafeteria. Mason "was tired of lots and lots of walking" so I ended up carrying him part of the way...as well as my backpack.

I was hot, tired, starving and felt loopy. Seriously loopy. So of course I CHOWED down my lunch.

We followed all of this with more hiking,  more carrying Mason (up a hill!) more straightening up, and then headed back to a view point to watch the sun set over the canyon. More walking. More sun. No water. No food.

By the time the sun had gone down, the kids in their shorts & t-shirts were all freezing. Ben took them back to the car while I stopped to take a few more pictures.

Walking back to the car, I got a little lost. We were in parking area 4, and I was in one. I began to walk when my body just felt weird.

I felt dizzy, sick to my stomach and just out of it. I kept walking and my foot would feel as if it was falling asleep. I kept walking, ( I am one of those "walk it off" kind of people) and the symptoms kept up. I was feeling disoriented and was about to text my husband to come and pick me up. I finally found the car and said, "I don't feel good."

Have you figured out what happened? Yeah I was completely dehydrated. I had been doing too much and not taking care of myself. I made sure my kids downed plenty of water. Had their sunscreen, bug spray, water bottles, snacks...you name it. Me? I was too busy to take care of myself.

I got in the car and guzzled water, which led to a sick stomach. I slowed down, rested in the a/c, ate some food, and lied down a while. I finally felt better, but it took awhile.

Can I tell you something? It was SCARY! I had never felt like that and don't want too again!

This summer, wherever you are, bring water! If you end up having to buy a water bottle, because you forgot, do it! Refill as necessary! Snacks are also important. Jerky, granola/protein bars, fruit, cheese, nuts...something. Drink your water! Water is the best but you can also have a Gatorade type drink. Just keep downing fluids.

Do as I say, and not as I did, because trust me, you don't want to feel that way! Stay safe this summer!

22 days

Burnout. Serious burn out.

We are sooo ready for school to be out. Today marks one month until school is out. When you don't count weekends, that is only 22 days of school left.

TWENTY TWO!!!!

Yesterday we had a little mini heat wave. My kids came home from school "sweaty hot" and begged to please, please, please go to the pool. Since we had no kid activities going on...I gave in.

I hung out pool side, chatting with my friend while the kids splashed around. Soaking up sun and reading a magazine.

It was a great trial run for the summer. I now have a list of things that I have 22 days to purchase...

*a new rash guard for Ivan (his was almost see through! lol) and for Connor
*new swim trunks for Ivan (he is growing so fast)
*2 new pairs of goggles (major fights over the pairs we have)
*more dive sticks/pool toys (hello $1 store)
*new pool noodles (no idea where ours have gone...)
* a couple of new pairs of flip flops

Are you ready for summer?  I am so excited to not have to buy any swim diapers this year!!!! But other than that  I have my summer list ready. The beach/pool bag is gonna get a great work out this summer!

***No pressure, but I am hosting a 31 party. I have fallen in love with these products. So if you need something to put all your pool/beach gear in, you can check out some awesome products here

Spring fever

" Hey Mom, did you know that there are only 5 weeks left of school?!"

Uh no, no I didn't. I knew the end of the school year was coming up but didn't realize how soon.

No wonder life around here has turned into spending hours at the park, sleeping in later than usual, sucking back otter pops and trying to avoid homework like the plague.

It has been hard to concentrate on...well anything!

Who wants to spend time inside when the weather is perfect, you have awesome neighbors to sit and chat with, and of course letting the kids burn off a ton of energy at the park.

I love spring...and am looking forward to summer!!

D.E.A.R.

Amazingly enough, it is almost the end of July!!

enjoying Tom Sawyer

This summer has flown by and I am just not sure what we have even done! I feel like we have played a lot of video games and watched a lot of tv.

Not very good. At all.

There is one thing that we have been doing that has been so nice. It is my favorite part of the day!

It is D.E.A.R!!

I am not sure where we first heard of this, but I know it was through a school.

Drop
Everything
And
Read

My kids always read at night before sleeping but during the day...they are more interested in their video games or the pool or...whatever.

For our D.E.A.R. time the older kids have to read for at least a half an hour. Of course they are always allowed to read more than that (: My youngest reader, couldn't sit still and read for half an hour if I paid him too. So he is required to pick out 5 books to read. He is at an akward age where he can read really well but still wants to stick with stories that have pictures instead of chapter books. He will get there, I know it. But for now he chooses 5 picture books and reads them to me.

I love having that quiet 30 minutes where the kids are feeding their brains!

O.M.Gracious!!

Here is the situation:

Take 1 tired Mom and add in 5 kids = Turner family

Then add a trip out of town= Legoland

Add about a billion activities= church, school events, field trips

Add in a broken laptop = kids in big trouble

Add in a non-working wireless connection= annoyance

Add in a new router  = fight with kids at Best Buy about why I wouldn't buy an X-Box, M&M's or a new movie.

Add in a visit from the cable guy= halleluiah

And that is why I haven't blogged. Whew. Today our wireless is working. My new laptop is never going to be touched by my children. All school events are over in T-2hrs and 3 minutes.


I am going to be taking a nice long nap today and then get my house back. Bring on summer!

little things

It is always the little things that make life fun, isn't it?

One day as I was unpacking, my daughter asked if they could eat their lunch outside. I started to say no...and then thought why not? So I took a basket and filled it with a few things for their lunch.

They had fun eating outside and it was a good reminder to me to stop and smell the roses! Life doesn't always have to be scheduled right?!