After surviving our first big road trip with the duo, we were ready to tackle an extended family vacation.
My parents had planned the trip around the Pan-Mass Challenge. TT Dad rides his bicycle almost 200 miles over two days each August, to raise funds for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Coordinating between my parents, and their three grown children isn’t easy, but we were able to find a two week period that would work.
Many summers were spent at the cape when I was a child, so we always enjoy going back. I was very much looking forward to bringing my children to the same places I hold so dear.
All in all, it was a successful trip. The duo and I were able to spend almost the entire two weeks with my parents. TT Dad came for almost a week, in the middle. My older brother, his wife, and their son, came for the long weekend in the middle, plus some, and my younger brother came for the long weekend as well.
As usual, managing expectations was very important. We let our family know that we would be trying to keep the duo on their schedule as much as possible, so we understood if they went off to do things, even if it means leaving us behind at times. While we were excited to spend as much time as possible with the family, two cranky babies make it difficult for anyone to have fun.
We learned a lot about traveling with the duo on this trip. It’s been said that traveling with children is not a vacation, because the parents do not get a break. They are constantly working (sometimes harder than at home) to keep the children entertained, and safe.
While I can’t exactly argue with this, we did seem to find a system which allowed both of us to have some extra moments of relaxation. We had an amazing amount of support, and worked well as a team to achieve this. If only we always worked this well!
We found a room that was pretty contained, which we turned into the duo’s play room. This gave us a much smaller area to temporarily baby proof, and it also kept their toys in one area.
The scheduling difficulties mainly came to play because we had the duo, who were taking 2 naps a day, the nephew, who was taking one nap a day, and the unmarried uncle, who was taking a working vacation. Finding time to spend together was difficult, but we did our best. Often we spent time in little groups, rather than as a whole family. We made it work, but it wasn’t easy.
This was a very low-key trip. Lots of time was spent at the bay, the pond, and Stop and Shop. We discovered the duo’s love of grocery shopping on this trip. I have a feeling it had more to do with the overwhelming attention they receive than the actual groceries, but who am I to judge!
In the middle of this two weeks, TT Dad and I relied heavily on my parents, and my cousin (maid of honor extraordinaire!) to watch the duo while we snuck away to participate in our favorite weekend festivities.
Overall, this trip was a great success. We are so excited to be able to raise these babies to have so many wonderful experiences, including vacations on Cape Cod, which is filled with memories of my childhood.