We had our first of two family vacations for the summer at the end of June. Alex finished up his summer term, came home, we packed up the car and were off for a week at the cabin with my family. My Family has grown quite a bit over the last year. I've gained a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law, and a niece who will be arriving at the end of this month. Everyone was able to come up to the cabin for at least a couple nights. I haven't been on vacation with my entire family since I was in high school. So needless to say we really enjoyed ourselves.
This was also our first trip with two kids. They did well, No one fell in the lake, which was my chief worry. We didn't get very much sleep though. We were all in the same room for the first few nights and Johnny and Trixie kept waking each other up. Then when Johnny got moved into his own room he figured out how to climb out of his pack 'n' play and Trixie suddenly started sleeping on her stomach. Both of these developments made me uneasy so I didn't sleep well even when the kids were sleeping.
I was recently talking with a friend about how going on vacation with little kids is not really vacation. You're still doing many of the same things you do at home; changing diapers, preparing food, washing dishes, waking up at 6:00 am. But there's still something about not being in your own home that is restful. You're only doing the essentials. All the other things that clutter the brain and absorb the day are not around to be worried about. The only thing to worry about is togetherness. And that's a nice feeling.
