Vacation Planning

About once a week I have a mild fit caused by the outrage I am experiencing from my children. They are insisting on growing up. I am none-too-happy about it. I love them. I love being a mother. I love watching them grow and blossom. I just hate that it is coming to an end too soon.

Uncle Sunshine's Island

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that as Polly is wanting to spread her wings and Buck is finding other hobbies, our family vacations are becoming few and far between. Yes, we went to visit my brother in California at Thanksgiving, but the highlight (outside of my wonderful brother and sister in law) was the yoga class Brother #1 dragged me to on Saturday morning. Or maybe the garage sale we went to afterwards where I stood around for 2,000 hours while he bought $478,081 worth of vinyl records. 

After a family meeting, it was decreed we would be on vacation this summer. Normally vacations are in winter, but with Buckaroo's school and the fact Uncle Sunshine continually asks us not to come visit at his very busy time, we are going this summer. I am not quite sure we have ever taken a vacation in the summer. 

What surprised me is the degree of details and opinions everyone had as we planed this trip. One member of our family wanted to fly (#teamfly!) two wanted to drive--no matter what--and one wanted to fly if that meant we could get there sooner or drive if it meant we could stop by a specific restaurant that is only located in Branson MO and Mobile AL that has good macaroni and cheese. And if we did so, could we stop by a different restaurant in Pensacola FL on the other end of our trip that has good bread sticks? Once it was assured that could happen, Marty recruited this child to #teamdrive.

Because we are driving. The kids had opinions about which hotels we would be staying in (the one near the Krispy Kreme in El Paso for example) and which ones we would not stay at, no matter what (the gross one in Ocala Florida). They had opinions about where we would stop for gas. And how we would arrange our dining, digestive and driving schedule to ensure we would be stopping HERE. 

Not Uncle Sunshine's Island

Our family has differing opinions on the Happiest Place on Earth. I am ready to curl up with a good book, jig saw puzzle or my laptop and work on the Great American Novel at the beach on Uncle Sunshine's island. Internet is sketchy. Cell service is questionable. It is remote and once on the island, the closest gem of civilization is the convenience store on the other side of the island that serves ice cream. One gets there by bypassing the snapping tortoises and walking about a mile through a winding jungle path. 

The other three fourths of our family happen to think a specific theme park in Orlando is Heaven on Earth. And they have specific options about this too. Everything from the hotel we will be staying at to which character we should meet on which day has been evaluated and careful thought given. And let me tell you even the hotel pool has gone under scrutiny! 

I love how much effort and detail my family is putting into the planning of this trip. It makes it more fun for me to know this is what they want (I would have gone to Washington D.C. or Alaska if they would have agreed). I just wish they would stay smaller a wee bit longer so I can hold on to them a bit more.