PVB

Matthew's family

Reagan's first successful pilgrimage in the sand

Ian & his cousin Henry

Matthew & Ian on a dinner cruise in honor of his dad's 70th birthday

I have a severe case of PVB. It happens every year, and yet I never see it coming. Post Vacation Blues. For weeks, I meticulously packed, purged, repacked and zipped our suitcases. I introduced new mind numbing DVD's to our collection for Ian and Reagan's hedonistic festival of preschool movie viewing. I raided the vault of the Apple itunes store in search of just the right music for any mood possibly imaginable for the trip through the radio wasteland that is Louisiana and Western Mississippi. The result was three brilliantly blended "Road Trip" CD's.

Then we were off. Vacation ahead of us, nine glorious days on white sand beaches and emerald green waves.

Even Ian had been counting down the days, anticipation building as he watched hour after hour of video footage of vacations past. This is Matthew's annual family trip to Okaloosa Island, FL. They have done it for over twenty years now, and now all of our children are equally excited. They have sleepovers in each others rooms, Grandpa makes french toast in his condo every morning, and there is no concern for nutritional intake for nine full days. Everyone is blissfully relaxed!

And then poof! It's over. And suddenly a twelve hour drive home doesn't seem as exciting as the one we took just nine short days ago. For the first two hours Ian wails, "Vacation is NOT over!", while I am nauseated by the smell of maple syrup that has permeated every one's clothes. Reagan yells at the top of her lungs, "You are not the boss, I'm the boss!"

Alright so perhaps we've had a little too much freedom in the past week and a half. Time to return to reality.

But honestly, the trip was everything we could have hoped for and more. I think it is such a wonderful tradition that Matthew's family has maintained, and I am grateful to be a part it. I will say that Jimmy Buffet's promise of "Changes in latitude, changes in attitude," doesn't really hold the same hope while blaring on the way to the grocery store. I guess we'll have to hang on to those CD's for next year.