Vacation: Then and Now!

So... we just came back from a 5 night stay in Wells Beach with both kids and all our parents and I noticed a few differences in how we used to vacation and how we vacation now:)

Then: I packed a book on CD for our car ride and we didn't stop unless we REALLY had to to make the trip go faster.

Now: We have Bubble Guppies on repeat and stop multiple times to get the kids out to stretch their legs and play to help break up the long ride.

Then: I took long, bubble baths with wine, candles and my book and used lots of soft, plush towels.

Now: I take 2 minute showers using Elmo Bubble bath for body wash and princess shampoo for my hair and the bath mat for a towel because there were no towels in the bathroom I ended up in.

Then: We brought movies and books for staying in the room and relaxing 

Now: We packed toys, pillows, blankets, activities to keep the kids entertained and could only stay in the house for small stints of time because of cabin fever kids!

Then: We went to long, drawn out dinners at nice restaurants

Now: I spend my eating time - feeding the kids and trying to get Ben not to be the loud, screaming, kid

Then: We rolled into brunch around 10 - 10:30

Now: We are up and feeding the kids by 7:30 - and a cup of coffee while standing over the sink is my breakfast

Then: I used to see that hotel pools opened at 8 am and thought  - who the heck is in the pool at 8?)

Now: Yeah, we were those people.... (8:30)

Then: I sat by the pool for the sun

Now: I jump into freezing cold pool water so my kids can play

Then: I would never pay for parking to sit on a cold beach for an hour
Now: We paid $16 for the kids to play in the sand in 50 - 60 degree weather for an hour and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!

I also learned a few things on this most recent vacation:

• The kids are rockstars and travelled REALLY well
• I should worry less about packing lightly and worry more about packing everything we could possibly want - cause more is better
• I should ALWAYS pack clothes for warm and cold weather, regardless of what the weather channel says 
• We should always have towels in the car - even if it's 60 degrees and you don't plan on someone getting wet, cause sometimes kids fall in
• Renting a condo style hotel room at the beach was the best idea we ever had
• Planning day trips in case the weather doesn't work out is a MUST - we screwed this one up big time and the kids got cabin fever and it was stressful
• Bringing some bedding from home can help your little ones sleep better at night
• Pack nightlights for the hotel
• Change the sheets in your house before you leave so when you come home everything is nice and clean

What other tips do you have for traveling?
Happy Summer Travels

My sick kids break my heart

8 days. 8 days back at full day preschool and Katie is sick again.

Me: Katie - are you ok? Do you feel like you're going to throw up

Katie - NO I feel fine

Me -Are you sure?

Katie - I want to go upstairs and lay in bed (never a good sign)

Me - ok Katie - let's go

Katie - Carry me

Me - of course

we get to the top of the stairs and she says in a rush

I WANT BABA TO STAY ON YOUR BED

that's when I knew we were screwed.

My immediate reaction was to throw Baba far away from us out of the line of fire (success)

As I'm turning to try to get her into the bathroom - she proceeds to throw up all over me and her while screaming I DON'T HAVE TO THROW UP.

Not sure if you have experience with this, but when your child is talking while puking, it does something to the volume and direction of the puke which makes a ridiculous mess.

Now, I have a bowl of cereal all over me, the floor, (my bare foot) and Katie (baba was saved due to our combined quick thinking)

Inside I'm screaming EW EW EW EW EW GROSS

outside I'm saying, it's ok Katie as I stroke her puke filled hair and trying to clean her up to make her not embarrassed.

We strip down, I clean her up - put her in bed and get ready to clean up the breakfast mess.

My day continued like this for awhile.

Not sure if it's cause she's little or what, but there is no way for me to get her to puke into a "bucket" or anything because she freaks out and insists she's ok and then it's just too late.

So, I put towels on the floor in hopes that we could aim any future puke there. My only warning when she would actually throw up was if she suddenly threw Baba away from her.

We always tell her, if you are going to spit up (throw up) get Baba out of the way so we don't have to take him away to clean him - she takes this seriously which is super helpful - cause he's the only thing that makes her feel better.

I spent the afternoon, watching for her to push Baba away - grabbing one of the towels near me and basically creating a towel bowl for her to throw up into. We even succeeded one time to having her aim it off over the couch onto a stack of  towels I had put there for that purpose.

Poor baby.

She hates puking so much that she tries really hard NOT to - which just makes it worse - and I had a hard time not laughing at how much she kept  insisting she didn't have to throw up - even in the middle of a long puke.

Then she was hungry, thirsty and sad - and I couldn't give her food.

I finally gave her some saltines cause she was pitiful and told her to eat them slow - she took one bite every 2 mins - and small sips of water.

Yeah, I got that on me about a half hour later on the way to bed.

Here's what I've learned/realized over the past few days:

1) I hate Puke

2) I hate puke a little less when it's my kid

3) I'm really good at catching puke in a towel

4) I'm really good at pretending not to care about vomit being on me to make her feel better

    when realistically, I'm dying inside

6) Saying you don't have to throw up, while you are throwing up only makes the situation worse

7) Having a sad 3 year old crying for water in the middle of the night and not being able to give it to

    her because she'll throw it up has got to be the worst, awful feeling in the world.

8) Asking her to take small sips when all she wants to do is chug it - makes me cry because I know         she's thirsty and hungry

9) Not being able to do anything about how uncomfortable she is makes me cry

10) My husband is a rockstar for sleeping on the floor next to her bed to try to make her feel better

      I would have been a hysterical mess every time she asked for water or cried.

11) I was NOT prepared for just how often my kids would get sick being at daycare....

They are at the doctors office now - let's hope for some sort of diagnosis and medicine

To Minivan or not to Minivan that is my current question

I'd like to preface this by saying this is all my husbands fault.

We have 2 cars - a 1996 Manual Honda Civic with 150,000 miles on it which I still love to this day and a 2011 Honda CRV which is the car we upgraded to when we outgrew our
Honda Accord after having Katie.

The Civic was my first car and continues to serve us well and be insanely reliable - particularly as a commuter car for once or twice a week.  I love that car when its just me and short drives:)

In my mind, the CRV was the perfect car - and it was.... for me and Katie when I stayed at home full time.

It was comfortable, we had space, we could squeeze our parents in when they come to visit (always an overnight visit as we live so far away)

Then we had Ben and with the 2nd car seat - it can only hold 4 people unless one person wants to risk throwing their back out while squishing sideways with one arm resting on a car seat at all times.

So... anytime it's more than the 4 of us - it's squished. It's also squished on long car rides when one of us might have to pop in back to help entertain the kids who are bored and desperate to get out of their car seats. 

So, a minivan has been on our radar for the past few months.

I'm not opposed to a minvan - I have no image issues - I have comfort issue and I want to be comfortable:)

We discussed briefly what do we do about the second car and in my mind I was thinking of replacing my beloved civic with the bald paint spots, but my husband said - MINIVAN

and then, it was ON.

It's been all I can think about. Particularly as we are about to have a very long and cramped drive on our way up to Maine for an awesome beach vacation!

So, my thought process is this... if we wait to get the minivan because we are trying to figure out our finances and house situation and don't want to drop a bunch of cash on a new car... (which is the same exact predicament we are in EVERY SINGLE YEAR as we are never sure where we will be living and if we will finally buy a house somewhere to call home ), but then we end up cracking and getting one within the next 6 months anyway - I am going to be pissed that we missed the opportunity to enjoy the extra space during this 6 hour drive. 

Which is how I got my CRV by the way - it was also prompted by an upcoming trip to Maine! 

So, to buy or not to buy? I love Honda, but have been hearing not so good reviews from Odyssey owners. I like the idea of the Quest, but I think the price point is too high for us.

So, of course my thought process is just suck it up and get it now so that we can enjoy the drive - cause we're gonna get one anyway. As the kids get older, we will need a bigger car to take them and any of their friends or our family anywhere - so I feel like there is no way we will regret doing it now.

Of course, there is the impending potential of having to put a down payment on a house within the next year - but the reality to that is that we don't have any ONE place that we both have our hearts set on for re-location - so it's not a definite that we will need to do that in the next year anyway. MY feelings on buying a house are this - I'd rather wait until I know where we want to live for LONG TERM and buy a house we can afford that I will LOVE And never want to leave - then buy a house that makes sense for now, in a town that we think makes sense for now - and then have to try to buy it to move somewhere else. Renting is just fine by me as we don't have any place we feel we ABSOLUTELY have to move to. 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH being an adult  is complicated.