For me it begins the night before departure.  If we’re staying at a hotel or other rented space the check-out time is usually around 11am so some preparations must be done the night before.  Dirty clothes must be gathered and all belongings accounted for.  The place that you called home for a few days and nights is no longer yours.  Time to pack your bags and get on with your normal life.  Once the day of departure arrives it’s helter-skelter to get the bags repacked and back into the car.  This is usually a process since you always leave with more than you came with.  Dirty clothing takes up so much more space than clean clothing does.  And there are always souvenirs.

Once everything is in the car, you check-out and then you see your bill.  It’s always more than you expect because of crazy taxes and fees.  So that’s always a downer.  Then begins the drive home which is always, for some reason, much faster than the drive there.  Although I’m always happy about having a successful trip, the drive home is never a happy time for anyone.  We want to be back where we were with the people we were with doing the fun things we were doing.  But instead we’re headed back to reality.

The hardest part about coming down from The Vacation High for me is the laundry.  I need a better system.  What usually happens is that the dirty laundry is repacked into individual suitcases.  Then when we get home I have to go through everyone’s bag to get the dirty clothes.  Then I have to sort them and wash them.  For some reason, this takes me days.  Case in point, we returned home from our last vacation on Sunday night.  I have still yet to finish washing all of the dirty laundry.  Oh and don’t even mention the unpacked bags that are still strewn about the house.  They’ll get put away one of these days.  But that feeling of excitement and anticipation has left me.  I’ve come down from my high.  As Soul II Soul sang back in the 80s “Back to life, back to reality.”

Being on vacation puts me in a different state of mind.  There’s no laundry to be done, no beds to be made, no appointments to attend.  You’re in a different environment doing different things but there’s that sense of comfort because you’re with the ones you love most.  On vacation, you eat whatever you want and don’t think about how long it will take to burn off the calories.  Ice cream, fried dough, pizza, candy.  You name it, when I’m on vacation, I eat it.  Then there’s the beer.  I’d never let myself eat the way I do when I’m on vacation on a regular basis.  Not only would it seriously hurt my waistline but it would take away from the feeling that indulging on vacation brings.

Going new places, seeing new things and creating memories for my family and with amazing friends just gives me such a sense of of pure bliss.   I love seeing the look on my girls’ faces when they experience something for the first time.  It really is amazing.  And sharing those experiences with such incredible friends makes it that much better.  It’s a good thing we don’t vacation too much or I just might become a vacation addict and require some sort of rehab.

Instead, our vacations involve packing our car full of everything except the kitchen sink, driving for a few hours, and getting comfy in a hotel/friend’s home/mini resort for a few nights.  Here is how it usually unfolds – A few months prior, I’ll suggest to Scott that we should do X.  He’ll agree because I always have fabulous plans.  We’ll arrange for accommodations either in a hotel/resort or with friends (I do most of this planning).  The week of, we confirm all of the reservations, make lists and take multiple trips to Target for necessities.  Two days before, I begin getting things ready.  Laundry is done, bags and suitcases are laid out and items start getting crossed off of the lists.  The day of departure everything is finalized in bags and suitcases.  This includes clothes for Scott, myself and both kids (and plenty of spare outfits for spills/accidents/weather changes), toiletries for all four of us, toys, kids plates/utensils/cups, any special or hard to find food or snacks, extra pillows, air mattress (if necessary), pack and play, etc.. As I said, everything but the kitchen sink.  Scott packs the car.  I refuse to be a part of it other than to request which few items are to go in the back seat within an arms reach for emergencies.  He’s a master at doing it and I’d rather not interrupt.  Somehow he always makes it fit.  Then we all pile in the car, stop at Dunkin’ Donuts (it wouldn’t be a road trip without this important stop) and hit the road.

Our favorite destinations range from an hour and a half to a little over four hour away via car.  So, depending on where we’re going at the time, we decide if we’ll drive straight through or make a stop along the way.  Generally speaking, anything two hours or less is a straight through drive.  If it’s a trip with a stop we try to plan the drive as follows – get in the car just around nap time for Nora.  Stop for “lunch” when she wakes up.  Eat and then finish the drive.  This usually works out quite well but as of late, she hasn’t been a huge fan of sleeping in the car.  In which case, we try to get at least half of the drive under our belts before stopping.

At this point, we’ve already had so much excitement and anticipation about our vacation and we haven’t even gotten there yet!  Once we arrive at our destination it’s time to unload the car.  (I’d like to take a moment to apologize to whomever decided to host our family for one of our vacations.  We bring a shit ton of crap with us.  Thanks!)  After that task, which is usually left up to Scott so I can wrangle the kids, is done, the vacation begins.

I know what you’re probably thinking right about now… That sounds like the furthest thing from a vacation that I could possibly imagine!  But you know what, it really is fun.  Is it stressful?  Yes.  Do we want to rip each others’ heads off at some point?  Yes.  Do we forget things? Yes.  Do we often say we’ll never do it again?  Yes.  Would we change it for the world?  No.  This, my friends, is how memories are made.

Image credit – worldofstock.com

Note:  Though this picture loosely represents what our packed car looks like, we DO NOT drive a mini van.

We all had a blast but with all of the excitement there was no time for blogging and with all of the packing and planning that it takes to pull off a family vacation of course I didn’t plan any posts ahead of time.

Anywho, I hope my millions of loyal readers (ha!) haven’t missed me too much.  I hope to be back to a more normal posting schedule really soon or once I get my house back into livable conditions.  (I’m not sure which is worse, packing or unpacking!)

So, remember how I told you that I had been looking for months for a double jogging stroller and then we scored a sweet deal on one last week?  Well, as you know I went up to my parents’ lake house for a few days this week.  It’s in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.  If you blink when driving through the town center, you’ll probably miss it.  There’s an antique store, a pizza place, a bank and a library.  Oh, and a place called the Community Clothing Center which is sort of like a Salvation Army store or thrift store.

Before heading to the house, we always stop at the grocery store to get what we’ll need while we’re up there.  The closest store is about 20 minutes away so it’s just easier to get everything before hand.  Anyway, as we’re driving from the grocery store to the house, we pass through the tiny town center.  There’s never anything exciting to see or do down there but I always look around as we’re going through.  As we pass the Community Clothing Center my mom says to me (did I mention that she was with us?), “Hey, there’s a double jogging stroller just like the one you just got.”  I looked over and saw it and she was right.  It was just like the one I had got, except that it was blue.  I just shrugged and said, “Figures, since I just bought one.”

I kept on driving but then my mom and I decided that we should at least go and check it out.  So I turned the car around and headed back.  I pulled up in front of the CCC and had my mom hop out and go inquire about the stroller.  She goes in and comes back a few minutes later and knocks on the window.  I say,”How much?”  She just laughs and says, “They don’t charge for things, you just make a donation.”  Ummm, ok.  At that point she hops back in the car and I get out to go check out the stroller.  It’s legitimately the same stroller I just bought, an InStep Safari TT Double Jogger.  It has all the parts and is in fairly good shape.  It has some stains but nothing that can’t be cleaned.

We decide that, even though I just bought one, we should take it.  She can either keep it at her house for my girls and my  nieces or leave it up at the lake house and we can use it when we walk over to the beach with the kids.  Either way, all we have to do is make a donation and the stroller is ours.  We’re trying to think of what to give for a donation and we’re rummaging through our purses.  Collectively we came up with $15 cash.  It’s all we had.  My mom goes back in, gives the woman working inside the money and tells her that we’re going to take the stroller.  As she does this, I am waiting outside by the car.  An elderly man is sitting in one of the chairs outside the store.  He’s mumblimg, “Where’s my nurse?  She’s over an hour late.  I might just croak right here waiting for her.”  I’m not sure if he’s talking to me so I don’t answer.  Then another man approaches the store, looks over at my car and says to me, “Niiiice car!”  At this point my mom is (thankfully) come out of the store.

I start folding up the stroller and open the tailgate to my car.  So this stroller is NOT small.  It folds in half but that doesn’t mean much.  Oh and my car is already pretty full of our bags of clothes, our food and miscellaneous stuff for the kids.  I have no idea how we’re going to fit the stroller in the back of the car but somehow we manage.

So now, in a matter of 5 days, I have no one, but two double jogging strollers.  It’s just my luck!

On Tuesday I packed up the car and took my girls to spend a few days here.  It may not look like much but it’s such a break from the ordinary chaos of life.  It’s a place where no one cares if you’re showered or properly dressed because no one really sees you anyway.  It’s a place where  you eat yummy food that’s not so good for you.  It’s a place where the phone rings maybe once a day and there’s no internet connection.  The closest store is twenty minutes away and excitement is seeing the legendary beaver or snapping turtle swimming by in the lake.

It’s been called many things: The Camp, The Cottage, The Lake House, The Relax Inn.  But it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s just awesome.  It’s decorated with lots of little trinkets both old and new.  And inside the cabinet doors you can find little news paper clippings and such with instructions for wound care and “recipes” for things like paint remover and drain de-clogger. We all sleep in one room that has 5 beds and a crib.  And the kids bathe in the kitchen sink because there’s no tub.   It’s not big, it’s not fancy, but it’s one of the greatest places I know.

My girls love it up there.  They get special treats and we take a wagon ride over to the other side of the lake where there’s a little beach.  If you ever want to feel good about yourself, just go there.  It’s amazing to see what some of the locals wear for swimming attire and how they just have no shame at all.  It’s so peaceful and the view is amazing.

It’s a little place to go and get away from it all.  And sometimes that’s all you need to feel refreshed (even if you were up all night with a feverish teething toddler!)

This past weekend we were on a road trip and stopped at Burger King for a quick, unhealthy lunch.  Of course the entire restaurant (if you can even call it that) was plastered with Twilight and Eclipse posters and paraphernalia.  I understand that big chain places like BK are going to market hot movies and do promotions based on them.  It’s always been that way.  It’s a money maker for both parties.  I have no problem with that.  What I do have a problem with is that Burger King continued the Eclipse marketing in the form of their kid’s meals.  WTF!

To me, kid’s meals are just that, meals for kids.  And when I say kids I’m implying someone under the age of 12, most likely even younger.  Most teenagers I know can and do consume much larger quantities of food than are given in a kid’s meal at Burger King.  So, if kid’s meals are geared toward kids under 12 then why would BK put an Eclipse “prize” in the kid’s meal?  The movie is rated PG-13 due to some violence and scenes of sexuality (according to IMDB.com) so it seems very counter intuitive to me for BK to do this.  I know all they’re doing is seeing dollar signs but still.  It’s not like there aren’t any other big blockbuster movies that they could use in their marketing.  How about Toy Story 3?  Of course, I’m not a marketing expert or anything and I’m sure one has to offer the other the deal.  I’m sure they don’t just get to choose what they want to use for prizes, but I simply can’t understand this.

After bringing this topic up with some of my family and friends I have heard that some Burger Kings offer an alternate “toddler prize” for the kid’s meals upon request.  However, I was unaware and the cashier who took my order at BK clearly saw that I had a 3 and 1 year old in tow.  Obviously they had no idea what Eclipse was.  I was never offered a toddler prize and I didn’t see any signs anywhere that they were even available.

In reality I know that BK and [whoever produced this movie] do not care about whether or not my child actually likes the prize.  I know they just care about the money, but really Burger King?  Really? (a la Seth Meyers on SNL)

Image borrowed from www.bellasdiary.com

The “prize” we received was the mini tote bag.  Seriously?  It’s a little piece of fabric with a handle on it.  It’s not even big enough to hold a pack of gum.  Oh and I love how the poster says keepsakes for girls and guys.  It’s clearly not targeted toward kids, otherwise it would have said girls and boys.  Ok, rant over.

]]> http://amothersworkisneverdone.com/2010/07/really-burger-king-really/feed/ 8 http://amothersworkisneverdone.com/2010/07/lifes-a-beach/ http://amothersworkisneverdone.com/2010/07/lifes-a-beach/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:22:08 +0000 Kristin http://amothersworkisneverdone.com/?p=271 More >]]> Saturday was our five year wedding anniversary.  Since it falls on a holiday weekend we decided not to celebrate this big milestone on it’s actual day but wait and do it the following weekend (this weekend).  With that said, we traveled down to visit Scott’s side of the family for the day.  His brother lives right on the beach and always has a big gathering on July 3rd.  So we packed up the girls early that morning with beach gear galore and drove a little over an hour.  To our HUGE surprise there was no traffic!  We got there in record time, grabbed some food for the kids and headed to the beach.  It was PACKED beyond belief.  I can’t say I’m surprised but the tides were not cooperating with the 90 plus degree weather and everyone was jam packed in about 10 feet of space between the water and the sea wall.  And the tide kept rising meaning we had to push back our chairs and bags about every 5 minutes.  The girls had a blast though and even though I despise ocean beach sand, it was completely worth it.  The water was even warm enough un-numbing enough that you could go in and actually enjoy it.  Brinley made sand castles with her cousins and swam in the ocean with her daddy.  Nora ran around non stop the entire day, ate everything in site and tried out everyone’s beach chair.  She attempted to go in the water many times but every time a wave came toward her she’s run for the sand.  It was too cute.

After we were all drained from the sun and ran out of cold drinks and food, we headed back to my brother-in-law’s house for a BBQ.  Burgers, sausages, steak tips, chicken, pasta salad, fruit salad, coleslaw, cookies, brownies, margaritas, beer… you name it, it was consumed!  The kids all played in the yard while the adults talked and ate.  Around 9pm we all paraded back down to the beach for the most amazing fireworks display ever.  You’d never have known that lighting off fireworks was illegal in Massachusetts after seeing the show that was put on by the locals.  Probably some of the best fireworks that I’ve ever seen.  We kept the kids up waaaaaaaaay late but they were amazing.  Nora stayed awake for the show and Brinley fell asleep in daddy’s arms under the fireworks.

At about 10:30pm we trudged back to the house and packed the girls up in the car.  Nora was still awake so I managed to get her into her PJs.  Brinley was already passed out so we just plopped her in the car.  They both slept for the entire ride home and then  we transferred them to their beds.  Scott and I followed suit and passed out just as our heads hit the pillows.  We never originally planned to stay for the fireworks but the girls were being so good and having so much fun that we just went with it.  I’m so glad that we did.

Scott and I were both a little bit weary about taking Brinley on a 4 hour car. To prepare we went out and bought a portable DVD player that she could use in the car. Much to our surprise we didn’t even turn it on on the way there. For the first leg of the trip Brinley amused herself by reading books in the back seat. She also went through what we affectionately call a “brain dump”. This is when she will just start spitting out almost everything she knows back to back. It usually goes something like this: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the ABCs, counting to 11 three or four times, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, more ABCs, more counting… etc. When she’s done she often asks Scott and I to sing some of her songs as well. Its quite amusing.

We stopped for lunch about 3 hours into the trip. I’m not entirely sure where we were but we stopped at Friendly’s for about an hour. Then we made a quick pit stop at my all time favorite store, Target. Once we were back in the car, Brinley fell asleep and slept for the remainder of the ride. Scott and I got to have some much needed adult conversation.

We spent 3 nights with Kelli and James. They are such awesome hosts. They made sure to plan fun things for us to do that would also be fun for Brinley. On Sunday we went over to James’ parents house and had a BBQ and went swimming. Brinley got to run around and play in the yard and got to go swimming in the pool. The water was a bit cold but she didn’t seem to mind (daddy was a bit chilly and mommy chose not to go in).
On Monday we went to the Bronx Zoo. This was the highlight of the trip. We were joined by Kelli and James’ friends Carlos and Sarah and their children Little Carlos and Gabby. It took us about an hour to get to the zoo from their house but the ride was sooo worth it. Though at first we thought the day was going to be a bust since it began to torrential downpour less than 5 minutes after we purchased our tickets. Luckily there were a few indoor exhibits that we could escape to. Once the rain stopped we began our tour of the zoo. Brinley was in awe. I’ve never heard her say “wow” so many times. She was so excited to see all of the animals. Her favorites were the giraffes and the zweebas (zebras). Scott and I were equally amazed by the animals. (Please check Brinley’s website for pictures of the animals that we saw.) On the ride home from the zoo we stopped for dinner and then headed back to Kelli and James’ house where we watched the Olympics and played Rockband (which Scott and I will be purchasing soon!).

Our visit came to an end on Tuesday morning. We packed up the car and set up the DVD player for Brinley figuring that we wouldn’t be as lucky the second time around. We put Finding Nemo on but Brinley only lasted about a half hour with it. She is not quite yet capable of following a plot of a feature length film. We made a pit stop and changed the DVD for her. We drove about 2 and a half hours before stopping at Ted’s Montana Grill in Connecticut for lunch. This was quite an experience. Ted’s is a totally environmentally friendly restaurant. Their straws are made from cardboard and their take home containers are made from CORN! It was pretty cool. We got burgers and they were pretty good but about 4 inches thick so a bit difficult to eat. After lunch Brinley fell asleep for the rest of the ride home. We had an awesome visit with our friends who we don’t get to see quite often enough!!

After visiting the butterflies we went over to Kimball Farm for some ice cream. We also saw a few goats and some roosters. We had a nice little lunch under the tent and then enjoyed some ice cream. Brinley enjoyed looking at the bumper boats and walking through the country store.