3 kids (ages 3, 2, &1), 3 car seats, 2 suitcases, 2 pack n plays, 2 backpacks, 2 flights (each way), 2 very optimistic parents, & a bomb a** wagon.
We did it…we vacationed (& actually enjoyed ourselves) as a family of 5!
The thought has crossed my mind, perhaps as my biceps shook as I carried that crap through an airport, “should Pat & I have done more traveling when it was just the 2 of us?”.
& then I wonder,
Would I have met so many locals/strangers had it not been for my baby girl that said “Hi!” to literally every person that glanced in our direction?
Would I have been up & out the door by 8:30 am EVERY 👏🏽 DAY just to make sure we maximized every minute of our time together if it weren’t for my big girl that actually SPRANG from her bed every morning to ask “are we going on an ‘aBENture’, momma!?”
Would I have frolicked through the ice cold Atlantic if it weren’t for my son who BEELINED, without notice, right for the water?
Would I have stopped to marvel at even the simplest things, like the centuries old, evergreen oaks or the BREATHTAKING beauty of the plantation gardens, simply because I wanted to make certain my kids noticed & appreciated the things we often overlook?
Maybe I would have but probably not.
It’s no secret that, in a billion different ways, traveling without our kids would be cheaper, faster, easier…
I can also tell you, though, in a billion different ways, traveling without our kids wouldn’t have been as sweet.
p.s. no offense to you, husband. I still look forward to the day we vacation just the 2 of us again; it’s just that “sweet” probably isn’t the word I’ll use to describe it (interpret that how you will) 😉
