I’ve read that there are no vacations with kids, they are now called Family Trips.
I’ve read that moms should put on the bathing suit and have a good time. Stop worrying about your size.
I was told, “Don’t take those babies in the water!” “We had a horrible time on the beach.” “They are going to hate the sand.” “You will need a vacation from your vacation.”
I was more than a little scared of our first “family trip”. Actually, when I read my sister’s text in January asking if we would go, I laughed and said “Yeah right.” Somehow we decided that we would go to Hilton Head with my family, probably because it was 4 months away at the time. I was scared, nervous, anxious, and self-conscience for 4 months.
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Let me tell you though, we had a great time. When we got onto that beach and the girls immediately started building castles and looking for shells, I forgot about all the stress I was supposed to feel, all the flab I was supposed to hide, and all the people that were supposedly staring at us.
The girls loved everything about the beach; the bike ride to get there, the sand, the shells, the waves. Well everything except the salt water in their eyes. And since they were having such a great time, I seriously, for realsies, had the best time!
Like 98% of women, I have always been very self-conscience about my looks. I was thinking about that every time I tried on a bathing suit, put on my jeans, ate food, looked in the mirror, etc for four whole months leading up to this trip, but once I decided to focus on how hard Georgia laughed when a wave hit us or how hard Olive worked to dig up a bucket full of sand for her castle, I didn’t care what I looked like anymore. I didn't worry about what size my swimsuit was, or what the other moms looked like compared to my lumpiness. I didn't even notice actually. Also, I decided that I would eat whatever I wanted and not count a calorie- just for this week. Buckets of crab legs, burgers, shrimp cocktails, hush puppies, gyros, ice cream, and also buckets of sweet tea. Vacation is not the time to start a diet and I was there for a good time, folks!
Tony and I didn’t plan things based on what we wanted to do (except food!). We did things to watch the girls have a blast, and in return we had a blast too. We touched baby alligators, bearded dragons, snakes and bunnies. We went to a butterfly conservatory. We built a sandcastle. We made a mini ocean in the sand for ocean animal toys to play in. We saw fireworks off the dock. We danced on the harbor to the song “Cake By The Ocean”. We went to a kid’s concert. We ate overpriced ice-cream twice a day (okay- that was kind of for me). We collected seashells at 6am multiple times. We splashed around at the steps of the pool (and chased Georgia around the deep end- eye roll). We got our bathing suits full of sand from sitting in the shallow water. We played putt putt. We made snow angels in the sand. We played in toddler inflatables. We made friends who had better beach toys. We rode miles and miles and miles on bikes. We pushed the girls miles and miles and miles on stroller trikes. We were happy to see them happy. They probably won't remember it, but man, I sure will.
What I’m saying is a Family Vacation is possible! It’s just not about you. It’s about the amazing memories that you will have with and of your precious family.
Also, going on vacation with at least 10 other adults makes keeping tabs on the little kids a whole lot easier! A big shout out to my awesome, patient, helpful family.
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