Kentucky 2012!!

We spent the past week on vacation visiting Bret’s side of the family in Kentucky!  After all of the business over the past 9 months or so with building the house it was SO nice for us to escape and really get some family time in. This was the 3rd year we’ve taken the quads and they had a blast, like always!

Like the other years, we opted to leave home just before bedtime and drive all night allowing BBK&K to sleep. To no surprise they did great, slept all night and woke up dry when we arrived in the morning, 13 hours later. I had a bag of tricks to pull out but they were not needed. They’ve always done pretty good in the car but this time was nearly perfect. I told Bret we are so lucky to have such good little travelers! I on the other hand was less than comfortable on the drive. Being this pregnant (28 weeks today - whoop whoop!), cooped up in a cramped minivan and constantly fighting the urge to pee wasn’t ideal but I made it! I would be lying if I said the thought of traveling didn’t scare me a bit. When pregnant with the quads, I delivered during this week. Although I had no true fear of complications while we were gone, the thought of being away from my doctor and hospital and something happening does terrify me. Needless to say I’m glad we’re home and look forward to my appointment on Thursday!

The hotel staff (several loyal blog followers) welcomed us again with big smiles – thanks for being so good to us, yet again! We booked the same room we have since they were little bitty and set up their Peapods like last year. After a little furniture re-arranging in our handicapped-suite, we were good to go!

People often tell me they have a hard time telling some of my kiddos apart and usually, I just don’t see it. The pictures of the boys below make me understand a little more!

I’ve mentioned before that Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin LOVE to ride in just about anything. Between 4 wheelers, wagons and the golf cart, they spent a lot of time with the breeze in their face, that’s for sure!

Oh, my sweet little dog lover, Kylee Mae. The dogs, BY FAR, were the highlight of her vacation. Although she only sees Todd and Luna once a year or so she talks about them constantly and could not wait to finally wrap her arms around them again! She was sure to hug and kiss them goodnight each night before we left and they were the first thing she mentioned each morning. If they were around, she was in Heaven.

Mr. Cameron!

These Kentucky cousins are about as “outdoorsy” as kids can get. Never have I seen them playing video games, cell phones or any of the other latest technology gadgets, they’re outdoors, all the time and the quads love to follow! Here’s a (not so great) picture of Cameron helping Baxlyn hold a frog for the first time. Some are surprised I’d let her hold it, but really, I don’t mind. As you can see by the crappy shot I did my best to snap the pic while staying clear of the danger of the nasty frog ;) Keep the critters away from me and I’m good!

Korbin’s turn!

You can bet they all got a kick out of Daddy with the frog on his head! (Seriously, why would anyone do this?!)

Jason and a few of the kids after an evening ride on the golf cart!

L-R Kylee, Korbin, Brody, Ella & Miss B. This was them being “silly”!

Kylee & her Todd <3

Ahh, Uncle Joe! Gotta love this man. He loves these babies and loves to clean as well… between him and myself it is NO wonder where my kids (boys in particular) get their love for cleaning. Here he is showing Korbin & Baxlyn how to perfectly sweep the deck and bridge overlooking the creek…

Brody & Papaw gettin’ some quality time in :)

The newest Cox addition…meet Copper. Is he not adorable?! Kylee, of course, took to the rowdy little puppy right away and rarely left his side.

Kylee & “Coppuh”

Mamaw and Wayne live somewhat near where we were and drove in for a visit! The quads love spending time with them and were happy to leave us for an entire day to spend with them! Between visiting friends, going out to eat, hitting some other fun places and showing them a little about what it’s like in public with quadruplets they all had a great time together! Thanks again, Mamaw and Wayne, for giving Bret and I a much needed mental and physical break!!

Uncle Bradley (Bret’s bro) & Aunt Jennifer always meet us in KY as well. Bradley has been in the Air Force for several years now and unfortunately, we don’t get to see him too often. We all enjoyed getting to see them and the quads had a ton of fun with their Uncle Bradley, who would do just about anything for them! Below are some pics of Uncle Joe & Uncle Bradley with Brody & Korbin in the creek. The boys saw the bigger boys playing the the water and begged to go. You can imagine how excited they were when Joe & Bradley agreed!

Of course it wasn’t long before the girls realized the boys were missing and wanted to join in the fun. Dresses, hair bows & jewelry, here came the girly girls to play in the dirty creek too! Luckily there were enough willing adults to join in the fun allowing all the littles to play safely!

Love this one of Ella trying her best to keep her dress up out of the water!

It wasn’t long and we had a creek full of water slingin’ rock throwin’ kids having a blast!

We had some clean water fun while there too. As much as the quads love swimming it was just such a hard decision between riding four wheelers and pool time throughout the week and they ended up only hitting the pool a few times. Below Brody, Ella & Kylee diggin for toys!

Baxlyn Hope. Just like me, a fish out of water!

Love this one of Kylee. While sitting on the edge of the pool I happened to see her catch a glimpse of her Papaw sitting across the yard. Baby girl lit up and waved her little heart out!

Uncle Joe & Korbin. He and Kylee just HAD to wear the “oggles”!

 

The Broman got a  little choked up on water at one point. Although he didn’t cry, he chose to stay on the deck in the little pool from then on!

Sweet Brooklyn and those curls!

Ella Rose!

My own lil’ blonde, Brody!

My Kylee Flower!

We met some of our old Texas friends for dinner on evening. Bill & Tammy and their kids Billy & Ellen now live in Indiana and were sweet enough to drive and meet us! I have a few years on Billy & Ellen and used to help “babysit” them while growing up. Seeing these two out of school and in college makes me feel a bit old to say the least!

Uncle Joe & Brody – LOVE this!

Joe & Becky with the fab four!

Pop & Brody

Kylee & her Uncle Bradley

Kylee, Mop & Brody! The quads absolutely adore Moppy, who is always there with the good stuff (aka snacks, juice..etc). The last night we were there Brody just about stole her heart when I overheard him tell her “Mop, you so beautiful!”

Each year the men take a “man day” and go golfing.  While they did their manly golf thing, the rest of us decided to take the entire gang to Shogun (hibachi grill where they cook in front of you). Our family here in Texas loves Shogun but we’ve never had the nerve to take the quads. I was a little nervous as it’s not your typical out to eat place and they’re expected to sit a little longer than a normal dinner but of course, they surprised me and did great. We went during the lunch hour so it wasn’t too busy. Brody loved every minute of the experience. The chef lit the fire and we all heard “Wooohooooooo!” out of Brody – he had us cracking up the entire time!

Jenn brought Crayola markers and paper for the kids and that alone kept Baxlyn’s attention. I sat next to her and had to basically force her to look up at the man cooking in front of us. When she did, she was more concerned of the “mess” he was making than anything else. I had to reassure her multiple times that it was ok, he was allowed to do that and that it would be cleaned up shortly. Lol!

Another advantage of having such a large group was that I was able to split up the quads. Korbin sat by Linda and enjoyed his lunch while Kylee sat across the table with Jennifer!

The kids checking out the fish pond on our way out…

They could have stayed there for hours, no doubt!

Sweet Sisters <3

Looky what I have here… all four, looking at the camera AND smiling! Priceless to a MoM as it doesn’t happen often! Take away the hair and notice how similar Brody & Baxlyn look here – crazy!

Saying a goodbye to our hotel away from home! See ya next year Kentucky!!!

Special thanks to all of the friends and family in Kentucky who welcomed us and our busy squad with opened arms once again! We appreciate it and love you all! Can’t wait to add to the crazy next year when we have sweet number 5 with us ;)