Tonight is our last night in the beach house here in Palm Coast, Florida. Tomorrow we will be embarking on our journey back to Vermont. So far, the trip has been fun. It has been tons of fun at times, and loads of stress at others. Of course, these things are par for the course when you take a family road trip.
There have been some wonderful moments during this vacation. Yesterday was very special, as it was my sister’s wedding day. The boys both had a good day behavior – wise and things went smoothly. From spending time with their daddy and PaPa while Mommy had her hair done to remaining quiet during the wedding ceremony, which took place on a schooner at sunset, the boys went along with the flow of the day. Dylan was charming in his role as ring bearer, and made everybody laugh as he stopped part way down the aisle to pull a handful of rocks out of the pocket of his suit pants so that he could show them to the other little boy who was co ring bearer. We have walked on beaches and “excavated” mulch underneath the palm trees. The boys have spent quality time with not just myself, but my husband, my parents, and my sister and her husband.
Of course, there have been challenges along the way. When we drove down here, much of the driving took place at night in order to avoid traffic. The boys slept fine, but I did not get a whole lot of rest so I was not at my best as far as having energy to manage them well. Dylan has behaved well much of the time, yet there has been a lot of rushing around and a few situations where multiple adults asked him to do (or not do) something and he flat out refused. There have been tantrums, meltdowns, and times when I have wondered whether I was crazy. Of course, all of the challenges are the same things that I deal with at home on a daily basis. I have used the same tools and techniques that I use at home to address behavior issues, and the challenging moments have allowed my husband and my family to show me that they support me and that we can work as a team to get through challenging situations.
Tomorrow we begin the long journey home. I have heard that there is snow there, but it is melting now. It will be interesting to see what our return trip will be like.