So I confess, at some point of every single vacation last year I burst into tears. I was always naively optimistic. I always imagined the kids playing nicely while Simon and I would hold hands and discuss intelligent topics (or at least the last episode of Agents of Shield). And every time at some point I would just start sobbing because the baby wanted to cry all day and nurse all night or the 3 year old would have a inconsolable meltdown over something totally stupid. Last year, with two kids 3 and under, every vacation was so.much.work.
I was ready to wave the white flag that a vacation with kids could be fun and relaxing for the parents too. But a lot happens in a year and vacationing with a soon-to-be 2 year old and a just-turned 4 year old is
immensely better than going anywhere with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. This is why:
Long car rides are so much better when the baby isn't wailing at glass shattering decibels the entire ride. I loathed driving anywhere longer than 15 minutes away because there is nothing worse than having your baby screaming in the back seat and you not being able to do anything about it other than throw baby mum mums and Gerber baby puffs frantically in the back seat. This year all it took was Happy Meals (don't judge us), watching Despicable Me in the car and taking breaks to dance on top of the truck and it made for a much more pleasant drive.
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| dance break "I'm a gummy bear" |
Kids are old enough to play by themselves but young enough to enjoy the really simple things. Last year, Noah wasn't 1 year old yet and couldn't walk so I had to carry him everywhere and because he was such a koala cling-on, I couldn't do anything without him on my hip. This year I could put him down and he could run and play all by himself. Vacations are a lot nicer when the mom gets a break. It's so nice that the kids loved the simple things like .....
playing with Grandma's cats and dog.
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| Noah with Sophie |
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| Natallie with Oliver |
playing in the sand and the river. Natallie even caught 7 fish with a dollar store net!
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| I caught a fish and it was THIS BIG! |
getting free rides on every single motorized vehicle there was on the farm and there's a lot of 'em!
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| Uncle Ben and Daddy took the kids out on the ATV |
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| Natallie got long rides on Uncle Ben's motorcycle |
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| double rides on the motorbikes |
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| and of course more than one tractor to go around |
Cooling off in the horse water trough (aka 'the perfect pint sized kiddie pool')
And climbing the mountains of hay!
The other reason why this vacation was immensely better than last year was because
we didn't have camp. AKA we didn't have to share an air mattress with a wiggly toddler with a baby who wanted to nurse all night in a crappy tent as it rained. OK so we are slightly still scarred from last year's
camping trip in Summerland Anyways, this year, instead of camping, our lovely friends who live in Kelowna hosted us in their house. They also have two adorable kiddos and the kids had a blast together, slept so much better than in a tent and did I mention they have a bouncy castle in their back yard? So we were well rested in the morning and ready to spend the day with our other friends who were camping in Kelowna. That's what I call a win-win!
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| new buddies: Lauren, Noah, Natallie & Bryce |
This year was also more fun because for once
we thought about what the adults might want to do. Yes, as parents we always put our kids first so we go to the petting zoo and spray park and scour every new destination for the best kid-friendly attractions but for the 2 days in Kelowna, we went to Atlantis waterslides in Vernon because it was something that we might enjoy too. We had enough adults so we could switch off who was doing 'parent duty' in the kiddie pool. Doing the "River Riot" tube ride brought back nostalgic memories and we laughed so much as we got stuck so many times trying to get down on that tube. Oh and bonus that our kids liked the waterslides too.
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| Kids loved cheering for daddy as he splashed to the 'finish line' |
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| 'parent duty' with all the kids in the hot tub |
The second day in Kelowna we rented a sea-doo for the whole day. We worked out an awesome system between everyone and took turns watching the kids while each couple got to double on the sea-doo and get out on the lake for a little mini date. (Sorry no pictures of us sea-dooing, too busy having fun to remember to take a picture). All the little ones 2 and under experienced temporary parent separation anxiety and exhibited loud screeching but once the parental unit left and couldn't hear the ear piercing screams of their offspring anymore, the parents and the grief-stricken offspring did eventually calm down.
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| Nallie & Nala, they are the best! |
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Our trip was great also because of the unexpected excitement at the Kanagroo creek farm. We came here last year too and we cuddled baby kangaroos, posed with exotic birds and held sugar gliders (they are like flying squirrels with crazy big eyes). This year we did all that but while we were getting a picture with a kanagroo, it jumped on me and I fell over while I was holding the kids!
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| knocked over by an overly friendly kangaroo |
And when Simon was taking his obligatory picture with a chicken on his
shoulder, another chicken must of felt insanely jealous and it leaped from the
ground and jumped on Simon's head! The staff said they have never ever
seen a chicken do that. ever.
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| expected chicken |
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| unexpected chicken (love that expression!) |
Then we lined up to hold the sugar gliders. They are these things that look like chipmunk but with crazy big eyes and jump far distances like Spiderman can. Anyways, Natallie held a sweet one and when the staff person put a different one on me, it went nuts and it bit me! Crazy possessed thing! It bit me hard enough to leave a bruise instanely. I spent
the next 5 days with what looked like a hickey on my shoulder! Who gets a
hickey from an exotic chipmunk? Maybe we have been watching too many
sci-fi shows but Simon thinks I will have some crazy jumping powers now.
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| the nice sugar glider with Natallie |
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| my shoulder after the possessed sugar glider bit me | | |
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So aside from the freaky rodent wound, this vacation was so much more enjoyable mostly because the children were so much more fun to be around. And because the kids were in a good mood (most of the time), I was in a good mood and actually (dare I say) had moments were I really had nothing to do but watch the kids play nicely!! My husband will tell you that he enjoyed it more too because he didn't have to put up with a stressed out wife who was over-exhausted trying to curb the whine and appease the crying baby. On our drive home, we drove about 4 hour straight before they had enough and we made an impromptu stop at Bridal Falls.
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| Natallie posing at the waterfall |
So my dear friends with little ones, it does get better. Before you know it, they are more fun moments than stressful moments or maybe I am just realizing how fast they are growing up and now I'm the one the cling-on koala, holding onto these precious years with little ones and never letting go.
