A little less work to have fun

It was 1989. There were five kids with bundled limbs stuffed like sausages into snowsuits. There was a pile of skis rattling around in the back of our Ford Taurus. Hand warmers, check. Toe warmers, forgot those. So, let's go back. My Dad heel toed back through the snow, into the condo, where my Mom was already highlighting legal briefs - her chosen mountain escape activity. Okay, toe warmers now in tow. 

We slipped and slid on snow covered streets, down the mountain to a parking spot, not nearly close enough to the Hidden Valley launch pad. Awkward and exaggerated heel toe, heel toe, ski-boot style footsteps made marks in the snow that was piling up. There were tickets to buy and inaccurately affix to neon jackets, kids with feet already hurting, kids complaining that their pre-Pandemic face masks smelled weird, lockers where we wanted to store a few things, lines that were getting longer, and my Dad's friend Mark chuckled and said, 'it's a lot of work to have fun.'

My Dad laughed out a response, 'you always said that.' 

Skiing with Mark and his family at Hidden Valley in the late 80s was the first time I remember hearing that quote. But wow. Mark, how you have been quoted since. When life gets a little hard on vacation ... 

... when waves were crashing against my Mom and Aunt Dee Dee, soaking them from head to foot on the ferry to Bald Head Island, after the word schlepping had been used countless time ...  

Like Mark always says, 'it's a lot of work to have fun.' 

... when we were standing in line for two hours, before the era of Fast Passes and Magic Bands, for Space Mountain 

Remember what Mark says, 'it's a lot of work (and waiting) to have fun.' 

... and when my Dad was stuffing five suitcases into the trunk of the biggest European car available while parked in a corner of the Rue De L'Odeon in Paris. The rest of us, inside the car, bouncing up and down to the rhythms of the Tetris game being played in the trunk of the car. 

My Dad was probably swearing en Anglais and also repeating what Mark said, 'it's a lot of work to have fun.'  

The familiar adage was also the first thing my Dad said to me as Peter and I unloaded five kids and a whole lot of stuff from a shuttle that drove us from the Savannah Hyatt Regency to our 'cottage' at Sea Island earlier this summer. And it was how I felt as we drove a very full car from Boston to Cape Cod onto a Ferry to Martha's Vineyard and up the hill to our house for the week, which wasn't quite ready when we arrived.  

Never before in the history of my life have Mr. Hansen's words been so relevant in my family's attempts to have a good time. From our first vacation in more than a year to our Fourth of July festivities to our recent trip to Boston and Martha's Vineyard, there was fun. That's for sure. But man did Peter and I have to work for it. 

As a couple visual examples, this is what it looks like to travel with five kids in the middle of Covid (don't worry, I took extra United sanitizing wipes and really scrubbed down that seat that Jacqueline is chewing on) 

This is what is looks like to tour Savannah with five kids. It looked the same way walking through Boston at times. The number of people that a) gawk and b) tell us that we have our hands full is a non-zero number. 

And this is how cute babies look when you are walking them back from the beach, when all you want to do is have a drink at the adult pool. Oh the magical adult pool. Only to reveal that your idea of taking their diaper off to clear up their pool-induced diaper rash backfired as Caroline pooped all over that towel. 

Schlepping or not. Work or not. We've had so much fun this summer. And I'm so grateful, especially after a year of being homebound, that we just did it. Got vaccinated, took precautions, masked up, kept as much distance as possible. But did it.  

I think I've shared travel tips before on my blog, but I feel like I have reached a new level of savvy, traveling in the middle of a pandemic and traveling as a family of seven. So I thought I would share my thoughts on making a vacation a little less work to have fun. 

1. In the middle of the biggest rental car shortage I've ever experienced, it's still really helpful to have a car at your destination. So book ahead. And if you can't find a minivan, try a smaller nearby airport. That worked for us in Boston. I did tour the Boston Public Garden and Boston Commons with five children alone that Saturday morning, while Peter was getting the rental car in Lexington, but we got the van nonetheless.

2. I always book our flights around naptimes - which almost ensures they nap on the plane. For the longest time, Bobby actually thought everyone was supposed to nap as soon as you sat down. But I was recently called out as a liar. Additionally, in my experience, the airports tend to be less crowded in the middle of the day. 

3. If you are packing car seats, you don't need your own bags for them. The gate check agents have huge plastic ones that go over them. Those work just fine. 

4. I bring our baby's bedding but have never schlepped a pack 'n play. Most hotels have cribs, and if you are staying at a house, there are companies that rent full sized cribs. Just google where to do this close to your vacation destination. To me, simulating your baby's sleep environment is everything. 

5. Our double stroller has been everywhere. If you have more than one kid, I would bring it. You can easily gate check it, it makes all the difference in the airport and at your final destination, and it moonlights as a highchair for us. 

6. For us, it's really important for the kids to have quiet / nap / down time in the afternoon. It makes dinner time or anything after that much more enjoyable. 

7. When booking dinners, ask for a table in the corner - it gives you some space to let the babies move around outside of their highchairs, so everyone can sit and enjoy dinner a little longer. 

8. It's really awesome to have help on vacation (thank you to my whole family who helped out on Sea Island and Aunt Dee who helped us on Martha's Vineyard.)  

9. As summer destinations go, I highly recommend Sea Island, Martha's Vineyard, and the La Grange Country Club's American Party. The latter was such a surprise and such a fun evening.  

10. Take as many photos as possible, because while you can't always be on vacation, you can always come back to the moments that you worked so hard to create. 

 

  

Lo.