Lisa's Lines
Ask my 7-year-old about vacation and she’ll tell you about dancing with a dolphin.
Ask my 5-year-old, and you’ll get a detailed account of the waterslides. M
y man-of-few-words husband sums it up as a “good trip.”
But, they don’t have their own column.
My family of four, my brother and his wife, and my parents recently spent a week in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico. The weather was gorgeous, the margaritas were strong, the food was good, and the uninterrupted time with family was long overdue. It was a very good trip.
In the weeks leading up to our family vacation, John and I spoke with friends who were heading on vacation without their children, parents or siblings. When we mentioned our trip and the fact that we were bringing our children (and the rest of my family), we usually received a sideways grin and a skeptical, “Oh… Have fun.”
Honestly, I experienced a few pangs of jealousy. After all, who wouldn’t crave a week of sleeping in, adult conversation, time with your spouse, relaxation, and a fun nightlife? But, even before our first daughter, Anna, was born, John and I decided to travel with our kids as much as we can, and I don’t regret our decision.
Before her second birthday, Ellen had a stamp in her passport.
Yes, we’re the people who make other fliers cringe. We traveled with babies and active toddlers and have experienced our fair share of little kid freak outs during long flights. But, my kids are fabulous fliers now. At 7 and almost 5, Anna and Ellen look forward to flying and have good airplane etiquette.
They are getting better at late night dining.
They love hearing different languages and learning about other cultures. A
nd, they aren’t afraid to try new things.
During our week in Mexico, Anna and Ellen experienced many firsts. They snorkeled in the ocean for the first time. They sailed a catamaran with grandpa, and they had their first tastes of lobster. They also touched, kissed, and swam with dolphins and fed bananas to wild sea turtles.
I very much enjoyed the snorkeling, sailing, eating, and swimming with the dolphins and turtles too, but watching my children experience—and enjoy—these adventures truly makes me happy. These moments were the highlights of my trip!
Anna had to swim the length of the dolphin pool by herself then tread water and wait for a dolphin to speed towards her and pick her up on its belly. I teared up with pride when the dolphin trainer asked if she could do it by herself and my little lady answered a confident “yes” and jumped in.
Ellen also surprised me. While snorkeling one morning, a school of angel fish began circling her. At first, we all thought it was really cool. Then, more and more fish joined in! Even I was a little intimidated. But, Ellen remained calm (for the most part) and swam her way out of the fishy predicament with mommy’s help.
Our darling Ellen also happened to get run over by a sea turtle! Ellen was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She floated between a turtle and a banana… and Ellen became a buoyant speed bump. Ellen went down for a brief moment and resurfaced ANGRY. It’s a good thing turtles can swim so fast or that turtle would have been in big trouble! Ellen refused to feed the turtles for the rest of the week, but even she started laughing about the incident later that night.
Other forever memories include a “completely harmless” (but large) iguana startling me and causing me to scream on our way to dinner one night and the time my daughters dug a hole in the sand for their uncle (my brother) to lie in and then surprised him with buckets of water.
I suppose my husband and I could have enjoyed a quiet, relaxing vacation without our children, but we would have missed so much. No, we would have missed too much.
We would have missed too much laughing, too many little comments and questions, too many cuddles, too many learning and teaching opportunities, and too many memories.
*****
We celebrated my baby’s 5th birthday with a Mexican fiesta at our house with family and friends.
Ellen had selected a “winter” party theme and was hoping to have everyone go ice skating and sledding and enjoy a hot chocolate bar, but the warm weather worried me and the party evolved into the fiesta. It worked out fine. We had a piñata, Pin The Tail on The Donkey, maracas for the kids, and some of us danced the Macarena in the living room.
Of course the birthday girl’s favorite part was when the special plastic blooming flower candle mommy bought for her melted in a giant flame on top of her cake. You can’t plan for that kind of excitement!
*****
Have you enjoyed the little “Book Corner” addition to the LIFE and Enterprise? I have. I like to know what other people are reading and have already read a few of the suggested titles.
The Book Corner ran in connection with the local libraries’ Hot Reads for Cold Nights reading program, which came to a close on Feb. 28. But, due to the little corner’s popularity, we plan to continue the Book Corner (or something similar).
I’m not sure what the Friends of the Library are working on for the coming weeks, but watch for it. It’s sure to be bookworm friendly.
