Vacations, despite their highly anticipated nature, are extremely hard work with young kids! Enter flashbacks of my own family vehicle screeching to a halt at the side of the highway, yelling, tears, leaving restaurants to wait in the car, time outs in random places. Yep, we've duplicated them all this weekend.
My kids are high energy (to be polite about their crazy personalities) to begin with. Then add a little bit of stress, routine change, hotel (I hear you groaning), and the attendance of a wedding, and you have a recipe for one. huge. disaster.
The wedding. Oooh, the wedding! Let me quickly recap. 1001 meltdowns. Someone found a hidden bag of M&M's. White wedding shirt ruined, no time to wash it before the wedding. Make it to the wedding on time (Win!) Commence screeching 3 year old yelling "GET ME OUT OF HERE" (that would be the stroller)while all is dead quiet, bride getting ready to head down the aisle and me praying with all my might that my oldest didn't bolt down the aisle at the exact moment she would emerge. I am SO thankful it didn't happen. In another rockstar moment, I let him pretty much slam juice because I was afraid of yet another tantrum. This is his second glass:
Two parents and two kids attended, but no one actually watched the wedding! Oops. All I can say is thank you NannySitters for saving the day for the reception, because if I had chosen to haul my two angels along, (which included a 3 course meal that took over 3 hours to be served) I would have shot off each of my fingers individually. That would have been more pleasant than trying to keep them from breaking the centerpieces or eating the wicks out of the candles.
I'll say it again.... UGH!
So, this morning after 5 night wakings between the two littles, and a crappy cup of coffee that took almost half an hour to make, I was ready to throw in the towel.
In my best mom meltdown moment I yelled "I'VE HAD ENOUGH! WE ARE HEADING TO THE CAR!" Please note this is probably the 8th time I've yelled at my kids this weekend- I am not proud, but i'm admitting it. I took K to the car and told him in my best mad mom voice and a tear in my eye that he had ruined my vacation weekend. Guess what?? Turns out, he doesn't really care!
I had myself a nice little feel-sorry-for-myself cry, and regrouped. Apparently so did my kid. Thank the lord.
Thankfully, we had ended our trip with a renewed sense that enjoyment can be had amongst the challenges of travel.
So... in my recently altered state, I'm making a point to be thankful for the things that can get lost under the dark clouds in our minds when things don't go our way:
- Getting to go for my 14km run with my boy, and finishing strong! Thank you Isagenix bar for this... you saved my bacon and provided me with the energy, because frankly, I've been eating too much bacon on this trip.
-Visiting with SO many amazing family members, some of whom I have not seen in over 20 years!
Moments like this warm my heart! This is my uncle, at their orchard giving K food to feed to the chickens:
- Going to the wedding dinner by ourselves as a couple.
- Visiting 3 wineries today and finding some delicious new treats to try when we get home (Sperling, The View and Spierhead Winery in Kelowna all did not disappoint!)
- Having my first Marshall's shopping experience that left me wanting more.
- I am SO thankful to have had the help husband who is balanced and regroups also, and a mom that provided so much support and not one ounce of judgement.
-I am thankful that I took the time to change my thinking and find the gem moments from this weekend.
Please note that I'm writing this post before my vacation is actually over (trip home tomorrow) because the idea of 5 hours in the car, plus a ferry, plus another couple of hours makes me want to barf.
The end.
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