After a long 9 hour drive, we are home safe and sound. The kids are in their own beds, trying to reconcile themselves to the fact that vacation is now over and they must go back to school tomorrow. So are we. This was an outstanding vacation and letting go of it and moving on may take a while.
On the drive home, I kept picturing the ending of our road trip like an episode of the Wonder Years. You know what I’m talking about, the tear jerker during the last 5 minutes of the show where adult Kevin narrates while looking back on his life:
(Bob Dylan’s Forever Young plays in the background as I narrate) “Traveling with our children is kind of a bitter-sweet thing. On one hand, we have so much fun together and it’s exciting being with them. On the other hand, it brings back so many memories of the trips we took with our own parents when we were kids. Those days when we’d be the ones climbing the trees at the rest stop instead of sitting in their shade trying to recover from a 10 hour drive. Those nights we would have much rather jumped on the hotel beds than collapse into them, completely exhausted. In a way, family vacations are a chance to relive our own childhoods that have long since passed, and we’re reminded just how fast it all goes. Pretty soon these guys will be grown up. And then they’ll be gone - just like that. But the memories? Those will last a forever.”
Scene ends… music swells… fade to black… roll credits…
Some Road Trip facts for your enjoyment. Or boredom.
Depending on who you are:
Minutes spent together (not including bathroom time): 13,680
Number of miles driven: 2,434
Number of movies watched in the car: 4
Number of times we were having so much fun we forgot to eat dinner: 5
Number of times we checked our e-mail on Chad’s Droid: 98
Number of questions Ashley asked: 1,450
Number of Ashley’s questions we ignored 352
Best popsicle known to man: A Mexican coconut treat Chad bought at a gas station somewhere south of Sacramento.
Friendliest people on the planet: Universal Studios employees
Number of Ed Hardy shirts we were forced to look at: 762
Number of times we made fun of said Ed Hardy shirts: 600
Number of times Alison threw up her hands in exasperation because we were embarassing her: 33
Artist whose music was played most often: John Mayer
How great you are- thanks for keeping us posted just so sorry we missed seeing you while you were here. But I have enjoyed your vacation almost as much as you. I can't handle those days anymore so enjoy them while you can. I get tired too easily and I can't walk the distance anymore - using a walker isn't that easy. GGMA
ReplyDeleteVery impressed with this years blogging guys. You never let me down. Rachel, you should turn this in to print for your kiddos http://blog2print.sharedbook.com
ReplyDeleteMy favorite quote would be "Never again will we go to Disneyland without first breaking one of our children’s legs." And I am glad I don't work with CPS anymore : )