We took a vacation... and I fell apart (part one)

Ha! We can't have a predictable title for our vacation blog can we? For the first time in 8 years, we took a VACATION as an entire family. Not a quick get away, but an entire week dedicated to nothing but our children and relaxation? Incredible. This year I was suppose to take a couple but life happens and threw us some curve balls... so in January when I was really upset about our growing family, Damon asked me: "What do you need?". Do you have any idea how BIG of a question that is?! I really really pondered it. Of course, you all know that my initial response was "A case of tequila and a one way ticket to Mexico" - but as I pondered it for the first week or so I was confronted with the need to carry on - to not let this completely throw us for a loop, but to do much of what we planned with our year. On that note, it was the middle of the night on my phone that I booked the hotel impulsively for my little family to actually take a vacation. In hindsight, I'm so glad I did but in the moment, it was a desperate plea to resume normal despite this really new path I was facing!

Fast forward to June - ready or not, we loaded up and set off! It was everything we needed and wanted from a vacation. We saw some family, we enjoyed big city features that our kids really wanted to see and we enjoyed some "no agenda at all" days.

It was really funny to me to pack without all our camping gear! The suburban felt HUGE. You can see we brought a small cooler (packed lunches and snacks daily) but really, it was awesome to not feel cramped a bit.... That is, until it was 3 am and we had arrived in Seattle. You see, we're absolutely insane and to get the "full effect" of vacation - I didn't want to impact Damon's work schedule more than I needed to and wanted to keep a tight budget... so what do you do when you can check in at 3 pm? You of course drive through the night before you have any place to go and you "sleep in the car".

What a fiasco. A suburban is indeed a big vehicle but when there are a million people and million car seats and it's 3 am? It's the smallest vehicle known to man. Declan slept under Anaius's seat, Kalani and Aurora smashed together in the blank space next to Anaius, Damon "slept" (code for was jabbed in the kidneys with seat belts for a few hours) across the front, Daunika half slept sitting semi reclined along the few inches in the leg room of the third row.... and that left Anaius and me... It might have been easier if he just slept in his car seat but I have none such luck yall... So I gave up, unloaded the cooler and totes in the back and curled up next to the pack & play and the random stuff... That is only AFTER I squabbled at my husband for forgetting things like sleeping at a rest area was smarter than random road side because we'd all need to pee in the morning... Ha. What a morning.

So, what do you do when you have had minimal hours of sleep, in a car, and have no where to go? You expect your children to be completely ready to meet their grandma in IHOP of course. I am so thankful for her great suggestion of meeting us for breakfast but in hindsight, I really set Anaius up for failure. He needed to run and roam first, then potentially be "people ready". We survived and decided to go adventure for our Sunday morning - we wanted to take all our kids to a park and get all our wiggles out. Shouldn't be THAT hard to find a park right?

Wrong. First, we tried a local elementary school... those have playgrounds, yes? Well, apparently they also have 6' fall chain link fences with locks on all the gates. Clearly, when we lived in Seattle we never paid any attention to if the area was children friendly. Not to be bummed.... we both hit our smart phones to look up nearby parks. We drove to several different locations and found they had been privately purchased, were gated and locked. In Boise, Idaho, you cant swing a cat without hitting a great park location for the whole family. So, a little defeated and lost, we drove around assuming there had to be a park SOMEWHERE.... Nope.

We did find a beautiful nature trail and river though. That hit the spot perfectly. Green? Water? Sunshine? Kids running all over the place? Ah.

But you saw I mentioned water right? So of course, our youngest three children decided they needed baths.... Not to be deterred, we just carried on, changing clothes before hitting our next stop - The Seattle Museum of Flight.

This was a stellar location and we all had a blast! I really wish we could have gone back but I'm sure it will be there another time! All our children have enjoyed going to the Boise Airport here... They like learning about how it works but I'm sure you all know it's really locked down and impossible to see much... this was the opposite! They were so amazed to see planes coming and going every 10 minutes!! Not only did they enjoy take off and landing shows, they boarded several really cool planes (including JFKs' Air Force One!)

It was interesting to hear their comments on "I didn't realize it had so many buttons!" "I thought it would be a lot more like a car" "they have lots of toilets!"... Oh my silly fun kiddos. I love you so.



Inside the museum was equally cool. Engines dissected, different military planes, models of the first planes, and more. We spent several hours there in the after and it was just awesome.

Sunday evening, my awesome mother in law and her room mate hosted us to their home for a BBQ. I could have just cried with her warm welcome and hospitality. I was so tired and achey from my awful few hours of sleep! The kids had a great time in her beautiful back yard playing and coloring.

By the time we made it back to our hotel, we crawled into beds and were asleep without a single peep from anyone!

Monday was another beautiful day in Seattle. We decided to take our kids to the Seattle Temple grounds to explore another beautiful LDS temple. It's HUGE! I had never seen it (wasn't a member when we lived there). It was a beautiful peaceful walk around the grounds. 

And after the temple, we decided to go find a childrens place the kids wanted to go to. Upon arriving, it was way small and closed. So, imagine my kids complaints as I'm scrambling to yell "PLOT TWIST" and come up with a new plan for the second half of our day.

We hit the Woodland Park Zoo. Great weather continued, we had a yummy lunch in our car and we ended with happy kids all around.

Leaving Seattle in rush hour on Monday we felt no particular rush (we're on vacation!) but must have been in the perfect place at the perfect time. We watched an older ford that literally had it's windows duct taped break down in the center of 5 lanes on I-5. We stopped. We towed them off the freeway and to the nearest gas station.

Seems simple enough but you realize in Seattle things like that don't happen. Our vehicle is rather large compared to most there and we keep a "car" box in the back that includes basic tools and recovery/towing items. Mostly, we keep it in case WE need it... and ya know what? We do need it. We need it to help others. Our survival and our souls depend on it. The guy had never been towed before, ran over the strap, ruined it. It wasn't like some smooth sailing experience but it was exactly what we needed to do to remind ourselves service is not an option - it's an entire way of life. Even in the middle of vacation, reach out and HELP someone! 

Tuesday was a relaxed day and a tricky one. I knew I'd have some limitations keeping up with our intensely packed schedule and I've mostly figured out what hurts my ligament and what doesn't now - YAY!! But Tuesday I hadn't yet figured out some major triggers of pain, and there is the tricky situation with me not quite comfortable seeing my father in law - so Anaius and I stayed in to do laundry and enjoy a peaceful dinner while the kids went bowling with Damon and Mike.

I knew it was going to be tricky. We'd talked about it a lot but it was a lot harder than I imagined. Lots of triggers of a former life where I was accused of "stealing his son" and made the villain. It was yucky emotionally and certainly left a major "hang over" of awful emotions that lingered in the back ground.

So, I'm certain it's not hard to imagine the falling apart coming.......... 

Part 2 will have to wait though, kiddos need me!