Redefining Vacation

Our vacation to the lovely Seagrove Beach Florida/Destin, was surprisingly nice.

I say surprisingly, because I didn’t expect any time with the in-laws to be fun.

But it was.

I (gasp!) don’t even think I would have minded staying with them…..

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, and after mishap after mishap regarding our condo( it wasn’t ready, and then, it wasn’t clean..). We finally settled in and were ready to roll.

And our first stop? The beach…..10 steps outside our door.

Beach Behind the Condo

Wooooow.

I love Jamaica, I love the Caribbean, but Florida…..

I’m so in love!

The next day, after spending the morning at the beach:

We traveled on over to Destin to see the in laws. They rented a house that while older than others, was still nice. It even had it’s own pool. But just as I suspected, there would have been little to no room for us. It only had three bedrooms and 7 people. 3 that were kids. You do the math.

Anyhoo!

Pookah discovered his first cousin and his Uncle JD. And was completely satisfied.

We all went out to dinner at Carabbas, and surprise surprise, our brother in law even paid for all of us.

Of course, Pookah was showing his ass by now, because it was way past his bedtime, but other than that, it was nice. My mother in law got to spend time with Pookah and I enjoyed the company of my brother in laws, and my sister in law. Strange……

Our last day, we spent the morning at the beach once again.

Sandtaster.....

and then headed over to the in-laws for some pool and cookout action.

Pookah LOVED the pool! He was even kicking his little legs trying to swim!

And of course, we got him home late again and he crashed.

The next day was a comedy of errors and we rushed to check out on time( a lost key almost derailed us) and then get the car back on time( which I got back at exactly the last minute possible).

And now I’m exhausted from the vacation. And need a vacation from my vacation.

But alas, work calls tonight, and my brother is coming to stay for the night from DC.

A few lessons learned while vacationing with a toddler:

1. Take snacks, toys, books, games:whatever you have to destract them with.
2. Either take or find a babysitter. Otherwise, there is NO time by yourself.
3. On that note, redefine what vacation time means to you. For me, it now means doing my daily duties and a mom and wife in a prettier location. Pookah still needed to eat, to take a nap, and I still had to clean up a bit. And I did laundry and grocery shopping. Sigh. But I didn’t cook once.
4. Prepare and plan!
5. But be flexible. Don’t make a schedule. And if you do, make room in it for things to go not according to plan. Little People don’t know that you are supposed to do “this” at “that” time. And it is vacation after all.

Well, that’s my version of vacation. I have some ideas for next time. Things I didn’t really think about. Like plan to have more money to do more things. Like renting bikes and scooters. Maybe plan for a dinner out. And plan to stay longer. 3 days really wasn’t long enough, I felt rushed, and I didn’t get to relax. I don’t think I’ll plan to cook more, because dang it, it is vacation. But more snack foods will be on hand. More sandwich fixings and frozen foods. And I will know next time that yes, Pookah is hard work even on vacation. But with better planning, I will actually get to “vacation” on my vacation.

But don’t get me wrong, we had fun! I did have a few moments of silence and peace at the beach with a beer and a margarita and my nook. It’s moments like that that will keep me upbeat about next time. And moments like this: