Love You -- Have a Great Time!

Do you know the difference between a trip and a vacation? A trip is what you go on with your kids and a vacation is when your kids spend a week with their dad.

During this holiday season, I've been lucky enough to have both. And I am in heaven...

Our "trip" was Christmas at the beach on Sanibel Island in Florida and what a stunning week we had. Our angels totally blessed us from the time we woke up to catch our plane til we returned home.

Now your concept of a great trip might not involve your parents and three children in a two bedroom condo with the worst pull-out couch for a mattress you've ever slept on, but for me, it was awesome.

We played on the beach almost every day. My mom fixed sumptuous meals (and I really didn't have to cook once save sandwiches on the beach). We made sand art sharks and castles and turtles and Christmas trees and more castles (one for the Star Wars mini-guys and one for the princesses) and got wet and went body surfing and found shells that we hadn't found before and made friends with other families on the beach from OH and NJ. We got my dad out in a kayak (he's 6'9" and doesn't fit a lot of places) and he even played spoons and water tag with us. It was full of great memories -- the kind you want to make so that your family stays strong and you look back and say to each other later "Remember the kayak trip...."

Oh, the kayak trip you say.... We decided to kayak in the mangroves to look for birds and other cool sea creatures. Paddling into the mangroves was easy -- the tide was coming in and the wind was at our back. D1 and D2 chose to kayak together so S1 and I could share. My mom and dad squeezed into the other. We saw neat birds and cool trees and had a great time.

But 90 minutes on the water paddling a kayak when your twelve and ten can make any pair of sisters begin to fight. It can also make a 65 year's butt begin to hurt. And don't forget... the tide was coming in. So, on the return trip, we kept getting sucked back into the mangroves and the wind was hitting us right in the face. D1 and D2 were yelling, and no one was happy. My smart mother knew my dad was dying, so they paddled back.

And where was I -- in the middle of a bay with my son in one kayak and my daughters in another. All yelling...(I am sure that none of you have experienced any of this before -- we are the only family who dare to mar Mother Nature by yelling.) D2 is threatening to get out of the kayak and swim-walk the mile back. D1 thinks that is a great idea -- anything to get D2 out of the kayak.

And then out of the water popped two dolphins playing in the waves. The water stilled. The yelling stopped. And we watched these magical mammals jumping and flipping in out of the water. They were having so much fun -- we all wanted to get in the water and swim with them.

Mother Nature is so cool!

And thank goodness dolphins are lucky because inspiration hit. I moved S1 in with D1 and my cranky, wet 10 year old in with me. I tied the kayaks together and somehow muscled the two boats across the open span of water thus completing the kayak trip knowing it was totally worth it just to see the dolphins.

The icing on the cake was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Next year, when they are at their dads, I will hold this memory in my heart. We all attend Christmas Eve service on the beach. Families were all sitting together sharing blankets and chairs. The waves crashed against the shore. People were laughing and talking until the service began and even as the Christmas story unfolded at the front of the beach church, families still rustled as children made Bethlehem scenes out of sand.

Then it came time to light the candles and sing Silent Night -- and I looked down the beach at this beautiful scene of beaming candles. Night was falling and families all around were glowing in the spirit of the season. We walked home on the beach not wanting the beauty of Christ's birth to end when the candle flames were extinguished.

And in the words of my mother... there is nothing like having kids for Christmas.

But all good trips must come to an end. So we packed our bags. Washed our shells. Took a swim and one last walk on the beach. Said goodbye to our new friends and kissed my parents. And headed home.

DaddyX and Girlfriend met us at the airport and the fabulous Fox's headed off for Christmas with their dad. And I drove home to my vacation.

It has taken a long time for me to get to the point that I am OK with my threesome leaving me, but this time I was actually looking forward to them going. I had lots planned: naps, books to read, organizing to be done, hair appointments to be kept, girlfriends to hang out with, a grown up New Year's Eve planned, goals to write for the new year. A week of doing nothing -- no squabbles to break up. No carpools or soccer games or rehearsals. I had a week to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted -- heaven!

And there are only two days left before we go back to life. And the best part -- their dad took them to Six Flags and all I had to say was, "Love you -- have a great time." And head off to my hair appointment.