Ava Grace's Closet: Things I Learned on Vacation 2015
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Monday, July 20, 2015

Things I Learned on Vacation 2015

Being a family of 4 {albeit temporarily} is very different than being a family of 5.
For one, we can fit all of our luggage quite easily into a full-sized rental car.
We only need one hotel room. No pull-out cot required.
And dinner reservations? Seemingly more easily accommodated even when you are in Disney World and forget to make plans for say, the same evening.

We no longer had our favourite built-in babysitter and Julian? He wants to go exactly nowhere at any time.

Kids get whiny. Boys kick soccer balls in the general direction of their sister's heads and then swear they didn't.
Girls cry if you touch their new doll. Or their old doll. Or the bed that you are currently sitting on for no other reason than that SHE was at one point sitting there.

Julian would eat junk for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we would let him. My husband firmly believes that he goes to the US to eat. Current favourites include the Starbucks vanilla bean frappuccino {with LOTS of whip cream}, the Wendy's Baconator, Sonic, Chick-Fil-A and of course, seemingly endless containers of ice cream. The pricier the better.
Secret?
I hid my Haagen-Daaz. #momtruth 

Our Ava is really trying to learn how to swim, if only to outdo anyone she happens to see in the pool. Especially other little girls.
It's actually entertaining.
She will throw her butt up in the air, stick her face in the water and kick like crazy.
Only problem? She doesn't actually go anywhere.
Julian has become border-line obsessed with all things soccer. And, if you read this post, you will quickly come to learn how, well, DIFFERENT this is. 
Each year, I allow the kids to choose one super cool thing to get on vacation and he chose an authentic soccer jersey. 
Not going to lie, it took longer for him to choose which one he wanted than it took ms. Ava Grace to decide on a baby doll amongst the ridiculous amount of pretties at American Girl. 
I think it says something about his character. He needs to be sure. And then he needs to check again.

My husband is not very patient.
During said choosing he left the store twice. At one point, I told Jules to decide because I honestly feared he might leave for good. And potentially without us.
It all ended well - we got a nice iced coffee right afterwards. We were happy.
The boy was happy.
Everybody's happy.

Ava remains both very persistent and very stubborn.
She's got a little mean streak in her that doesn't come out often but when it does? 
Look out!

I've learned that my Julian is very particular. Not about everything but about most things that pertain to his things.
He hates being told what to do and definitely has his own ideas.
His hair comes to mind. #thestruggle

At Disney, I can still remember Izzy and Jules not being super comfortable with the many mascots at the park. This one?
She was all in.
Mickey Mouse was my personal favourite - so kind, doting and not rushed in any way.
Just an amazing experience.

Lastly, I had forgotten how absolutely HILARIOUS Full House was. Ava and I watched re-runs every evening before bed and we were both literally laughing out loud. 
For my part, I just can't wrap my head around that the fact that the Olsen twins are in their mid-twenties.
Not sure when that happened.

I'll leave you with this thought.
As parents, we try so hard to go on extravagant vacations, plan excursion after excursion and are in a constant state of worry about their "being bored". 
I found that the little things, bringing a donut home when dad runs out for mom's morning Dunkin' coffee, playing the alphabet game in the car of just chilling out at the condo brought the most joy.
When I asked Ava what her favourite part of our vacation was, she said "just landing in Florida".
Jules said it was "getting his shirt and today". Today being a long drive in Fort Lauderdale and a lunch spot of their choice.
And that is what makes my kids happy.
And that makes me happy.

see last year's post here

2 comments :

  1. Welcome home my friend..and thanks for bringing the sunshine and warm temps back with you!!! Sounds like another fabulous memory filled adventure for the AGC family... looking forward to Izzy's recount of her adventure to Europe sans parents and siblings. Wishing a wonderful week ahead..XO Celia M. (HighHeeledLife.com)

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  2. Wonderful! I love how you don't sugar coat it & tell it as it is! It sounds like the perfect family holiday! Andrea x

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