A little time away...

After a very busy start to the summer and many, many hours put in by my husband at work, we decided to escape :)
Escaping is easy right? You grab your two best couple friends, their kiddos and you make a break for the lake. All you have to pack is clothes, swimsuits, toiletries and towels for us and the five kids. Sleeping bags in case the bunks don't work out as planned, pillows... because really, who wants to use someone else's? Load the boat, jet skis, life vests, floating island, tubes, ropes, air compressor, smoker, extra propane, a million bags of ice, water bottles, sunscreen, fishing poles and gear..... ok...wait, why did we think this vacation house on the lake was a good idea?!
Actually, it was a great idea. We were able to finally relax for the first time in a long time. There were early mornings with the kiddos, but when you have nothing to do but lounge on the lake all day, no one really cares. The kids played in the water for hours on end. There was no nap time, although bath time and bedtime were reasonable every night, the adults needed our time too :) After dark there were drinks, games and guitars, couldn't have been better!

But, this wouldn't be my normal blog without an update on Bryce. He had a wonderful time! He had his own special ribs on the smoker with no seasoning, and enjoyed fresh fruit for snacks on the boat. It was so relaxing to be surrounded by friends who knew what he could and couldn't eat and made certain not to bring things that are dangerous for him.

Our one big breakthrough during this trip was S'mores night. Something that I have always dreaded. This time I was determined to make it work. I had 'special' cookies down and have recently discovered how easy  homemade marshmallows are! They come out a little different than the package kind, as do all things homemade, but they were still a hit! Instead of Hershey's bar for the chocolate I took Sugar Free Chocolate Icing and left it in the fridge until right before I needed it. This way it was still cold and hard when I smeared it on the cookie and added a nice toasted homemade marshmallow. The picture says it all..... :)

A Normal Weekend :)

What a busy week!! This past weekend we had a garage sale. Baby stuff had to go! Recovering from a two day garage sale is a week long process. It is amazing what three little boys can do to your house while you are outside selling their baby items that initially cost you a fortune for pennies on the dollar. What a mess! Laundry, dishes, it seems to never end. To add to the craziness we had family in town this weekend and my brother in law finally moved his family to Texas!

With all the madness of this past week, Bryce still managed to have a huge milestone. We got everyone together for dinner on Monday night. A simple family dinner for my family, well...it just doesn't exist. We are so fortunate to have so many family here close to us. But, it does make going out to dinner a very fun and interesting experience! 

We gathered the group, 9 adults, 9 children...ages 4 months to 7 years. Yes, we do create quite a spectacle! Off we went to Spring Creek BBQ. Knowing ahead of time that Bryce would not be able to eat any of the sauces that they provide, I decided to load my purse. Yes, that's right people, I took cosmetic travel bottles of corn syrup free ketchup and homemade BBQ sauce into the restaurant in my purse!! Fortunately with the size of our group we were given a huge table in the back room. Therefore, I did not have to get the usual crazy looks I get from people when I pull spelt tortillas out of my purse at Mexican restaurants. My sister in law, who just moved from out of state, just watched me as I pulled the ketchup, BBQ and a 100% juice Welch's grape Fizz out of my purse for Bryce. I just said his name and she totally understood.

The following night we ran up to the local sno cone stand and they had sugar free sno cones! He ate his wedding cake flavored sno cone, sans the gummy bear on top. He absolutely loved it! He managed to have dinner and dessert out without having to be totally different than everyone else :) 

Never in my life would I have ever considered taking food into a restaurant. Nor would I have thought to hunt down a sno cone stand that served sugar free. But, when you have a child with food allergies you do what you have to do. I would much rather get a weird look from a stranger and Bryce be able to have ketchup with his fries than him not get to enjoy the same foods his brothers and cousins do. Never be afraid to be different! If anyone from the restaurant has the nerve to say anything to you about your little bottle of ketchup, they will probably be pretty understanding when you explain the circumstances....and it doesn't hurt to have a cute kid to smooth the way :)