Tucked In

I have many times tucked my boys into bed. On the eves of their birthdays is always a special night. The routine is always the same. I kiss and hug them and bid farewell. In the case of Cooper this year I said, "Good bye 3 year old Cooper." Then when they wake up the next morning they are another year older. It's just that simple. We put our babies to bed and they wake up a little bigger every morning.


Tonight, however, I slipped into Cooper's room after he had fallen asleep. He has had a huge day as a 4 year old. Next to him in bed I found a storm trooper (thanks Isernhagens), an I SPY book (thanks go-go), a lego guy and motorcycle (thanks Kirks), and a new Leapster. I found it amusing that he tried to squeeze every last minute of play into today -- his first day of 4.


I do not remember turning 4, I doubt he will. But I so wish he could. Today he scampered into our bedroom and woke us up with an excited, "It's my birthday." Then he crawled atop the covers and asked to watch cartoons. While we readied the kitchen for our traditional family birthday breakfast he waited patiently in our bed, not wanting to spoil his own surprise (how conscientious).


The next few hours were a whirlwind of wrapping paper, German pancakes, and toys -- all the while Mason humming a running soundtrack of the music of Star Wars. Then it was off to swimming school where Cooper jumped off the dock toward the teacher for the first time. By this I mean she asked him to swim toward her -- rather than holding him up while he tries to swim. He promptly sank to the bottom like a rock but he gave it a great 4 year old effort with the type of bravery that wasn't there yesterday.

With only an hour to spare between swim school and party time we all dressed up as pirates to fulfill Cooper's wish to have a pirate party. The house was bedecked in skull and crossbones and the first guest to arrive was Captain Hook (his grandma go-go). As the children arrived we asked them to wear some pirate props. Admittedly the party was pretty low key and ended with a grand finale of Cooper and two of his friends jumping on packing bubbles.


The evening was spent opening -- of all things -- some Christmas presents. I know he enjoyed this first day of 4. During the party when asked if he was having a good time he said, "Let's just start over." It was that good. He was ready to just hit rewind and begin, again. And it was on this high that Cooper was asked to go to bed and wait for day two of his fourth year to begin. He's wonderful, confident, and growing bigger and brighter with each new day.

Friendship

Vacation is friendship. Your vacation may include just you and your husband and a time to get reacquainted. Perhaps you're on vacation with the gals from your old dorm. You are old friends and you are finding new reasons to continue being friends. And maybe you're on vacation with people you don't know at all and you find something in common. Something that links you. Cooper found a friend on vacation.Thanks Joel.

Playing Games

Poker. Wii. Risk. Guesstures. Sorry. Scene It. Hungry, Hungry HIppos.

Break 'em out, because vacations are for playing games. When my husband tells stories of his childhood they always revolve around one thing -- games. I know that playing games with your friends and family build amazing memories. On our recent vacation with a group of friends who had all been together and played games together many times, it was obvious that the fun they had while playing games had binded them together.


Let's say I were to shout, "Hurdles!" in a crowd. People would turn, look at me and assume I have Turret's Syndrome. When "Hurdles!" was shouted amongst this group, one of the more collected, brilliant -- and for all intents and purposes -- mild mannered men, jumped up and pantomimed an athlete running hurdles. We yelped in laughter. This, is why games are important.

Well, we played games. The kids played games. The grown ups played games. I even dealt a hand of poker -- a first for me.

Time to Reflect

Vacations are ultimately about being alone with your own thoughts. Ideally you'll have a moment when you are truly off the grid -- no cell phones, no T.V., no computers -- and you can think, read, sew, stare into space. Even with technology at hand, if you can just give yourself a break from talking and sit in silence it is good for the soul -- my soul, anyway.

Turns out my kids found a little solace on the trip, as well.

New

The practice of trying new traditions is like opening a gift. At first you're worried it won't fit, only to find out it's perfect. Our family has never had a Thanksgiving pinata. Never. We've broken a few in our day -- at random birthday parties and one other time on the 4th of July -- but we never thought to extend the joy of exploding balls of candy to November for a post feast diversion.

Vacation is new.

Ironically enough the vacation we just had was spent with a large group of people who have been spending Thanksgiving in the mountains TOGETHER for the past 11 years. So basically, I'm pretty sure the only thing new for them, was us. I was so impressed that these families had stayed together, played games together, and enriched their friendships with the tradition of going to the mountains for Thanksgiving for that many years.

Everything they planned was old to them and new to us. We'd never vacationed in our beautiful Colorado mountains during the winter. We'd never gone on a vacation that didn't include our extended family on Thanksgiving. In essence the entire experience was new. We felt like freshmen at orientation. Remember how fun that day is?

On orientation day you feel like you've just stepped out into the sunshine of good fortune. You've arrived with your pencils sharpened, your textbooks neatly covered in Broulim's brown paper grocery bags, no less than 13 spiral notebooks in your backpack, and a kitten TrapperKeeper left over from 8th grade that you're hoping is cool enough. It's a big day.

It was with this same enthusiasm that we packed for our adventure in the mountains. And when on the first night we were introduced to the tradition of breaking open a pinata after Thanksgiving dinner, it was fantastic. (Note to self, pinatas are perfect at any time of year.)
While all these things were new to us I was absolutely transfixed to discover that some of these folks have known each other since freshmen orientation day! I couldn't tell you where any of the people are who I sat next to at freshman orientation day. Actually, thanks to facebook I can, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty. (Note to facebook weirdos, I don't think "status" is about details, I think it's intended for broader announcements. Think BIG picture. Because seriously, I don't care that you ate peanut butter and jelly for a midnight snack and are now thinking about chocolate cake.)

Anticipation

Whenever I've experienced something so thoroughly that I begin to reflect on what it really means, I rest easy knowing I've drawn from the event more than I had expected. If you've been on vacation long enough you begin to wonder what a vacation really is...

Vacation is anticipation.

It begins with planning but quickly escalates on the morning of departure. After many talks of the fun waiting for us in the mountains the boys were counting on, hoping for, and dreaming of snowball fights, sledding hills, and hot chocolate. I think I was hoping for a reprieve of my daily routine and a breath of fresh air -- literally and figuratively. When all plans to leave by 10 a.m. started to dissolve into something more like noon, they were whipped up like squirrels eating chocolate covered coca nuts and I was ready to cancel the whole adventure.

But finally we were in the car and ready to go.


Upon arriving at our anticipated location -- a gorgeous lodge in Keystone -- they were open-eyed, openmouthed, and eager to explore the entire house. From there it was giggles for hours while the grown ups set to cooking the Thanksgiving feast (another highly anticipated event).


Now it's your turn to anticipate what else we found on vacation... see you tomorrow.

When Does Vacation Begin?

When does the vacation begin? Is it when the dreaming of a vacation begins? Or when the reservation is made? Surely not when you are trying to pack for your vacation and your kids are unpacking even faster.

I take great pleasure in imagining the trip before it's taken. I know it is a habit rooted in limited traveling when I was younger, followed by slightly less limited travel as I age. I've never been to Puerto Rico or Portland or Paris. My passport is virtually empty. But I always find a way to escape via my mind.

In case you haven't noticed, we've been on vacation. But we're back, stop in all this week for highlights from the trip.