Maglebys in their natural habitat... McCall

Our latest and greatest trip to McCall, Idaho with the Maglebys was a reality check for me:

Vacations require tons of work when you have offspring.

Zach and I have always loved road trips and exploring new places, but now instead of throwing a couple of bags in the back we bring everything but the kitchen sink.  We have the car seat, the stroller, the diaper bag, the bjorn, the pack’n’play, the white noise machine, extra diapers and wipes, a million changes of clothing, blankets, baby sunscreen and lotion and a dozen other “just in case” items. 

Instead of enjoying the opportunity to rejuvenate and sleep in away from work and school we’re up three times in the night with the screaming one.  And suddenly, despite weeks and weeks of ever-so-slowly breaking the habit of night time feeding, I find myself nursing the child at 3 AM just so he won’t wake up the cousins right outside the door (who woke up anyway).  And then BOING!  No matter how crazy the night or how few naps he had the day before Eli was AWAKE at 7 am.

Zach: I think Clarissa's grandma originally put us in the same cabin with all the other newly-weds to induce a baby envy frenzy.  Wrong move.  They instead witnessed the horrible shrieking creature our beautiful baby turns into at night, heralding the sleepocalypse.  Too bad...

When I look back to all the family reunions we had when I was little and the trips we went on I realize how much work my parents put into making sure my brothers and I had a good time.  They packed for us, they hauled us around, they brought snacks, they handled our whining, they made sure we spent time with our cousins, and they endured late nights when us kids wouldn’t stop talking and giggling. 

Now that I have my own child I realize why they went to all that trouble for a few days that surely exhausted them: good memories. I want my kids to have the same memories that I have and be able to look back and realized that they were loved.  I want them to have fun with their family, to go on adventures and to try new things. 

Even if I means we parents wind up totally worn out and broke by the end of them.

And now, the inevitable vacation photo dump:

Kayaking on the lake.  Somehow Zach and I went from being in a kayak with each other to paddling for our little cousins in separate ones.  It was quite the workout.

My "little" brother: the favorite and only single young adult there.

 Eli was not so sure about the boat, and even less excited about the life jacket.  We're pretty sure the last kid to wear it lost his breakfast all over it, so we were understanding to a point.

 He finally fell asleep, but in doing so missed his dad's spectacular crash off the tube.

 The throwing men.  Not to be messed with.

 First successful flip of the day.  Boo ya.

 

The traditional ice cream hang out of McCall.  We may have eaten there more than once.  Or twice.

As the only baby in the family Eli did not lack for attention.  I would feed him, hold him out, and he would be taken and surrounded by adoring fans until he was hungry again.  That's what I call a vacation.

Four generational shot

Eli was a favorite subject of many pictures.  We were lucky to be cast as extras.

I never knew family pictures were such a painful event until we took the whole group shot. One toddler would be hiding in dad's shoulder, one would be smiling too weird, and then Grandma would be trying to fix everyone all at the same time.  I'm not sure if any of those ones turned out, but we got our happy little family below.

Thanks to the Magleby clan for such a wonderful vacation!

*All awesome non-cell-phone pictures by Tina Magleby