It Began with a BBFT

This was written when we got home from vacation but due to the post vacation hecticness is just now getting posted.

We just arrived home from a week at the beach with our cousins. The minivan is still trying to catch its breath. I first want to state that it was great, and now I want to state that I'm very tired and plan to go to bed early tonight and sleep as long as my 6 month old will allow. Vacation with kids is different. Not bad, just different. Here are a few of my observations about vacation with kids and how it differs from our pre-kid days, maybe you can identify:

Pre-kids: short list that includes summer clothes, a stack of magazines and summer books, music for long runs on the beach,

With kids: I made a 3 page list that included many things, but the highlights include 3 pack n plays, clothes for 3 kids, diapers for 3 kids (yes, they are almost 3 but you can't force this potty thing, believe me we've been working on it--stay tuned on this one), a snack bag, backpacks full of toys for the ride, a stroller, a baby carrier, etc. We even packed a picnic table!

Pre-kids: Ryan and I would pick a good book to read together as we drove. We had lots of great music to keep us entertained and we had long talks about life and our plans. We made it easily in one day or sometimes through the night so that we were arriving at the beach as the sun came up.

With kids: Oh boy, I could go on about this. We used to try to get them up at the crack of dawn and put them in their carseats so that they would sleep for a few hours first. That DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE. The upside of traveling with kids is that I keep very fit by doing something I like to call 'mini van yoga' --contorting my body into crazy positions to grab a fallen pacifier/toy/blanket, hand out snacks, feed a screaming baby--you get the idea. I'm sure nearby truckers were quite entertained by the maternal bottom persistently visible through our front windshield as I perpetually bent over into the back seat to cater to my back seat passengers. Our 'tunes' include Barney, The wiggles, and various baby einstein DVDs to keep everyone as catatonic as possible. Our lowest point was when Lydia was in a full blown epic tantrum and was hitting our 3 month old while Grace cried from the trauma of it all. We had to pull over in a grocery store parking lot and extricate all three tear streaked red faces from their car seats to calm everyone down. A close second was an epic tantrum in a flying J travel stop somewhere in south carolina--Lydia was going ballistic on the bathroom floor with about 10 ladies in line watching it unfold while shaking their heads and clucking their tongues at this mother who evidently has no control over her kids. I had to exit with lydia tucked under my arm kicking and screaming and Grace on the other hip crying again from the drama. (I must vindicate Lydia here and say that she inherited these tantrums from me and so I have hopes that she will outgrow them--Ryan has had to carry me out of a travel stop kicking and screaming only once.) 

Pre-kids: Our day involved sleeping in a bit, grabbing a leisurely breakfast, lounging at the beach to read through mindless books and magazines, taking a walk on the beach together, and finally a long drawn out delicious dinner.

With kids: We are up in the 5 or 6 am range which does have an upside--nothing is better than the beach in the morning especially with smiling baby as your companion. Then once the toddlers are up it's time for a quick breakfast before starting the long process of pool or beach prep. This involves tugging on swim diapers and bathing suits, slathering on the sunscreen, then changing the pooped in swim diaper, putting on a new swim diaper, squeezing on water wings--all of this is done on a wriggly toddler which ends up more like those fishing shows when they drag the giant floppy fish into the boat and try to wrangle it down. The beach is an even bigger process and everyone ends up like a powdered sand donut in the end. It takes a mothers love to willingly pick up a little sand and salt water coated toddler and hoist them onto your hip as they wrap their crusty arms around your neck. Naptime provides a brief respite from the chaos (fun chaos, remember the theme is different, not bad) and we taking turns enjoying the beach or reading by the pool while the other parent monitors for escaping napees. Dinner is similar to feeding a cage full of monkeys--just throw some food out there and hope that they ingest at least  something a little healthy before a fun aunt or uncle brings out the ice cream. After all of the sandy toes are tucked into bed the adults have a few hours to recover from the days events before it all starts again when the sun pops up. 

So, yes, it is very different, but I LOVE it--and can't wait to do it again. 

I love just enjoying my family without the pressure of work, laundry (only the essentials get done on vacation), emails, house cleaning (ok, my neurotic side does some cleaning on vacation, but not as much as usual!) and to do lists. It is so fun to just play all day, to watch them experience all that embodies vacation. I love seeing their little butts in their swim diapers and bathing suits. I love watching them play in the sand. I love hearing the shrieks when they jump over the waves. I love their sandy, sticky little heads that smell like the beach. I may not be able to read books by the pool, but hearing  'mommy watch me!' as Grace jumps in with water wings on her arms and an inner tube around her waist or Lydia exclaiming "I went under!" as she learns to put her face in the water is worth having a "different" kind of vacation any day.

Eventually they will become disinterested teenagers that may pretend not to even know their lands end tankini clad mom on the beach when a cute boy walks by so for now I will relish the sandy arms around my neck, the ever present smell of sunscreen, the splashes made when they jump pell mell into the pool and yes, even the travel stop tantrums because these are the things that define these days that will one day be behind me.