coming up for air.

before my lips sink beneath the surface and I'm once again drowning in a sea of utter craziness, I thought I'd let you know in one ginormous gulp of air, that we're indeed alive and well and that we arrived home safe and sound from our short, but very sweet, trip to San Diego.  

actually we got back last Wednesday already, so why I didn't have the pictures from our trip downloaded, edited and posted that same night is beyond me.  like, seriously!  what's the deal, Jessica?  huh?  HUH?!  uh, hmmm, well.  heh.  perhaps the unpacking and the tackling of Mt. Everest-- aka, the post-vacation laundry pile-- had something to do with it.  or maybe the fact that we were having our house appraised at eleven o'clock the next morning and therefore needed to get this place looking somewhat presentable, you know, so the appraiser dude wouldn't have to step around an obstacle course of bags and other miscellaneous junk that was littering the floor, or worse, trip over the heap of dirty clothes and do a face plant into a pile of smelly socks or something.  surely that could've played a small part in it as well.  come to think of it, I bet the main reason I didn't get a blog post typed up was because Gary left early Friday morning to go hike Havasupai with three of his brothers, thus leaving me to entertain this brood by myself for the entire weekend.  plus, I worked Saturday.

so, there.  how's that for a handful of excuses as to why I haven't blogged in nearly two weeks.  no, but seriously.  for reals, some days I barely have time to go potty.  hahahaaa, oh man.  did I just say "potty?"  I must have kids.  what about the rest of you who have large families?  how do you manage to get everything done in a day, yet somehow still find time to do the things you enjoy?  it seems like my life keeps getting busier and busier and busier with no sign of ever slowing down.  EVER.

glub.  glub.  glub.             

this first installment of pictures is from the sand dunes.  we typically haven't stopped here in the past, strictly because the temps are usually hovering around the 115 degree mark when we've rolled through (think mid-July), with the temperature of the sand easily triple that.  and I don't know about you guys, but I'd just as soon pass through the inferno as quickly as possible so I can get to relaxing on the beach faster.  besides, who enjoys doing the 'hot sand' dance?  surely, not I.  but the kids wanted to stop, so we did, even though it was still pretty warm-- like 90-ish.  by the time we were through with this place, we were all sweating and thirsty and I'm pretty sure each kid had enough sand in their pockets and shoes to fill a sandbox the size of Texas.  UGHHH.  nevertheless, it was still, uh, fun?

also, as you look at the following pictures you'll probably notice that Rowan, Scarlett and Finley are missing.  yeah, we left them at the detention center.  kidding!  actually my aunt Mona and her hubby Jeff so graciously babysat them, bless their hearts.  it was truly a relaxing vacation!  thanks, guys!

once again, all these pictures were taken with my iPhone.                

look!  it's a human ant!

I'll try my best not to let another two weeks go by before I blog again.

-jessica