Sweet Summertime

I'm not sure Summer is really the time to check in on here and think "I should start blogging again!" but here we are...

I forgot how much I loved summer vacation last year. Not only is it nice to have all the kids home at once (Nash is in heaven!) but I LOVE that our schedule is largely our own. No school or activities up in the way of my fun. Let's go to lunch! Let's play in the pool! Let's just stay in our damn pajamas all day so there are literally five fewer outfits in the wash!

Erik's job leaves him without much time off, and so did the last one, and the one before that. But I always had a baby so I was just trying to survive. Now my baby is a toddler and we've got a life to lead! So this year... I decided if Erik couldn't take time off, I'd take my kids on vacation by myself. Then I turned chicken and asked my mom to come too. If you haven't considered taking a Grandma on vacation, I'd encourage you to get on that. It's is almost like taking a second mom. Except for when you bring a Grandma, and you're the mom, and there's no dad, you have to do all the crap the dad usually does- like mule in all the luggage, and go down to pick up dinner while the kids are being bathed. And drive instead of sleep on the way.

I don't like the idea of leaving Erik home alone to toil, but my kids won't be willing travel companions forever. We don't have many summers before they're too cool, or have jobs, or whatever. I hate the feeling that I'm effectively saying "Hey, sorry you have to work to provide us this beatuful life instead of joining us on a vacation that you're also providing for us." But he swears he wants us to go and do; and I've asked around to some other husbands of stay-at-home-mom's and they all say the same. So we went and we did. All the way back to Orlando!

Sea World was SERIOUSLY a bust. It was so commercial. Everything cost extra - games, some rides, WATER. We paid for the meal plan because I thought "It's going to be 110* outside, $30 for adults and $20 for the kids (to eat every hour if we choose) will be paid for in the amount we'd have spent on water!" Except WATER WASN'T INCLUDED. It's a 158* outside, but you could only drink milk or pop. What the heck, Sea World?!

We hung around in Orlando for a few days after that. We had breakfast with the Minions, and lunch another day at the T-Rex Cafe. Our hotel had a water park, but we didn't even go because my kids were in love with the freedom of the (shallow) pool. I had the time to teach Piper the basics of swimming and Grant finally got the hang of it too! Nash just drive his car on the side, but that's fine. They had THE BEST time.

Before heading home we went to The Crayola Experience. I can not say enough about this. For $15 per person, we got hands on activities, free souvenirs, a show, we got to name our own crayons, and design our own artwork. We could have spent twice as long there.

And can I just say that the drivers in Orlando are quite patient and easy-going? They are. I was nervous to drive in a new city, but it was nothing!

When I was a kid, we went on a vacation every year. It was never anything super extravagant. My parents would just take whatever was in their tax return that year, and we used that. I can remember several trips to neighboring states for hotel stays and amusement park adventures, baseball games and outlet mall shopping. And then as we got older we ventured farther away. We never flew, but we might have driven for 2 days to get to where we were going - and if we were lucky, my mom took the middle seat out of the minivan and laid down a foam mattress so we could sleep (hey, it was the nineties). Seriously, half the fun was in the car ride. My sister and I never got along at home, but I can remember making up secret handshakes and reading aloud to her from Tom Sawyer on the way to Tennessee one year. I can remember my mom ALWAYS making us eat at Shoney's because they had an extensive menu and kids ate free. I can remember my dad always encouraging us to select books from whatever gift shop we were in.

I want all that for my kids.

And maybe a little more than the memories of this particular trip, I loved showing my children (and P, especially) that you don't need your husband with you to do stuff, and you can do things even when you're nervous or uneasy. I hope when they're grown they know I really tried to make their summers special like my own parents did!