We had a great time this year...although, it was probably the rainiest weeks we've ever had down at the beach. Good thing we brought school work for them to work on...LOL... just kidding...kinda... Yes, they read some books and did some math during those times when you just need them to settle down and leave each other alone. We also had some 'new' toys to whip out and a deck of cards. DJ and Kyra learned how to play Black Jack this year..good for math skills:)
The worst part of our vacation is usually the drive down and the drive back home. I always guess that it will take us 14 hours. If it's less, than that's Awesome...any more and we are pretty much ready to kill each other. Well...ok...so it takes less than 14 hours of being in the car to want to kill each other, but who's counting?? ha ha..
Was trying to think of what to write about this vacation and some driving tips... re-read my post from last year...
http://honestfamilyliving.blogspot.com/2011/08/family-driving-vacations-top-10-list.html
Funny how we were trying to sleep train Franny last year and we finally accomplished it about a week before we left this year... AND ... since I admitted to my husband that it was probably a little bit of my fault it never worked before, I will admit it to you all as well. I think I just didn't want to let go yet knowing that she is the last one and I really did love sleeping with her:) This year, she slept wonderfully in her pack and play every single night. Some nights she was even asking to go Night Night!! And, she's back in her crib with no problems. Yeah!!!
Things that were different from last year:
1. I was totally unprepared for being in the car... unfortunately, bronchitis kicked my ass the week before leaving and I was not thinking straight
2. Snacks were few and far between... needed to incorporate more of these this year.. so unprepared:(
3. We didn't do our 'links' to mark the time. Totally wanted to get this done and really should've done it.. it worked out so well last year.
4. I didn't pack activities for them to do, but made them pack their bags of things to do. I did, however, pack a 'snack' bag (with a few things in it) that included a white board for each kid to use during the trip. Kyra played hangman on hers. Max and DJ could really care less about theirs.
5. Apparently, their listening skills depreciated while on vacation this year...though, Kyra was excellent. The boys, not so much!!
6. Seating arrangements need a lot of thought when there are 4 of them... had to switch them in both directions at some point (here is one 'seating' arrangement) think next year we will have to put one of us back there to play referee..ha ha
7. Kids didn't get to run through the water that spouts out of the ground b/c of the rain...missed getting those pics...but they did other stuff while we were at Broadway at the Beach (trampoline and darts)... even Max got to do both..he was soooooooo happy to be doing what the big kids were doing
8. Franny discovered that she could yell really really loud in the car...
9. I was lax in the Vacation Journal area this year and forgot to make them fill it out. I know I will regret that b/c I always enjoy reading and re-reading them. I even printed them out and made them fill out the title page before we left. Just didn't have them fill it out while we were there..boo on me!!
10. Max was A LOT braver jumping in the pool this year... Franny walked right in on the first day before she realized she couldn't reach the bottom. She walked around the pool and eventually would walk down the steps and/or jump in with you. She is just a bit scary b/c she would run around the pool and come really close to the edge so we all had to keep an eye on her!!
I also want to put out the disclaimer that while NONE of my children pooped in the pool (yes, someone's kid did and they had to shock it and close it for 24 hours), Max felt it was ok to get out of the pool and pee on the wall. Oh, and he tried to pee on a tree too... gotta get that fixed or he'll be peeing everywhere
All in all, our family vacation was a complete HIT with the kids. And yes, Mommy tried lots of new drinks this week:) My favorite was this one from TGIF's where you pour the martini over cotton candy..totally cool:
Here's a money saving tip: buy those frozen drinks they are now selling for like 2 bucks and throw them in your freezer. You can drink 4 of them for the price of 1 at the hotel bar!!
Now, if you've made it this far...thanks for reading. Please also continue to vote if you 'like' my stuff:) It's only 3 weeks of voting but you can vote every day. Click on the Button to the right or just click on the link below and thanks in advance for voting!!
http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/Top-25-New-York-Moms-2012?trk=t25_Top-25-New-York-Moms-2012
Great post! I love great family vacations , whenever my whole family gets together its a absolute blast. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
ReplyDelete