Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Beach Trip

Beach Trip
Jon and Kate take the kids to the beach, hoping it works out better than the sextuplets' first seaside experience at age 3, which turned out badly because of cold, windy weather.

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Kate tell us that the family is in North Caroline because she and Jon have a speaking engagement and they decided to make it one big trip. We then see footage of Leah saying she doesn't like to be in the car on long trips. Because really, who does like to be in the car for 10 straight hours?

Kate continues to tell us that on "this" day, they were going to head to the beach to redeem their prior experience and then later have a messy play date.

I guess last year, when the family was in Florida for Disney, they made a side trip to the beach. But as shown in a flashback, the weather was crappy, the winds were picking up, and the kids looked miserable. I don't know that I would be so happy if sand was pelting me at 40 mph either. I also know that if it was *that* windy out, I wouldn't have even attempted to get to the beach. Of course no flashback would be complete without Kate yelling for Jon in her "I'm completely helpless" voice.

Family helper Jenny had made the trip and is shown getting the kids ready in their bathing suits for the beach. There is no sign of Jon or Kate helping. I thought that the point of Jenny was to *help*.

Kate explains to us that Alexis is bunking with Jenny. This is, of course, a mystery. Aaden, Collin, and Joel are rooming together. Hannah and Leah are rooming together. Mady and Cara are roomies, too. So why is Lexie the odd girl out? We know that she sleeps downstairs because she gets up early and wakes everyone up. Or she likes sleeping in the dark, cold basement. So we've been told. But now, on vacation, they are throwing her to the Nanny. I sure hope they pay her well. Because I babysat and was a *nanny* for many years. And that time alone at the end of the night...priceless. But I degress. Because I'm sure that once the kids go to bed, Jon and Kate don't want anything to do with them until 8am the next morning.

Unfortunately because the house is so large and the parents aren't really paying attention to where the kids are, Aaden gets outside and Kate doesn't realize until she finds him wandering on the back porch. Then Kate realizes that 4 of the kids have gotten outside. How do you not realize that your kids have left the house?!?!

The entire family treks to the beach, with all of their toys in tow. All 8 kids plopped down and started playing. Of course, the self-proclaimed *neat freak* was getting upset that the kids were all dirty. It's sand lady. It washes off!

Jon and Jenny start taking the kids into the water. Thank goodness they put life vests on the kids. You could definitely tell that the undertow was strong for the little ones. It was so nice to see Mady and Cara jumping in the waves.

No trip into the water would be complete without Kate screaming for Jon to pay attention to the kids. Somehow I feel like he had control of the situation. Plus, at 8, I think that Mady and Cara are a little more responsible and understand safety than the 4 year olds.

A beach trip wouldn't be complete with kids melting down and fighting with each other over who's hands were more dirty.

The Gosselin's enormous beach house comes with a private pool. Because sharing with someone else would be *so* beneath them. And in order to capitalize on this pool, they hired (got for free?) swim teachers to teach the kids how to swim.

This is something that I think is really great. Knowing how to swim, expecially when there are so many more kids than adults, is a really great thing. You don't want to mess with water safety.

The parents decided that it would be good for the little girls to start swimming lessons first. It was funny to see them start to blow bubbles and gets more comfortable in the water. The really seemed to take the water really well.

The boys, however, were a different story. Poor Aaden was super freaked out. Joel didn't seem to want to let go of Jon and really didn't even want to be in the pool. At every opportunity to get out, he did! Collin was awesome. He floated really well and seemed to have a blast.

Poor Mady and Cara. They didn't get water time because they couldn't wait patiently for their littel brothers and sisters to go first. Mady had a complete break down. Which included rushing into the water and trying to steal a noodle from Alexis. So I think that Kate did the right thing by telling them to go inside and not have any swim time that morning. But going forward, she let Cara and Mady go first so they didn't have to wait. Which really, isn't that rewarding bad behavior? They clearly didn't want to wait their turn, so letting them go first is rewarding their impatience? Isn't it?

Time for finger painting with pudding. Kate found some play clothes for the kids and was going to allow them to get dirty. How come this kind of fun is only allowed on vacation? Kate mentions that she wouldn't let them do this in her house, but doesn't care in this house. Oh, so since you don't own this house, you couldn't care less? Nice. you know you'd freak out if you walked into this house and it was full of filth. Kate must not have learned the golden rule.

The kids had a blast paining. Kate sounded like she had taken some kind of tranquilizer because she was complimenting the kids and encouraging their paintings. The kids at first didn't seem like they were quite sure that they were allowed to get dirty.

Next the family was going to do body art. Kate, in her infinite wisdom, tells the kids that if they eat the paint, they will get sick and die. Nice. Nothing like scaring your kids with death to make sure they don't eat the paint. Wouldn't you purchase non-toxic paint to avoid death?

Jenny gets the paint started and they quickly realize that the paint doesn't come off your skin. That it stains. Einstein...wouldn't you test this *before* you leave home to see if this would be a good idea? Good job, Smarty Pants.

(Side note...I just realized that both Kate and I have the same light pink Crocs. Gag.)

Jenny decides that they can do body paints with the pudding. Smart idea, Jen! The kids were hilariously covering themselves in the pudding. It was so nice to see them all getting along and having fun together.

The tranquilizers wore off quick because before body painting was over, Kate was back to her usual self and the ordering of Jon and children commenced. Jon was to hoze down every single kid before they went into the outside shower. Somehow hozing down the kids with pressurized cold water didn't seem like a smart idea to me. No wonder they cringed when the water hit them.

It's the next day and we see Cara and Mady's swim lesson. Despite my rant above regarding their behavior, it was nice to see focus on them. I think they just need some individual attention. But as we've seen in other situations, Mady's attitude comes out whenever Cara is better than her. Cara is more athletic than Mady and it shows in Cara's learning of new swim strokes. Mady can't handle it and a major attitude meltdown and pouting ensue.

The boys get in for their swimming lesson and Collin seems super excited to start learning. Kate forces Joel into the water, who starts screaming. He clearly wants nothing to do with the water and forcing him in doesn't seem very nice. Jon makes it better by enforcing gender stereotypes and saying he wants a different girl to swim with. Nice, Dad. Way to comfort your very scared child.

While the parents are busy making fun of one child, Leah falls into the pool. Good thing Jon's there to fish her out immediately. Maybe having *all* 8 kids there for swim lessons isn't a smart idea.

It is nice to see that by the end of the lesson, Joel gets more comfortable with the water and we see him jump off a step to his instructors. Maybe he just needs some time to get used to the water. Throwing him in is probably not his preferred method.

Poor Aaden never really took to the water. But Leah, she'll be a fish.

SassySarah's Review: Surprisingly fun trip. Two thumbs up.