Top Ten Necessary Evils of Traveling with Kids:
1. Packing for a weekend trip still requires three whole suitcases.
2. Airport security (shoes off everyone, fold up stroller, no full sippy cups, people rolling their eyes... thankfully we drove this one.)
3. Being woken up too early.
4. Eating fast food too often.
5. Not getting to go out to an adult movie ('adult' meaning non-animated... don't get too excited.)
6. Always needing a backpack full of diapers, wipes, binky, goldfish crackers, Nintendo DS, hand sanitizer, three small sweatshirts, and camera when we go out for the day.
7. Yelling, "Sit in your seat and put your seatbelt back on!" way too often.
8. Finding pieces of unidentifiable food under the carseats.
9. Cruising the aisles of small, snobby grocery stores with three children asking for everything from Cheetos to Root Beer while organic single people give you dirty looks.
10. Not being able to lay out and read at the beach. Remember those days?
Top Ten Reasons Not to Leave the Kids Behind:
1. It's so much more magical to view the ocean through the eyes of a child.
2. The simple things are where its at, such as bike rides, walks, and catching sand crabs.
3. There is no better reward for good behavior than a gelato at the end of the day.
4. Watching your children laugh, run, and imagine together and know that at this moment, they are each other's best friend.
5. Waking up early forces you to not waste the day away. We jam so much fun into each day, that at the end we are exhausted and very happy.
6. Putting the kids down before 8:00. The rest of the evening is ours.
7. No on-call, pagers, cell phones, and email.
8. Feeling such pride when smiling people ask me if those are my three adorable children. Thinking to myself, yes, they are adorable, aren't they?
9. Having unhurried, uninterrupted, undistracted time with each other. We have nowhere we have to go, no one we have to call, no place we have to be. We can lay on the lawn answering all of Dallin's questions, slide down the slide a few more times, add more bubbles to the bubble bath.
10. Realizing over and over again why it all matters, who I do it all for, the most important thing in my world... my family.
These pictures were all taken at Corona del Mar in February.
7 comments:
Cute cute pics Mel! I loved them. Your post actually made me hungry for a family road trip, which is saying a lot because going to the grocery store with all five kiddos is tricky...let alone another city or state! :) Maybe this summer we'll get a chance to spread our wings...
LOV E IT
So fun! Next time you head over, let me know, I would love to head down to see you! My parents bought a 'second' home down there!
Mel, your post totally reminded me of our trip to Corona del Mar a few years ago and how much fun we had. Remember how you were halfway there but when you stopped for gas you realized you left your wallet back in Tucson so you had to go all the way home to get it? Too funny!
Yeah, funny. Thanks for the great memory Reb.
Looks like a great vacation. I am totally craving beach, sun, and uninterrupted family time. And, yes, I DO remember those days lying on the beach, reading a book with out "responsibility". I remember those days with you at the Sea of Galilee and Tel Aviv. Those were some good times.
Cory and I had sworn off traveling with our kids for at least the next ten years...but now that you mention so many good things we'll have to reconsider! It looks like you guys had a blast. Give the kids hugs and kisses from us. We miss you guys.
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