Please Ignore My Sparse Posting, But We're On Vacation

So my posts for the next couple weeks will likely be even fewer and farther between because we're leaving this afternoon to explore our national parks in Colorado and Utah. By no means is it relaxing to take two young children on the type of road trip vacations that we do, but we've gotten a pretty good system down for our vacations. Dave plans every detail in the way only an engineer can, which I truly appreciate. (I mocked him for his first vacation spreadsheets. Now I only want to see vacation plans outlined in spreadsheets.) I take out my anal retentiveness in packing and organizing everything we need for 2-3 weeks in a vehicle with enough entertainment that there's not too much screaming to push us all beyond the breaking point. At least, that's always the goal.

We place an extremely high priority on taking several weeks to explore, camp and hike together as a family. We've celebrated Teddy's first birthday in Crater Lake (after one of our worst scream-filled drives and nights) and AJ's fourth birthday in Saguaro, where we surprised him with balloons and cake. We're fortunate to have the resources to do these type of trips but certainly do what we can to make them more affordable by packing and preparing the majority of our meals, camping far more than hotels and the like. Let's put it this way, our vacations probably cost less than most family of four's vacations to Disney ... and we spend weeks, not days, making memories.

Happy birthday. Now sleep and stop screaming. ;-)

There's always stressful moments, whether it's vehicle issues, which are bound to happen when you drive more than 5,000 miles on a single trip. (Hey, California is far away!) There's sleepless nights, which will happen anywhere with Teddy. I'd rather be in our national parks where I can hike away some of the stress the next day, even if we're getting chomped by mosquitoes when we should be sleeping.

Saguaro - quick picture with both boys.

I will admit, though, that this trip is probably the most nerve-wracking for me because it's our first vacation since December. Before December, I never thought Teddy would have those type of seizures. Now, unfortunately, I know it's within the realm of possibilities. On one hand, I feel better knowing that we have rescue medication that theoretically stops those seizures. But, we've never used it, and I really don't want to experience any seizures when we're in the remote areas we often visit. We've been places where the nearest town is more than an hour away, with the nearest hospital even further. We've hiked where we have a 2 to 3 hour hike back to the trailhead.

That scares me. It won't stop us from continuing to provide our children these experiences, but it's going to take a few successful vacations and several years to ease that apprehension. Until then, we'll still work to enjoy happy trails. (Trust me, hiking with Teddy is still work.)