The Beaten Path

This past week, during school's February vacation, Nate and I coupled his spring hardware supplier show, with a family vacation to Florida.

Being as last minute of a decision as it was, all the signs pointed to taking the kids to Disney.

My sister-in-law, who would happen to be down there for work as well, had rooms blocked off through her company, right on Disney property, at a reduced rate. The airline happened to have a direct flight, from the closest airport, at perfect departure times and my parents and younger brother were more than happy to jump on the 'warm weather wagon'.

So Disney bound we were.

If I'm allowed a moment for confession here, walking a well beaten path isn't where I'm most comfortable….with that said, I'm not ungrateful enough to deny the opportunity of taking my kids to the 'most magical place on earth' when handed an opportunity like this.

We spent the first two days in theme parks and magical kingdoms. It was when my children were submerged with the massive crowd of people that I realized, my babies were just as much out of their element as I was mine. 

Talk about having some mother's guilt.

After Josephine saw a princess she didn't dare get close to, Calvin slept through Spiderman's world, and Wesley walked Harry Potter's park and adventured on his first roller coaster, we settled for sleeping in during the mornings and sitting by the pool in the afternoons.

And that's when vacation became just that…

We indulged in family time, ate too much processed food, neglected to drink enough water, soaked in the sun like it was our job, clocked hours of ridiculous conversations, and had the bonus of having a set of grandparents and an uncle, to weave into our lasting memories.

I think it's good to step off the path most comfortable, it doesn't change the journey of the route you prefer, only refines its purpose.