My first family vacation was very insightful. My wife and I are going on our second year of marriage. We wake up, go to work, each lunch, drive home, pick up the kids, eat dinner and watch TV together. We spend all this time together, and yet, I feel like I barely see her at all. This vacation was perfect for us. We were able to just kick back with no worries about work or school. Just hang out. This probably is the norm for couples during their first years of marriage, but not us. We started our marriage with a 7 year old and a baby on the way; there is no alone time for us.
It was also wonderful to spend that much time with my baby girl. I’ve not had that much time with her since the week she came home from the hospital. I was able to take her to the beach for the first time, take her to SeaWorld, show her off to my friends and teach her all kinds of new things. She’s so incredibly smart that it’s often difficult to remember she’s only 17 months.
The only bummer was that the older daughter was barely with us. She spent her trip floating between her dad and grandparents. We’ve agreed that our next family vacation will be somewhere that doesn’t split us up.
I had a great time seeing old friends again and must give props to the guys for letting me break a golden rule. They let me play poker with my wife and child in the room. Great guys, I tell ya!
In closing, I’ll provide a little sentimental memento of mine. You’ll find that once you become a parent, there are moments of great pride and happiness. These moments consume every essence of your being. They make the hairs stand up, the eyes water, mouth smile and heart warm. I had one of those moments on the trip.
We were at SeaWorld, watching the sea lion show, Fools with Tools. It’s a typical tourist crap show. They’ve been doing the format forever using two replaceable sea lions and changing the sketch with the times. By myself, I’d avoid the shit like I avoid mayo. But, being a father, I felt the children needed to experience it. So, sitting there in the upper rows, amidst the laughter of some stupid otter antic, I looked down the row to see my eldest daughter, reclusive mother-in-law and wife laughing. I gazed into my arms at my youngest, smiling and clapping at the show. That’s when that feeling flooded me. I had a flashback of sitting in that stadium 23 years earlier with my parents, laughing and looking up at my parents. Happy as could be, I felt that pride in being called, husband, dad and “daaeey”.
