Jul
13
Aaaaand… we’re back.
Two weeks of summer vacation has flown by like *snaps fingers* THAT. We’re just as tired as before we started our vacation, but BDH is considerably less stressed, so that is good.
Rather than the traditional “how I spent my summer vacation” essay (which, by the way, won me a speech contest in grade 3!) I will sum up. (But you know, if I wanted to, I could totally bring it. I mean, HELLO, speech contest winner here! *points at self*)
- We did not go to New England. We had hoped for a real, actual vacation this year — in our 12-plus years together, BDH and I have never taken a vacation together — but unfortunately, what with taxes and physio and car repairs and whatever else, we did not have the money. But we did decide to spend our time in Nova Scotia with BDH’s parents, which was still a lovely, relaxing option. And BDH’s family are always such gracious hosts.
- We drove straight through to NS and straight home overnight. That’s 18 hours straight driving each way. The rationale, as with many families doing a long drive, is so that your child can sleep through most of the trip, lessening the boredom for them and the noise and stress for you. And I have to say, it is not a bad way to go, although it does take a few days to recover. However…
- That Baby does not like to sleep on long road trips. We set off just after bedtime on our trip, and she was fed and in her jammies, and she dozed off instantly. And then she woke up 45 minutes later and was awake until midnight. She didn’t complain, or fuss, or anything. She just sat there calmly, wide awake, looking out the windows and stuff. There was just too much to see and things were too exciting, I think. And then, when she couldn’t fight sleep any more, she cried just the tiniest bit and then went to sleep.
- The weather was depressingly cold and rainy the entire vacation. We had hoped for warm sunny weather to swim and sit out by the pool and drink wine on the deck. Instead we got two weeks of cold and rain and mosquitoes. It finally got warm and sunny as we crossed the NS border into New Brunswick on our way home. The good news? It was also rainy and cool here too, so we didn’t miss anything. AND my gardens got lots of rain. AND we learned about some magical bug repellent lantern thingies, which we will buy MANY of so we can sit out on our patio here at home.
- Vacation with a very small child is basically like taking an average weekend day and transporting it somewhere else. You have to take care of your child exactly the same as you would on your average weekend. All day long, all night long, sticking to routines, keeping them entertained… So in that respect, it’s actually quite nice to spend your vacation with family, because you are at a familiar home with toys and carseats and other baby paraphernalia around, and if you want to take a nap or run to the store or something there’s always someone happy to mind the child for an hour or so. And that is nice.
- Our best vacation days were spent simply. We watched our nephew Joe play a baseball double-header one afternoon. We had a couple of nice dinners out. We sat out and chatted on the deck. We visited with relatives on Canada Day. We ate barbequed everything. Most excellent.
So, yeah. Summer vacation is over for another year. Fortunately for me, as a stay-at-home mom, I get to get out and enjoy a lot more summer days than BDH, so for me, it doesn’t feel like it is over as much as it does for BDH, who returned to work today. In that, I am fortunate.
Although, it sure does make me want to get a barbeque… and a pool… But not without bug lanterns.
