Everyone loves having a vacation. Something I've learned over the past couple of years is that vacations do not exist with a baby. Our seven year old is great. He goes with the flow and is obviously self-sufficient and independent enough. On the other hand, our fourteen month old is exhausting!!! From the minute he wakes up to the minute he naps or is in bed for the evening, he tuckers us out.
My family of four went to Seven Springs in PA, about an hour from Pittsburgh, and we stayed at a condo. It was very small and did not have a lot of room for Braydon, our fourteen month old, to run around freely. There was plenty for him to get into, though! After our long weekend away, I learned that Braydon likes hiding behind blinds, he still enjoys playing with toilet paper for some reason, and he doesn't understand that you cannot go outside when it rains unless you hold him under the rain for a few seconds. Boy did it rain! This condo also had two steps to get into the living room AND two steps to get into the bedroom. After a day or so, thankfully Braydon learned how to come down the steps backwards. ALLELUIA! There is a God! Without learning this pertinent skill, I feared we'd be visiting an emergency room on our "vacation."
In all seriousness though, we really enjoyed ourselves. It was a nice change of scenery and I appreciated experiencing something other than the shore. I'm very proud of myself and my husband for figuring out how to be on a vacation in a completely unfamiliar place. Yes, there were lots of times where there was bickering and patience getting lost, but at the end of the day, we had fun, especially our oldest, Ryan, which is all that matters right?
One thing my husband and I had to learn was that we had to take turns. Since our boys are six years apart, we had to figure out a way to keep them both happy and content without holding the other back from having fun or being comfortable. During the day we walked around the resort together and helped Ryan do as much as he could on his own while Braydon was in a good mood. Then we all went swimming, which was awesome! :-) Finally, after Braydon was in bed, one of us would venture back out with the seven year old party animal, while the other responsible parent stayed back at the condo with Braydon. It was kind of the best of both worlds, I'd say. One night I was able to have alone time when Mark and Ryan were playing mini golf. Yes, I did say I had alone time, no need to reread that sentence. It rarely happens, but when it does, boy do I make sure it is not taken for granted. (Something else I've learned along the way as a full time working mother of two) the following night I was able to hang out with Ryan, just he and I, which also does not happen very much ever since Braydon's been born. There are times when I feel guilty because Braydon's needs monopolize my attention, and Ryan's needs sometimes get out on the back burner. But I hope this little vacation reminded Ryan how much we love him and how much we would do for him in order to make him happy. Even though I feel like we need a vacation after this vacation, my favorite part of it all was knowing that Ryan had a blast.
Feel free to share your "vacation" stories! :0)
