It was all planned… a much needed mini vacation, staycation, whatever you wanted to call it to Whistler. We were ridiculously excited to go as a family of four. Disneyland happened, surely we could do a vacation to the local ski resort. Little did we know that it would not be the vacation we hoped for. We soon came to realise that travelling with little kids meant this was something else.
– this was a trip NOT a vacation –
Parenting is hard. It’s up there as the hardest thing we have ever done. Jason and I are incredibly thankful to have the other on this journey too. We have been in the thick of things with a serious rough patch for some time now. There have been many days that have started and ended with tears because we feel like we’re failing as parents.
Then we are reminded that we were given these children. God gave us these two girls – to us, no one else! No one else can parent them like we can. There are definitely going to be more days to come that leave us feeling like we have our work cut out for us, but we are the ones meant to accomplish this work. The work of raising them and being their parents.
With all of that in mind, we had hoped that this would be the vacation we needed. A chance to reset and start again. A time to focus on just our little family of four. We loaded up our suitcases, made sure to check the packing list over and over so that we did not forget anything. We knew we would be in for it if we forgot Panda (Evie’s favourite stuffie) or the owl sound machine. Once everything was packed Tetris-style into the vehicle we hit the road to head out of town. This should have been hint number one that this was a trip, not a vacation.
TRIP: noun
1. an act of going to a place and returning; a journey or excursion, especially for pleasure.
“Sally’s gone on a school trip”
synonoms: excursion, outing, jaunt
There are many other things that happened and by noon on our first full day in Whistler we were done and debating packing up and going back home. Vacations are meant to be relaxing, fun, and full of making memories. We knew something needed to change, we just didn’t know what.
As we were walking down the street of the village we heard some young people calling out asking for someone to buy their brand new sled they just bought that day but needed to get rid of because they were going home soon. Evie was the first to say something, though we all through it. “Mama, can we get the sled?” We hadn’t packed ours because we weren’t sure if there was even going to be snow in the village and any need for one. Without hesitation, I walked back with Evie and we asked the girls how much.
We almost missed out on getting the sled, someone else had said they might be interested but needed to get some cash. Thankfully it worked out in Evie’s favour. The sled became ours thanks to some change I had in my wallet. We took off to where the skating rink and outdoor play area is in the village and just played together as a family. It was the first time I’d smiled that trip. The girls loved being outside and playing in the snow. There was a small hill that the girls were able to go down. Yes, even Addie at 1 year old went down the hill on the sled all on her own!
Sure things may not go as planned, we needed to remember why we went in the first place. Family time. We had to refocus and get things going again. We needed to have fun, laugh, and smile together. Going sledding did just that. I will forever remember the girls in that period of time. Our “vacations” may not involve lounging beachside kidless, that is okay. Things might go wrong, or not the way we planned. We cannot let that put us in a funk.
We will take our trips. We will make the most of them. We love each other. This is our family. This is our vacation together. We are in this together. Even if it means we are all up crying at 2am because we all need sleep but no one is sleeping, and all we can do is pray for even just an hour or two fo shut eye and some very strong coffee in the morning. Some day, some day in the future we will go on a vacation where we actually relax.
Traveling with the kids is a lot! With one it’s easy. But having two makes it a headache
Thank you for this post! We tried to ‘vacation’ recently in Whistler also. We never made it to the village. Our hotel was a bit down the road from Whistler (cheaper). I was so disappointed. We cooked all our meals in our hotel- no eating out which for me is what vacation is all about. I was so sad. But we will try again next year when we are all a year older and maybe able to handle a fun trip as a family.
Thank you for this. I was reluctant going to Hawaii, bitter at my husband that my 10 month old couldn’t adjust and that I barely got any sleep the whole trip. I called this “vacation” an adventure and my friend said my cup is half empty haha. That’s ok. Everyone but me had a good time and I’m glad I was able to capture good pictures despite my sleep deprivation 😜.
We’ve been traveling around the world with two kids for over a decade and it gets easier in some ways and more complicated in many others, all at the same time… Always worth it though! I can’t imagine NOT traveling with the kids and not having all of these great memories together. And crazy sleep deprived stories to tell 🙂
Yes this is totally relatable for us too- now that the girls are getting older ( ours our 4 & 3 ) it is getting a little bit easier. But we can all use a strong cup of coffee in the morning trip or no trip hahaha
I love this! I so needed this a few months ago! Thank you for the tips!
Amen sister! We went to the beach last year with our almost 1 year old and 2 year old. it was HARD! Sometimes it is easier to stay home….. but having family time is still totally worth it!
Haha! We’ve said that exact same thing…taking a “trip” with kids is NOT a vacation…it’s a “trip”…way to make the best of it!
Traveling with kids is definitely not the same! We take different types of vacations now to try and make it more relaxing.
We just took our 3 month old to Disney for an extended family vacation and it was the furthest thing from relaxing! It will be a long time before any of our trips will be relaxing but oh well, it definitely wasn’t boring haha
It is a lot different travelling with kids…but we love it because our daughter is so curious like a lot of children, and we always have fun together!
I can so relate to this 🙂 Used to say I need a vacation after vacationing with kids. Boy did they make it all more interesting !!!
Trips with kids can definitely be challenging. We have 5 and have traveled to over 15 countries. I have learned that toddlers are the hardest, followed by 5-8 year olds. But, once they hit 9 they are magic and bring so much to every trip we have. Keep it up mama. It gets easier and more relaxing I promise.
I think that traveling with kids is an awful lot of hard work haha. It looks like you guys got to have a little fun though.
Looks like you still had a good time though! It is definitely tough. Sometimes even just getting to the store with them is tough!
I feel the exact same way about travelling with my kids. It’s definitely not a vacation when they’re little but one day, it will be so just keep putting in the effort right now and get them used to travelling. Then when you’re older and they’re older, they’ll be used to doing it and so will you!