Vacation Aggravation

It all started on a crisp monday morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the leaves were dancing in the trees, and I was running through my house like a madwoman, trying to get our family ready to go. "SCREEEECH" a scream of anger and frustration echoed from down the hall. "Waaaah," my three month old daughter wailed from the other room. The suitcases lay open, mocking me with their still-empty demeanor, and in a frenzy, I rushed to do all that needed to be done. Do the dishes, take out the garbage, feed Caleb, change Selah, feed Selah, change Caleb, pack the bags, take out the dirty diapers, etc. etc. etc. Thus began our vacation.

My days have been filled with trying to placate my kids as they adjust to their new surroundings, my nights consumed with middle-of-the-night awakenings as they scream in protest at not being in their own beds. Jonathan and I bicker over the constant onslaught of diaper bags, dirty laundry, carrying the kids in and out, whose turn it is to change them or feed them, when all we want to do is sit and visit and enjoy this once happy trip turned nightmare. Every detail of our drive and stops are planned around the nearest bathrooms, space for Caleb to run around, baby-safe houses and sleeping facilities. And all I can think about is "We are NEVER leaving home again!!!!!!!"

And it is at this point in our "resftul" vacation that I realize that this is not a vacation at all. Instead it is a change of surroundings, a new environment, new sights to see, and memories to make. I know that one day I will look back and forget the screaming kids and sweating parents as we tried to meet their countless demands. Instead I will remember the walks along the river, their first visits with their little cousins, and the few moments of smiles and laughter that grace our days along the way. So, once again, I simply take out my camera, take a deep breath, and try, deperately, to enjoy what little 'vacation' we have left. And henceforth let it be known, that with children a 'vacation' becomes known instead as a chance to make some memories... memories indeed.