Vacation Mommy Style

What I dream about when I think about vacation is a beach, a novel, and a pina colada.  But what I actually plan for vacations are marathons of activity where we try to see as many people as humanly possible in the timeframe.  These have always resulted in at least a few meltdowns as Nicholas was pushed on bedtimes, time in the car, and in general the alternation between overstimulation and sitting still while adults catch up.  But this trip he is articulating his frustration with this pattern, making it clear each time it is time to leave a place or person that he wants to stay longer.  It is one thing for me to do 3-5 hours with each group of people--I know them well and so am resuming an existing relationship.  But from his point of view, just as he starts to feel really comfortable in the space and with the people I pull him out and move on to the next thing.

Don't get me wrong, he is having a ton of fun.  In fact, he has enjoyed every part of the trip so much that he is upset when it ends.

Some snippets of his fun on the Louisville leg in photos:

Helping Grandma and Grandpa with yardwork at great-grandpa's house:

From Summer 2013

Playing tennis with Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa O.:

From Summer 2013

From Summer 2013

He thought it was cool that Grandpa O. (his great-grandpa) taught Grandma Kathleen to play tennis when she was a little kid.

Playing with one of my college roommates' kids in Cincinnati:

From Summer 2013

They played outside for about 4 hours, about 3 of which involved a game of making pretend dinner by collecting various weeds around the yard.  And they required literally no adult intervention to settle disputes while playing this game (the first hour when they were on the trampoline, on the other hand, did require a few interventions).  They came over a handful of times to show us what they were doing, but spent almost all of their time playing contentedly together without our input.

Jumping in the bouncy castle with a bunch of his second cousins at a family birthday party:

From Summer 2013

He never quite made sense of how he was related to these kids or how things fit together, but he had a lot of fun.  And it just so happened that of the 20+ cousins of that generation, the 7 who were at the party were almost all between the ages of 3 and 6 and so worked really well as a group.

He is having a wonderful time, as am I.  I wish I could give him more intensive time with people, as I wish I could have it myself, but the reality is that we only make it out here once or maybe twice a year between the time and money of the trip and so the choice is this whirlwind or not see many of the people, and the latter option seems worse.  And even with the whirlwind, he is building relationships more clearly on this trip.  Part of it is that even while in some senses he is starting over, he has memories of many of the people and places from previous trips, so isn't starting from scratch.  He is also just not as shy this year and is interacting with others without always using me as an intermediary, which allows him to do more bonding.  We have just two more days. :(