Vacation!
We just wrapped up a week of family vacation, which I would call a success. There were so many milestones to report, and I will admit to resurrecting my old “things are getting easier” thinking. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- It was our first vacation with three girls, without an au pair. As such we were prepared to rely on grandparents for babysitting, but found it wasn’t really necessary. However it was nice to go out for my birthday dinner and know they were in good hands
- This was the first flight for Kate and Sabrina, though it was Zoe’s fifth roundtrip. We’ll blame their lack of flying on the cost of buying five airline tickets, without any type of discount for kids.
- I bought all three girls luggage with wheels, in part because I was determined we weren’t going to be charged for bags when we had bought full price tickets for girls that weight only 25-30 pounds. (i.e. we should get at least 100 lbs of luggage weight free ? They really loved wheeling their luggage through the airport and were so cute doing it. It was one of those times you see everyone else looking on adoringly, and you think, gee I’m luck to have such cute girls!
- We made major progress on beach time, with the girls playing up to 3 hours in the sand, usually in the morning from 9 to noon.
- We rented a boat (a pontoon?) and they all seemed to have sea legs walking around comfortably and eating their snacks. It was at least an hour in before someone asked when we were going back. In contrast, on last year’s boat ride Kate and Sabrina stayed glued to a parent’s lap, and Zoe refused to put on her life jacket and had to go home.
- By the last day, I got some chairs low to the ground, planted them near the water and then went and sat in the shallow area. Kate and Zoe had a lot of fun playing chase in the water with Daddy, while Sabrina enjoyed sitting on Mommy’s lap in the wet sand, while some waves made it to us and created puddles.
Now that we know we can take all five on a flight, the possibilities for next year’s vacation seem endless!