Preparing for a journey is a lot of work, but when it's done, it's worth it. We had a terrific flight! The kids love to fly, and Mom and Dad, well we love to travel. We are trying to hide the fact that we don't love flying from the kids. Daddy's too big to be comfortable, and Mom sometimes feels air sick so she takes Bonine and promptly becomes loopy. Taking it with sleep deprivation seems to enhance its effect. I guess I'm loopy a lot or the kids are easygoing because they didn't complain. We were happy we landed, and the kids were thrilled to fly since it had been a long time since a trip. We arrived to 80 degree weather and clear bright light. So nice! We carried luggage, golf clubs and two carseats along with toddlers (why is there so much stuff when they're small and we are packing just the necessities, I don't know) and loaded it all into a rental minivan. Thanks to Bill's iphone and a map we found our way around greater Orlando to our villa. I think I prefer a GPS, being directionally impaired and loving my GPS, but the iphone really was the next best thing and fun to use. At first we couldn't find the development at all. So then Bill appeared to look very serious and mentioned we were renting off an internet site, from the "McKlucky's" in Great Britain, and maybe they didn't even really have a villa, maybe we were totally scammed out of our money, and maybe we have nowhere to stay. "You know everytime they take money from us Americans they get 'McLucky'". So I started really laughing saying at least we'd have another funny story to tell. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Honey if it's true, we are not going to tell this one." That somehow made me laugh harder, and then I tried to remember, "Be a good wife". We have just been taken advantage of before by being idealists of good will (which I actually prefer over being a savvy cynical realist sort if I have to choose). So yes we are gullible, but not for the worse this time. Before I laughed too hard, we found our neighborhood, Terra Verde, and breathed a sigh of relief.
So we arrived and the kids clearly enjoyed pretending this villa was our home. We removed all attractive items to a very high place right away after reading the numerous rules and fees for any and all damages, incurred. What a welcome! We ascertained the pool temperature and realized it was too cold even with heat to swim, unless you are from Alaska. The boys liked that they shared a fun sports themed room and Leesie had a Mickey Mouse room to share with Mom for a bit or a brother, as she was falling asleep. There was the large flat screen TV ("Mom why don't we get one of these?"), the sports games in the garage, and the playstation that were all noticed right away too. Mom reminded the kids that fresh air, those special books packed, and exploring this new state was so good for us! I want these tools to be our servants, rather than us theirs, keeping us from spending time together. We didn't come this far to only escape. The only other disappointment was realizing the place needed basic amenities, like hand soap, right away. So we stocked up on some basics and were grateful for a kitchen so we didn't need to eat out constantly. Temporarily I was wishing we had stayed at a resort with meals provided, but I let that wave pass. The privacy, the normalcy and ease of being in a villa was worth the work of making meals.
Unpacking into the bedrooms I encountered the realization that this was the first time the munchkins could sleep in twin beds! Wow, our babies in big kid twin beds! At home it's a toddler bed for Leesie, as of recently, and crib with rail down until Johnny goes on the potty and gets his big toddler bed. Wow, I was taking that in when the tears came. Along with this pleasure at seeing them grow older comes the deep sadness, the reality that our baby days are ending and the desire to have another being unmet is like a cloud that hangs on our hearts. Sometimes it's a storm cloud. In my mind I see more, I ache for more, I dream about more. Yet they remain far away, an unfulfilled desire we are forced to detach from. I think that is part of the story of our life, woven for us, not chosen, but accepted. One nice thing for us being away here, is regrouping to take time to be thankful. We are blessed to know so many wonderful friends, so many wonderful large families, and many of which are now expecting, and we have joy seeing them welcome new ones. We have joy with them. But we also live with the reminder that that the great good of new life, happening again for so many is not happening for us. It never has come easy or often. So when it seems everyone is expecting (except us) and we feel tempted to think that it is almost always and only us, and we shall never have another, it helps to step away, and just be thankful for what or rather who we do have. Our cloud of sadness can serve to keep us looking beyond the present horizon, and remind us that life is a gift. Each little life we do have, in our little family didn't have to be, and perhaps might not have been. Furthermore, we are physically well and so are our wonderful little ones, and able to take a vacation and in fact really, really need one, a happy one too. So the tears are passed and the sun streams through the big windows of this villa and we are happy to have time, to be, to appreciate everything and to enjoy being together as a family.
Preparing for a journey is a lot of work, but when it's done, it's worth it. We had a terrific flight! The kids love to fly, and Mom and Dad, well we love to travel. We are trying to hide the fact that we don't love flying from the kids. Daddy's too big to be comfortable, and Mom sometimes feels air sick so she takes Bonine and promptly becomes loopy. Taking it with sleep deprivation seems to enhance its effect. I guess I'm loopy a lot or the kids are easygoing because they didn't complain. We were happy we landed, and the kids were thrilled to fly since it had been a long time since a trip. We arrived to 80 degree weather and clear bright light. So nice! We carried luggage, golf clubs and two carseats along with toddlers (why is there so much stuff when they're small and we are packing just the necessities, I don't know) and loaded it all into a rental minivan. Thanks to Bill's iphone and a map we found our way around greater Orlando to our villa. I think I prefer a GPS, being directionally impaired and loving my GPS, but the iphone really was the next best thing and fun to use. At first we couldn't find the development at all. So then Bill appeared to look very serious and mentioned we were renting off an internet site, from the "McKlucky's" in Great Britain, and maybe they didn't even really have a villa, maybe we were totally scammed out of our money, and maybe we have nowhere to stay. "You know everytime they take money from us Americans they get 'McLucky'". So I started really laughing saying at least we'd have another funny story to tell. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Honey if it's true, we are not going to tell this one." That somehow made me laugh harder, and then I tried to remember, "Be a good wife". We have just been taken advantage of before by being idealists of good will (which I actually prefer over being a savvy cynical realist sort if I have to choose). So yes we are gullible, but not for the worse this time. Before I laughed too hard, we found our neighborhood, Terra Verde, and breathed a sigh of relief.
So we arrived and the kids clearly enjoyed pretending this villa was our home. We removed all attractive items to a very high place right away after reading the numerous rules and fees for any and all damages, incurred. What a welcome! We ascertained the pool temperature and realized it was too cold even with heat to swim, unless you are from Alaska. The boys liked that they shared a fun sports themed room and Leesie had a Mickey Mouse room to share with Mom for a bit or a brother, as she was falling asleep. There was the large flat screen TV ("Mom why don't we get one of these?"), the sports games in the garage, and the playstation that were all noticed right away too. Mom reminded the kids that fresh air, those special books packed, and exploring this new state was so good for us! I want these tools to be our servants, rather than us theirs, keeping us from spending time together. We didn't come this far to only escape. The only other disappointment was realizing the place needed basic amenities, like hand soap, right away. So we stocked up on some basics and were grateful for a kitchen so we didn't need to eat out constantly. Temporarily I was wishing we had stayed at a resort with meals provided, but I let that wave pass. The privacy, the normalcy and ease of being in a villa was worth the work of making meals.
Unpacking into the bedrooms I encountered the realization that this was the first time the munchkins could sleep in twin beds! Wow, our babies in big kid twin beds! At home it's a toddler bed for Leesie, as of recently, and crib with rail down until Johnny goes on the potty and gets his big toddler bed. Wow, I was taking that in when the tears came. Along with this pleasure at seeing them grow older comes the deep sadness, the reality that our baby days are ending and the desire to have another being unmet is like a cloud that hangs on our hearts. Sometimes it's a storm cloud. In my mind I see more, I ache for more, I dream about more. Yet they remain far away, an unfulfilled desire we are forced to detach from. I think that is part of the story of our life, woven for us, not chosen, but accepted. One nice thing for us being away here, is regrouping to take time to be thankful. We are blessed to know so many wonderful friends, so many wonderful large families, and many of which are now expecting, and we have joy seeing them welcome new ones. We have joy with them. But we also live with the reminder that that the great good of new life, happening again for so many is not happening for us. It never has come easy or often. So when it seems everyone is expecting (except us) and we feel tempted to think that it is almost always and only us, and we shall never have another, it helps to step away, and just be thankful for what or rather who we do have. Our cloud of sadness can serve to keep us looking beyond the present horizon, and remind us that life is a gift. Each little life we do have, in our little family didn't have to be, and perhaps might not have been. Furthermore, we are physically well and so are our wonderful little ones, and able to take a vacation and in fact really, really need one, a happy one too. So the tears are passed and the sun streams through the big windows of this villa and we are happy to have time, to be, to appreciate everything and to enjoy being together as a family.
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