I have been talking to my husband Seth for years about my whole family going on vacation together. This includes my party of five, my parents and my brother and his family. My first lesson in this jumps out at me that I was talking about it for years. First we dream it up, then we talk about it, then we need to take the jump and make it happen.
The first step was to tell my parents and my brother what I really wanted to do together. I can’t even begin to tell you the last time my parents have been on vacation. I wanted to get them away. My mom doesn’t fly so it needed to be somewhere that my parents could drive to.
I want to tell us all to say it out loud. If there is something that you want, tell people and say it so that it can come to fruition. Thinking about something for years isn’t what makes it happen. It’s great to dream it and think about it, I just want to encourage you to take the next step and say it out loud to the people who matter. I needed to tell my brother and my parents.
Getting myself, my husband, and my three children to all be free on the same week was hurdle number one. Finding a week my brother, his wife and kids were free the same week is hurdle number two. Finding a place that my parents would drive to is hurdle number three. Jump the hurdles. Bumps and struggles come up in life, and I want us all to pick ourselves back up over and over again and ride and problem solve the bumps.
The older our kids get the harder it is for all five of us to be together. Last night everyone was home together swimming, and we finally did smores together. Music to a mom’s ears. I am treasuring all these moments together because my son is going back to college very soon. Every summer he wants to do research at a new location that is not here with us so scheduling around him was priority number one for me because I wanted him to come. Also, my brother and his wife travel a ton for work, so we had to all coordinate when the best time would be. I think it’s a family miracle that we figured it out.
Seth’s brother and my brother both live in Virginia 20 minutes from each other (with no traffic). First stop was heading there to see both of them. Ella wanted to do college tours in DC. We made it to two of the three tours we wanted to do. Note to self that two college tours in one day are too much for us. I recommend taking one college tour at a time.
Ella toured George Washington University and Georgetown University. As I turned my nose up at things about each school, I realized that this is not about me. I am not the one going off to college. Ella is the one who has to like the school, not me. We did not like driving in DC among other things. How about a three-hour radius Ella?
Tours and brother visits began our fun week. It was time to take off to Ocean City, Maryland. I had a wonderful week. There was so much goodness about this trip and so many amazing family memories made. There were also hiccups along the way. We can’t expect trips to be flawless. I also take mental notes and learn each time we travel.
We need more beds.
Bottom line is that my kids won’t sleep together. My brother picked the hotel we stayed at. It is supposed to be the very best one right on the beach in Ocean City. The bad news is we couldn’t get the three-bedroom condo we wanted. We also couldn’t get a bigger room. Two queens and a pull-out couch just doesn’t work for my family. Ella won’t sleep with anyone (she won’t sleep if someone else is in bed). Max and Lillie tried sleeping together and that was a fail. Seth and Max tried sleeping together and that was a fail. I will sleep with whoever. I slept in the same bed as Seth and when we switched, I slept with Lillie and I did fine. We want everyone to get enough sleep. That makes for a better vacation. We canceled our reservation in December at a hotel and made a new reservation at a townhouse with plenty of beds. As much as I love a good Disney hotel, having enough beds needs to be a priority when we travel. I also don’t want to pay for two hotel rooms. My friends told me they bring an air mattress when they travel. Brilliant mom hack. I made a mental note of that too. You also have to have enough room in the hotel to blow up a mattress!
I need Dramamine. Pack the essentials. Be prepared.
If anyone in your family gets motion sickness, I hope that you travel with Dramamine. One mom commented in the Whinypaluza mom group (free supportive community on Facebook. Come join us.) that she travels with a kit for her family. She includes Tylenol/Advil, meds for tummy troubles, allergy meds, ointment for bug bites, aloe. Thank you, Kim, for this pointer. I traveled with: Motrin, sunscreen and bug spray. I also have multiple things for any stomach issues too that I pack for all of us. I will be buying Dramamine that I keep in my purse from now on. From the crazy uber drivers to roller coasters to boats – motion sickness is not my friend. My family finally went on jet skis and loved it. I watched them from a restaurant and had lunch and a drink by myself. My family is convinced that I would have hated it? I will find out another time. The waters were choppy and it probably wasn’t a good day for me to go on a jet ski. The next day we all ventured onto a boat. We were all very excited. I had tried to find Dramamine and failed and hoped for the best. I found the perfect seat next to Seth and was doing great. The issue was that the sun was so hot. I went to get some shade inside and that was a huge mistake. Next thing I know I am puking over the side of the boat. The good news is that I was one and done. The bad news is – I did not prioritize myself. I needed to find Dramamine before the boat ride. I will make sure we have enough beds. I will make sure I have Dramamine!
Don’t Swim in the Ocean
When we arrived at the hotel, we saw that our hotel has a big indoor pool (we would have wanted it to be outside) and the hotel sat right on the beach. We headed outside to see the beautiful ocean. We quickly realized that there were jellyfish everywhere. We had to watch where we stepped on the beach because we kept finding jellyfish. People were swimming in the ocean and getting stung. We walked the beach, hung out at the beach, and put our feet in the water. I am happy to report that there were 12 of us and none of us got stung by a jellyfish. When we got on the boat, the mate working on the boat told us he would never swim in the ocean with what he has seen. You will find me walking on the beach, not swimming in the ocean. We could be upset or we could roll with the punches. Too many jellyfish to swim. Indoor pool that we didn’t want to swim in. My daughter Lillie and my niece Minka were happy to swim in the pool. I was happy walking on the beach. Ella says to me, “It’s okay mom. You didn’t want us to swim in the ocean anyway.” Just roll with it. So, there are jellyfish. So, there is an indoor pool. You are all together and that is what truly matters during vacation.
Being together.
My kids are always in different directions. Right now, Lillie is at cheer and Ella is heading to work. I’m sure Max will wake up and take off to the gym with his friends. It is always special to me when all five of us are anywhere together. Unfortunately, it becomes rarer the older they get. Our hotel room was too small, but we were together. Any bumps on vacation and I reminded myself that we were all together. That was what this vacation was all about. Bring yourself back to the heart of the trip. It is never about the perfect vacation, perfect hotel or perfect dinner. All those things are magical. The most magical part is that your family is together. As all five of us run in different directions, these vacations together become even more special to me.
Make it Happen.
From booking the trip to booking the jet skis to booking an all you can eat crab dinner. Make it happen. If you want it – go book it. If your kids have always wanted to jet ski, then book the jet skis. If you are excited for crab in Ocean City – book the crab dinner. If I was going to Ocean City, then I was going to eat seafood.
No one Expects Perfection.
When there was major traffic getting from Virginia to Ocean City, my family was so chill about it. I felt bad about it, and they were all telling me that it is ok. When I felt bad that there were jellyfish everywhere my kids just rolled with it. They had such a good attitude about everything. I get caught up in pleasing everyone and it can make me get too uptight. I just need to breathe and enjoy and realize that no one expects anything to be perfect.
Be Planful and do the Research
I didn’t do any research for this trip. My brother picked the location to go to and the hotel. I will definitely do more research next time. I want a good outside pool. I want a big place with lots of beds. We should have rented a big house. I want it to be closer for my mom and dad. We had quite the haul home.
I find that every single time we go on vacation I learn something new. I also find that I am treasuring it more and learning to roll with things.
Cool moments on vacation:
Seeing my family’s happy faces after jet skiing for the first time. They had a blast.
Seeing dolphins swimming while we were on the boat.
Looking down at the dinner tables and seeing all 12 of us sitting there.
I recently found out from friends that they do their laundry on vacation so that it’s all done when they get home. I feel like laundry is my re-entry back into reality. I may have brought home a ton of laundry, but I also brought home lots of family memories. I will treasure that trip always. My mom told me that when you are sad that a vacation is ending that means it’s time to plan the next trip. We were working on our next vacation on the drive home.
Laughing, Learning, Loving, Making family memories,
Rebecca Greene, LCSW-R
Check out my 
:
Whinypaluza Notes:
Whinypaluza Mom Group:
If you are looking for a supportive community, come join the free Whinypaluza Mom Facebook group. I created this as I wanted us to have a place where we can talk about tips, strengths and challenges we are having. It is another step I took to help everyone to know that you are not alone. Come jump in and join us and bring a friend with you! I love to give away prizes. This group is private so please find me on Facebook at Whinypaluza or Rebecca Greene and message me to ask for an invite. I’m also on Instagram @becgreene5 and @whinypaluza_mom. I am also on Tik tok @whinypaluzamom.
The Whinypaluza Schedule:
Whinypaluza Wednesdays: My weekly blog comes out every Wednesday. I am always open to your topic requests. A new Vlog (video blog) also comes out every Wednesday night on Facebook on my personal page at 9:00 PM Eastern time to discuss the blog. If you would rather listen to a podcast than watch a Vlog, you can wait for the following Wednesday, and the Vlog is released on my Podcast.
Family Fridays: Every Friday morning a new Podcast is released. Most of my episodes on Fridays are me discussing parenting and marriage with experts on the topic. If you would rather watch the Podcast instead of listen, you can watch it on You Tube. If you would like to be on my Podcast or know someone who would like to please message me on Facebook or Instagram or at whinypaluzamom@gmail.com
I would greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe, rate my podcast and leave me a five-star review. This leads to it being shown to more people that we can help. I appreciate it when you share my blogs, vlogs and podcasts with a friend so that we can build our community and help people one mama at a time. Every time you like and/or comment on a post it helps and is so appreciated!
