July 15, 2013

Lessons Learned On Vacation

We got back from Outer Banks Saturday night after a relatively decent, 12 hour {with 7 stops} car ride home. I'd be lying if I said I felt refreshed, rejuvenated, relaxed or any other adjective to let you think I was feeling good after a week at the beach.  Truth be told?  I am spent.  Here's why...

  • Traveling with a toddler.  OK so for the most part she was great.  On our way down we took 2.5 days to get to our destination which meant 3 hours in the car Friday, 6 hours Saturday and then 3 again Sunday.  It was easy on all of us, allowed us to be pretty flexible with our stop times and we really had a lot of fun during those first 3 days.  BUT that's not to say that we didn't hit our fair share of toddler and/or pregnant woman drama.  The pee stops were enough to make Jimmy question his sanity, the amount of Do-Do-Dora from the backseat was epic and the plethora of car snacks were never satisfying.  Needless to say, we were happy to reach our final destination both going and coming home.
  • Thirty-five is a lot. As in people.  That's how many went on this vacation and that was only half of Jimmy's family {there are still 3 other aunt/uncle families back in Ohio}.  That means a lot of personalities under one roof, a lot of opinions, a lot of noise, a lot of chaos.  Everyone got along smashing, there was no drama but let's just say we welcomed the quiet when we got home. 
  • A car without cruise control does not a fun vacation make.  So remember how I got a new car about a month ago?  Yeah, well,we hate it.  Sure we are saving $100 a month with it but excuse me, no cruise control?  I didn't look for that when we bought it because I'm fairly certain that it's 2013 and that should be standard {my 1999 VW Beetle had it for crying out loud}.  I have hands-free phone but no cruise control?  Suck it Dodge.  I want my Chevy back.
  • Sleeping on vacation sucks.  Maybe it's just me or maybe it's the fact that I'm 100 months pregnant but my sleep was less than stellar.  I didn't have enough pillows {4-5} and even though I brought my own body pillow {Jimmy says, "who does that?"} I was always too lazy to go out to the car to get it. I never took a nap and probably should have but I couldn't resist trying to get savage {tan} each day that my child slept blissfully for 3ish hours.  
  • My doctor may have been right.  Remember how I said my doctor didn't even want me going on this trip?  Well I disobeyed him and the last day of our vacation I paid for it.  I spent all day Friday {from 3pm till Saturday morning} in bed with a sleeve of saltines, water and Tums.  I've never experienced morning sickness between both of my pregnancies but if what I was feeling that day/night is any comparison I truly feel for those that do.  OMG that was the worst.  I just kept thinking to myself, "you cannot throw up because if you do you can start contractions and you CANNOT have this baby in North Carolina!"  So I held it down but here we are, 3 days later, and I still feel queasy.  Dr Russ-1 Shannon- 0.
  • A house cleaner didn't come while we were gone.  I cleaned pretty good before we left and made the beds and had the house in a nice "Welcome Home" state but now I have no less than 5 loads of laundry to wash and put away, a broken dishwasher, an empty fridge that needs stocked ASAP, thank you cards to send from my sprinkle, Kendall's birthday invites to mail, and peace tees to start mailing.  It's enough to make my head spin and yet here I am at 6 am writing a blog post.  I'm fairly certain I'll need a sitter this week to get any of these things accomplished.  Or a house cleaner.
  • Jimmy's family is amazing.  This is our 3rd trip like this one and each time I am always so blessed and appreciative of how welcoming and loving they all are.  The first year I went I was nervous of being the newbie and even then I never once felt like I didn't belong.  At times I think that I might even be closer with them than my own family, all 35 of them.  



16 comments:

  1. oh my goodness, how big is a house that holds 35 people?!?!?! no, really. that is crazy!

    But I know exactly what you mean about mostly everything else. I always leave our family vacations spent. Totally spent. Rest up :) It's nearly baby time! eek!

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  2. I myself just came back from a family vacation. It was wonderful but agreed NOT relaxing per say. All of us went to bed early Sunday night in hopes of getting rested for work today!

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  3. I've come to the conclusion, especially pertaining to third trimester pregs, a vacation *from* your vacation is a necessity! What a great memory for Kendall, though...loving the family beach pic! And props to Jimmy...Pregnant or not, Paul might kill me if we stopped 7 times on the drive from OH to NJ. He'd be happy with one stop during the 10 hour ride! Welcome home :)

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  4. Vacationing with a toddler really isn't a vacation, at least not in the relaxing sense. It's the same work just in a different location. Also, the last month of my pregnancy I had the all day nausea again though never threw up. I guess just from no longer having any room left in my belly. The first trimester and last month pretty much sucked.

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  5. What a picture!! I am glad you're back. I've missed you!

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  6. There's no vacation with kids unless the kids aren't there! I love TAKING THEM PLACES but that is not vacation haha. I hope you can get a sitter this week because I know at the end with Michael I was done-zo...just needed to sit with my feet up instead of run around. Feel better!!!!!!
    PS What the heck kind of house can take 35 people - that is amazing. I've always dreamed of huge family trips like that:-)

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  7. That is so awesome you all get together for a week of vacay fun! I'm so jealous! Although I think it takes the right family and people to make it work. I'd have most of my husband's family killed if they did that -- they're the type that a little goes a long way! :) hope you get over the queasiness soon!

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  8. 35 people!?!?
    Eek, I don't know if I could handle that many people being in the same space.
    Kudos to you.

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  9. Ugh it's always like you need a vacation from your vacation once you get home! So much work and so much laundry...yuck! Hopefully you start feeling better, I can't imagine that's a fun feeling!

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  10. OMG- this is my family this week. All 35 of them (and 4 families stayed home, including us). I wasn't about to make the trip from Illinois to the Gulf Shores (about a 12-15hr drive) with an almost 7 year old and a 3 week old. As I see them post pictures on FB I get a little jealous but I think of the years to come and the vaca's we will be taking. I hope you get caught up soon so you can rest... and I see you are still begging for that maid, I am still praying you get one.

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  11. i am impressed!
    35 people in white to smile for a picture?! wowzers.

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  12. WOW I'm not sure I could handle 35 people in one house even if I really liked them let alone 35 of my inlaws. LOL Bless you. I'm in NC and I totally would have helped you if you had to go to the hospital. I'm in Cary just outside Raleigh so not too bad. Glad you had a good trip.

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  13. I saw the picture of all. those. people. and felt bad for you. ;) That sounds like anything but relaxing...haha.

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  14. No cruise is the pits! Our Malibu has hit & miss cruise. If it gets stopped too many times it stops working for a bit. It's never completely quit and it's been like that for the 4+ years we've owned it. It's never fully quit and it for sure wouldn't do it if we took it in to get fixed. My parents once had it installed on my brother's car by someone who traveled and put them on for about $200. It might be something to look in to.

    That group shot is amazing! What a fun trip!

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  15. No cruise control sucks!!!
    I'm sorry you got sick. I hope you're feeling much better! Trust me when I say I understand. That's my life every day until the day I deliver. You get used to it, though!
    I'm so bummed we couldn't go to the beach this summer, but I'm not allowed to leave after 30 weeks.

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  16. 35 people under one roof?? Wow!! Glad you made it back!

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