Vacation...Part I

Hey everybody, sorry about being "missing" for so long. But you know, it's summer. And on that note, our family recently went on vacation. And by "vacation" I mean a trip where I, the woman, must launder, pack and carry all the items we bring and my darling husband, the man, will drive. Okay, he did check the oil in our vehicle. Husband-2...Wife-467.

So as our "vacation" neared, the husband was working. And, honestly, he works 12 hour days, and with the commute it's more like 14, so I wasn't expecting much help. But we were visiting my family in southern Minnesota, and we were borrowing (renting) a small RV from some friends, so in addition to our usual travel packing, we had to add all of the lake items, like floaty-ies and life jackets, as well as all the camping items like folding chairs and picnic tables.

The husband got off work (off the bus) at 7:30pm. He went to bed so he could get a couple hours of sleep before we left at 2:00ish. We actually left around 4:00am. (Anyone who knows me personally won't be surprised by the delay. But most people that know us might be surprised to know that the reason for the delay is almost never me personally, no matter what the husband might say! He is often late, even though the responsibility for "ready-ing" all of the children falls completely in my lap. And still he will ask, "Why aren't you ready" even though we have been ready for so long that, while waiting for him, I have had to remove the baby from his carseat and feed him... AGAIN!) Now, if you ask around, some people will tell you that I am difficult to travel with. I tend to have a small bladder and a sleepy disposition. This does not an excellent co-pilot make! But I think I may have gotten a bad rep here. First of all, everytime someone asks me to "take over" the driving, it's always at 3:00 in the morning, so of course I'm tired and can't drive for long! No one ever asks me to take over the driving at 10 in the morning! A donut and a RedBull and I'm ready to go! Plus, I've learned through years of traveling that if you sleep, the trip is much shorter!!

I'd also like to mention that my bladder was not actually a factor here. We were traveling with two adults, a 7 year old, a 3 month old and a 2000 Dodge Durango towing a small travel trailer. Luckily, the Durango's gas tank, the baby's stomach and the husband's bladder were all about the same size, meaning we had to stop every two hours or so for one or the other. Still, we took what should be a 14 hour drive and turned it into a 21 hour drive! Luckily my relatives were waiting up for us! (Until 2:00 in the morning!)

But, it was 4th of July, and the lake my aunt lives on has a fabulous boat parade for the holiday, and many people had purchased fireworks out of state to light off! (Illegal in MN, so I won't mention names!!) We got to see multiple relatives I hadn't seen in years, and we got to see how their kids had grown! We had a blast playing on the lake, and I want to send a great big thank you to my aunt and uncle for hosting our party!

But that's only part of the story...tune in soon for more!