My alarm clock buzzed
until my ears were ringing, yet I was the only one who heard it. I clicked the
dismiss button, then glanced to my right and left to see my daughter and
husband snoozing away –it must be nice to be a husband and a child.
The clock read, 7:45
am.
I sauntered my way
downstairs to pack the cooler, the last object that needed to be placed in the already
packed car. I had my list in one hand, while checking off individual items with
the pencil in my other hand. That handy piece of paper completely saves my
life. After having children, I feel like I left behind countless brain cells in
the delivery room. If I don’t write it down, it doesn’t get done.
It was our vacation to
the beach, well, the morning of driving to the beach.
I, mom, was running
around like a chicken with my head cut off making sure EVERYTHING was packed –literally
everything when children are involved. A hot breakfast was sitting on the table
when I went back upstairs to wake up the other three children so everyone could
eat, then hit the road.
My daughter woke and
said, “isn’t it beach day today?” I couldn’t believe she had to ask, considering
this was all she has talked about since the last time we went. Her long Rapunzel-like
hair was messy around her face and her eyes were barely focused as she did a
little, “we’re going to the beach” dance.
I was definitely
nervous about this trip. Last year’s beach trip was a bust due to my son, then
8 months, screaming the whole duration because he had his first tooth breaking
through –perfect timing – and his hatred of sand. Those two problems were not convenient
at a beach destination. My daughter and I were by ourselves most of the time,
as my husband was forced to stay on the balcony with my son.
As we packed ourselves
in the car this go around, everyone was very cheerful, even a little too
cheerful. My daughter was singing and my son was dancing in his car seat,
flailing his arms from side to side, it even made this realist momma a little
more optimistic that maybe this year would be a little better.
We were making great
time, considering we left on Labor Day, with the mindset that everyone should
be where they need to be so we wouldn’t hit traffic –and we were right.
However, neither of my children sleep well in the car, especially my son. Our
destination was about 4.5 hours away and both children were calm until roughly
2.5 hours in, then the madness started…
…Our air conditioner
busted –with the temps hitting 93 degrees that day and about 2 more hours left
to drive.
I’m not sure if you
have ever driven in a packed to the brim car, with four people in it, stifling temperatures,
and no air conditioning… But I wouldn’t recommend it. In fact, I wouldn’t wish
it upon your worst enemy. We actually stopped at a fast food restaurant to regroup
and regain some composure –Me fast food? Yep, fast food.
My son was so tired, he
thought he was looking out the window with his eyes open. But I think it was
just too hot to even focus on one thing. We had all four windows down, which
was deafening, but almost seemed more unnatural to leave them closed and idle
in the still, hot air. Sheriff Callie on my dual screen dvd players were no
longer cutting it and I had sweat in places that didn’t even seem natural. I always
say I’m a 1950s housewife, well, I just caught a glimpse of what travel would
have been in that era… and I didn’t like it.
When we arrived at our
hotel, I said to my husband, “nothing is too far that we can’t walk to it… I’m
not getting back into that car until we leave.”
The temps were supposed
to be 90s all week.
The beach was a little
better than last year with my son. He whines and cries a lot on a normal day,
so I didn’t expect that to be much different, but I was glad that he loved the
sand, ocean, and pool. My daughter was great, as she normally is. This year,
she was just more active and on the go. So it was more exhausting for this
momma to keep track of both kiddos, while my husband enjoyed his vacation.
The one downside,
besides the air conditioning, was we were all in one room. There were two beds,
one for my daughter and I, then my husband was separate, and my son was in the
pack and play. Nap time was surprisingly easy, as my daughter actually slept
when my son did (if only that would have continued when we were back home). But,
bedtime was hard. I felt like I was an old librarian shushing my daughter
repeatedly for talking so loudly and too much. She was never one of those let’s
stay calm and lay quietly in bed until I fall asleep type kids, she’s more of
let’s jump around like a manic until I literally drop in my bed and that’s
where I’ll sleep type of child. The first night we arrived, American Ninja
Warrior was on and it was hard for her to quiet her emotions, as she loves to
cheer and do all the sound effects for the competitors running the obstacles.
We progressed the week
as normal as can be with two kids. We played on the beach and in the ocean -my
daughter learned how to boogie board and did really well. We jumped waves and splashed
in the surf. They built sandcastles, dug holes, danced on a sandbar, and picked
sea shells. We were even lucky to see a hermit crab and some jelly fish -thankfully,
that was the last day. We also spent too much money on the over-priced
boardwalk rides and of course, my daughter had to ride every ride - twice -My
son had to be taken off of two rides due to him crying and trying to jump off. We played mini golf and fished off the pier.
However, most of our time was spent in the pool -both of my children are part
fish. Since we were swimming the majority of the time, and my son wants to be
just like his big sister, he learned how to swim with only arm swimmies on. Boy
was he proud of himself. Then, my daughter was almost going completely
underwater all by herself.
Our ride home was much
cooler, since we opted to leave when the sun set and with the idea of both kids
sleeping and then transfer them to bed once home. It worked well with my daughter,
who fell asleep within the first 10 minutes of driving. However, my son fell
asleep the last half hour of the trip. He never cried, just whined to no end. I
had to crawl over suitcases to get to the backseat to stroke the side of his
head and cuddle the best I could with him locked in a 5 point harness. My daughter
occasionally stirred, but thankfully a bull horn could sound right next to her
and I think she would still sleep.
All in all, the
vacation goals were met…
Memories were made.
Memories were created.
Family time was spent.
Happiness prevailed.
Laughter ensued.
And, my in-laws even
spent a few days with us and played a mean game of Old Maid and Go Fish.
Since we started doing
a beach trip 3 years ago, I’ve learned that vacations are no longer a vacation
for the parents. It’s utter stress and complete chaos. I wasn’t able to sit
down for more than a few seconds because I was being pulled in every different
direction, trying to fulfill everyone’s needs. My kids wanted to make the most
out of every day, so we were in constant ‘go’ mode. We hit several ups and
downs throughout the duration, but they were child-age, situational based. Something
that I will never experience again and as the years click away, these fits will
be a thing of the past. I will think back to mini golf and laugh about my
daughter and son running up and down the greens. Or my son trying to ‘step over’
the water and my daughter swinging from the props that were positioned around. 5
years from now, these won’t be issues anymore. Naps won’t control the vacation
and being over tired won’t exist. Crying for no reason will be replaced with
better communication and more emotional maturity.
Since they are only newly 4 years old and almost 2 years old, that sounds kind of
nice…
When it comes to
vacations, it’s nice to know a lot changes in a year. That next year will be
better and the year after that will be even more grand. Each year will bring
upon a brand new experience and everyone will look at everything with a new set
of eyes.
--All while keeping family,
fun, and quality time spent as the main focus.
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