By Ashley Thompson

It's once again time for school to end and the annual summer beach vacation to begin. Last year they went up the coast but this year they are headed down to Florida. Unfortunately for Kate, this beach vacay won't be as easy as previous years because the "little" kids will be packing themselves and are responsible for their own bags (rather than 6 duffel bags stuffed in a suitcase). Kate's pro tip: everyone gets their own color to avoid confusion. This doesn't only pertain to luggage. The boys' pro tip: when your sister says she'll take over your packing, let her.

Tagging along on this family vacation to Emerald Coast is also the same friend who has traveled with them last year as well as Australia and New Zealand... and Mady and Cara's best friend because teenagers do nothing alone. Except snark, that needs no accompaniment. "I don't like the beach. I don't like sand. I don't like the ocean. I don't even really like swimming. Or being outside." ~Mady. What do Mady and Cara like? Boys! Duh. Except while Kate thinks the girls were flirting with random beach boys, the girls claim they were simply answering questions asked regarding the filming. My guess is that the girls were doing a little of both. Good luck with that one, Kate. And good luck watching 8 kids at the ocean. Not very relaxing, huh?

Why not put them in a controlled environment? That's the plan. Escape Zone has a team activity where the kids have to use teamwork to get out of a locked room. Kate's goal is have them learn how to work together and depend on each other now so that they take that into adulthood. The kids goal is to find the bomb and the code and escape. And they get it with only two seconds left of the challenge!

A Korean BBQ and a family heritage talk before bed... and the vacation continues.

Photo credit: TLC