Vacationing... With Toddlers.

There is nothing like a relaxing vacation....and those five days were nothing like a relaxing vacation.

A Vacation with Toddlers should really go by a different name. Perhaps, "A Change in the Routine which Exhausts Everyone and Makes More Work for Mommy and Daddy." That would be more accurate.

So, I needed to let go of the idea that I would relax or feel renewed by caring for my children outside their natural environment. Once I realized what this wasn't, I could more fully embrace what it was.

It was...
Close quarters for the four of us.
A chance to really look at my children.

Really, really look at them.
Long walks.
Late desserts.
My birthday, on location.

Mountain views.
Lots of firsts.
New memories. Ours.

Us.

"With kids, it's a trip. Without kids, it's a vacation."

Someday, we'll go on a vacation. And perhaps I'll miss their packed lunches, fruit snacks, songs in the car, I Spy, poor sleeping, soggy towels, mosquito bites, kiddie pools, broken crayons, backseat fights, muddy shoes, spray-on sunscreen, board books, dirty faces, DVDs, and ragged bedtimes.

But for the first few days of that vacation, I'll enjoy the quiet stillness.

And then I'll miss them.