Vacations

I've learned a few things about vacationing with 4 kids including toddler twins this year:

1. Despite all of the immunity boosters, face masks, locking them in individual rooms and using anti-bacterial everything, someone will get sick either right before or while on vacation. It often involves puke.

2. Taking your toddlers to Mexico while they're on a water strike is not fun.

3. It takes a week to get a family of 6 out of the house for a vacation and another week to get them all home and settled again.

4. Even when you plan to do laundry just before you come home, someone will hide their pile and you will still end up doing 4 loads when you get home.

5. DVD players in the car are ingenious.

6. Schedules don't count when you're on vacation.

7. Pack extra comforts lest a "kiki" get sacrificed to the ocean. Lingerie comes in handy in a pinch between the sacrificial ceremony and the time when auntie and grandma search out a replacement. Don't tell the kid it's lingerie or it might cause other issues later in life.

8. Mom's don't get vacations. There's just a slight reduction in the amount of work that they normally do. I think this is ultimately a good thing. If we were relieved from all of our responsibilities, we might not come back from vacation.

9. Travelling with a sitter is our best idea ever.

10. I try to keep in mind that even when we think we are crazy for doing this, we will someday look back at the pictures and think back on it fondly, have a good laugh and think...we must have been crazy for doing that! Those are the things that create some of the best memories.