Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Sun, Seashells and Scrapes

Sun, Seashells and Scrapes
Kate and Mady enjoy some relaxing mother-daughter time in San Diego while Jon stays home with the other seven children; one of the sextuplets must be rushed to the doctor

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Mady and Kate are in San Diego and naming all of the fun things that they're doing that start with the letter "S". Apparently one night at dinner, Mady decided that she wanted to go on a vacation with her mom because Cara got to go somewhere with Jon. This seems totally fine. And since Kate loves to go on vacation and do as little work as possible, she jumped on that right away. Mady picked San Diego and off the two went.

It seems like a really fun trip for Mady. She explains that every day there are 2 ducks that come to visit her hotel room and she feeds them breakfast, lunch and dinner. Since she is so fond of them, she decided that they got married and witnessed a "duck wedding." Oh, I'm so happy to see her having fun as a child and not being scolded by her mother.

Her mother, by the way, looks like she's spent *way* too much time in the tanning bed.

Since no trip with Kate would be complete without a visit to the spa, the pair heads there in a pedal cart. It looks quite fun, but what's not shown is that Kate's *bodyguard*, Steve, was there and actually took them most of the places they needed to go. Hmm...I wonder how Mady's going to feel about that when she grows up and realizes what was going on in the room next to her.

Back at home, Jon's hanging out with the remainder of the kids. It must be still a little chilly outside, because the kids are wearing heavier coats while they ride their bikes outside. Collin was super cute and decided he was going to push the tree over on the camera man. So funny seeing him try to push it.

While the kids are milling around, Jon decided to put up the swing set that he moved from the old house. And to ensure that the kids were occupied while he was busy drilling, he took out a motorized car and let Cara give the kids some rides. What an awesome girl Cara is turning into. She got each of her brothers and sisters into the car and safely buckled them in. And she effectively negotiated with Aaden when Collin's ride didn't go as she had planned. They should be so proud of her.

Kate and Mady spent 4 days in San Diego, but Kate insisted that they only film for 1 of the days so that she and Mady could just have a good vacation. Wow - that's the first time she's insisted on having her own time. Oh right...Steve was there.

In order to keep everyone occupied, Jon took all the kids for a walk into the wood to see if they could find some deer. Most of the kids seemed to have fun and liked seeing the nature stuff. But it became eventful quickly when Alexis fell and bit her lip. Poor girl. She had her hands in her pocket and didn't get her hands out quick enough to catch herself. So Jon quickly got the kids back to the house and Alexis to the doctor.

Kate then informs us that she got a call from Jon one morning, while she was on the elliptical. Apparently they don't call home to check in unless there is a problem. So she said that when her phone rang from Jon, she knew there was a problem.

How incredibly sad is that? Who goes away for days at a time and doesn't even check in with their families? I talk to someone in my family at least once a day. And I talk to the fiance every day. How sad.

After Alexis calmed down a bit, Jon took her to the doctor. The poor thing's lip is swollen, but she was super excited to go to the doctor. I think they like going because they can go by themselves, without anyone else. Too funny. But if that's the only time you get to your mom and dad alone, I totally get it. Thank goodness it wasn't anything serious. And Alexis got a prescription for popsicles. I mean, how fun is that?!?

Jon ended up getting Alexis a Starbucks frozen drink and it totally made the other kids jealous. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought it in. Because, man, that jealousy is crazy. A funny moment did happen during the jealousy though.

Collin: Next time we go out, can we get one?
Aaden: We got a strawberry in our yogurt. HAHAHA
Alexis: That is not fun.

Oh Alexis was too funny.

Mady loved having time with her mom at the spa. When Mady asked is Kate was having fun, she gave her some attitude. Sheesh lady - just have fun with your kid. She seemed to like having Kate all to herself and being pampered. Kate definitely showed her how to be a lady and eat proper foods. Which is super nice, but was a little condescending about it. But that isn't really a surprise, considering it's Kate.

Later in the day, Kate and Mady went shopping for all the kids. She was limited to picking out 1 item per kid. Of course, the control freak couldn't just let Mady pick something for each sibling, so Kate picked stuff and told Mady why it would be a good idea. And Mady actually seemed okay with that.

Back at home, Jon was still assembling the swing set in the backyard. He worked away through naptime, but during his construction, he heard a huge crash. Then he found that Aaden was playing in the bathroom, took the tank lid off the toilet, and smashed it. Oy. Boys.

Every afternoon, Kate and Mady spent time on the beach. It looked like they were having fun times together, while Mady was digging in the sand. But Kate's white plastic chair seemed to have followed them there, because while Mady was playing, Kate wasn't playing with her. Isn't that the point of these outings? To interact with your child? Not sit above them and bark orders. But unfortunately, Mady doesn't know anything else.

Kate and Mady's trip seemed like a good bonding experience for them. Apparently at the beginning of the trip, Mady didn't seem to want to go and missed Jon, but by the end, had changed her mind and decided that Kate was awesome. Which Kate finds awesome and is happy. How great...pitting your kids against the parents. Nice. Very adult like.

SassySarah's Review: I really could have done without Kate's description of Mady as being horrible, again. Even though they seemed to have a great time, you don't describe your child as horrible. Ugh. No thumbs up or down.