Adventures On the Road

As we approach the halfway mark on our family trip to Hawaii, I am realizing that everything that I painstakingly decided to pack for our trip, wasn’t just about sunscreen, swimsuits and what/how many shoes to pack. When I packed for this trip, I was imaging the type of trip we would be having and the experiences that I hoped to have on this trip.

For instance, I packed myself two magazines, a book and my journal. I imagined lazy afternoons at the beach flipping through magazines that I never had time to read at home, uninterrupted time to delve into a book I bought specifically to enjoy on this trip, and time to myself to self-reflect. I mean, I’m not saying that I haven’t had time to myself, BUT, hahahaha. The reality is that I haven’t cracked open my journal, I’ve read a couple of intermittent chapters in my book (which with mom brain, means I don’t really remember what I’ve read), and I have in fact finished one magazine in a week’s time. The reality is that when we’ve been at the beach, I’ve been spending time in the water with my girls as they experience the excitement of the water and the waves, and the magic of water wings and their own buoyancy.

My intention for this trip was to finally make use of the water wings I packed, since they have been packed on several trips in the past and have never made it past prancing in front of the mirror in the hotel room. And this imagined vacation experience has come true! We have spent more than half of our trip at the beach and in the water (we have yet to step foot into a pool). The waves are calling to the girls, and for someone who has never been that comfortable in the water, I couldn’t be happier. I see how proud Lucy is when she walks right into the water without hesitation, trusting in her water wings, and starts paddling off into the waves. (I also see the looks of concern of the people around us, when they see a four year old, paddling around by themselves without seeing us watching close by). I am in awe at Brooklyn’s comfort level and fearlessness as she frolics in the surf, pretending to be a mermaid and twists and turns as she lets the pull of the waves toss her around and has figured out the instinctual pull of the water as she rides the waves onto the beach. In fact, yesterday, the girls gave us step by step instructions on how to swim and paddle and how to ride the waves.

Other random things that were packed: Nathan was adamant that he wanted to bring our small egg frying pan, with visions of making egg sandwiches for breakfast. I packed a bag of chia seeds and two small containers to make fruit and yogurt chia seed parfaits for breakfast. Happy to report back, that breakfast sandwiches and chia seed yogurt parfaits have in fact been eaten for breakfasts!

I packed my runners and a travel yoga mat with the hope that I would go for walks/runs and continue on with my streak of workouts on my workout app. Super surprised and impressed, that YES, I have in fact gone on a few runs this trip, and found some time to do some sort of workout on my app every day of our trip. Proud of my dedication, but I do acknowledge that in part it has to do with my obsessiveness to keep my streak alive.

And so, as we round the bend on our trip, and I realize that we have worn our bathing suits 3 times over, and have yet to wear half of the clothes that I packed, I’m taking a moment to reflect, to appreciate what our family trip has become, to enjoy the memories that we are creating, to be grateful that we can spend this time together as a family, and to kind of laugh at myself for what I thought this trip would be.