#100DAYPROJECT DAY 79
We really used to be weekend road warriors. Brett and I would choose a designation, pack a small bag and hit the road. We'd head to Whistler, Vegas, Denver, LA. We went to Dubai and the Philippines over Thanksgiving one year. We collected airline miles and passport stamps. We did a three week jaunt through Europe on our honeymoon and it was like our own personal Amazing Race with a different city every night.
Then one year Andy was delivered to our lives. And it was wonderfully, beautifully changed. Forever. For a while we kept it up. He hit 13 states in roughly first year of life including Florida, Alaska and Hawaii. We weren't going to let kids slow us down.
Then as he grew, it's so weird you know, he had his own thoughts and independence. Andy became a lot more mobile. All he wanted to do was run. All the time. I think "I want to run" was one of his first complete sentences. We went to a friend's wedding in Nashville, Tennessee and on the return flight he disturbed every single passenger on the airplane. It was a 737, so there were probably 170 + people on board that day. When we held him, he screamed and cried. When we put him down, he ran up and down the aisles. Distrurbving every. Single. Passenger. Did I mention we'd been upgraded to business class? Brett was MVP Gold and we frequently got upgraded. Business class passengers love it when they see babies and children seated in the cabin.
When we got home we put Andy on our own personal "no fly" list for a while. A short time later we found out that the family would be expanding. Exhaustion and nausea wiped out a summer. Then, when Andy was about two, Eli arrived. And his chubbies cuddled and snuggled his way into our hearts. Somehow we had less to prove. What were we trying to prove anyway, and to who?
We've learned to give ourselves a little grace. We still make weekend plans. Well, we started making them again. We love going for little adventures and want to share this with our kids. But there is a lot less pressure for it to be perfect. Getting out and doing something together is the measure of success. I try to only plan for one event per day. If we manage to do two things, that's a bonus. Last weekend, we went skiing and tried to have dinner, but we didn't try to go out for dinner. One big outing in a day is enough. We took a ferryboat ride and went for lunch, but didn't try to go out for dinner. Of course, I love do document our outings.
Last weekend we took Andy skiing, and I was so proud of him wizzing down the mountain. He is so ready for something steeper, but on a day he got to ski with an auntie and two uncles, we just kept it fun. No pressure to be the next little Bode Miller. You want to go in for hot cocoa after one run? You bet.
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