You Can Stuff Your Bubsies in a Sack, Mister!

One of my favorite, favorite things about vacation is the blissful ignorance about what time and day it is. I absolutely love waking up in the morning, unsure of where I am, and totally unaware of what day of the week it is. If I have to be honest, I admit that I have this feeling a lot now that I don’t work, and it’s quite lovely at home, too. But it’s really lovely when you’re on vacation with your favorite people in the world and not one of them cares what day it is, either.

I called a friend of mine the day before we left the beach. When she answered the phone I asked, “How’s your week been?” She said, “Uh...it’s Monday.”

See? Blissfully unaware.

We succeeded in leaving at the o’dark:thirty hour we wanted to, and made it through the 5.5 hour drive (ahem, 7.5 hours) relatively easily. That is, if you don’t count Paxton’s utter frustration at being cooped up in a car seat for the day. He took only two 45-minute naps, and the closer we got to Hilton Head, the angrier he got. After being stuck on remote stretches of highway and road forever, Greg tried to calm his 7 month-old son by saying:

“It’s okay, Bubsies”

and

“We’re almost there, Bubsies”

and

“Daddy’s looking for a place to stop, Bubsies”

Greg has this way of saying “Bubsies” like a used car salesman-turned-Chris Farley. After Paxton reached his crescendo of screams, I turned to Greg and said, “Paxton’s telling you, ‘You can stuff your Bubsies in a sack, Mister!’” And we laughed.

Trip highlights: Paxton very much enjoyed floating around like a fat cat in the pool but didn’t care for the ocean much (above photo. Again, Bubsies...stuff ‘em). Jaana dunked me so many times my eyes turned red from the chlorine. Paxton got his third tooth, and started crawling. Jaana got to go night swimming, see the new iCarly episode and ate ice cream that left her lips blue. I read a book and ran every morning (not at the same time). Greg ate the biggest piece of tuna we ever saw. We bought a HHI car decal and Salty Dog Cafe t-shirts. We sweated. A lot.

It was dreamy.

We had an absolutely amazing time together...our first family vacation as a family of four. And we adored it. I’d like to give a shout out to very special friends who made the trip possible...Senior Glink! Oah!

Vacation! Really, it's all I ever wanted.

In less than 36 hours we’ll be on our way to the beach. Our first family vacation since Paxton was born, and Greg’s first vacation since we moved up to these here hills. (Christmas break didn’t count since we had a newborn. And all our family. That’s fun, but no vacating, if you know what I mean.)

The excitement level is all an all time high. The stress level is pretty high too, though. As is with every vacation, there is a mad rush to finish all the stuff that has to get done before we can go. Laundry, cleaning, packing, shopping. Not to mention work (I’ve been a designing fool for the past 4 days!). Jaana’s been upset that she can’t get to Barbie.com, but hopefully after a few dunks in the pool and perhaps a dolphin sighting, I will be forgiven for daring to hog my own computer.

I’m looking forward to the trip for a million reasons, but am thinking I need a reality check about what’s really going to happen. First of all, I keep envisioning the photo above: Greg and I engulfed in my perfect quality time scenario...watching the sun set, enjoying time together to talk about us and our family, and not ministry or work. The problem with this picture is it’s missing a couple things. Namely, Jaana and Paxton. If you swap the beach chairs for a couch, the sand for toys and the sun for a flat screen TV, you’ll probably get a more accurate vision what our days will look like.

Second, I really am just not sure about how Paxton is going to do at the beach and the pool. The boy loooooooves his sleep. And he loooooooves his bed. Most of our pool trips have been Jaana in the pool while I’m rocking, feeding, and trying to get the boy to nap in his stroller or portable bed-thingy-ma-jig. Today was the first time I actually got him to sleep for more than 10 minutes at the pool (45 minutes, yes!)...so I’m praying that success continues while we’re away. If not, looks like Greg might get some extra rest while my girl and I swim, swim, swim.

Lastly, I’ve imposed a rule on technology. I’m not bringing my computer (hey, I’m freelance now so I’m allowed!). But I also told Greg he’s only allowed 30 minutes on his computer and phone a day. Right. He’s already lobbying for an hour, so I’ve compromised a smidge and am giving him extra time if I’m sleeping. I don’t just do this for myself (I am such a quality-time love language-r), but really for him too. He desperately needs a break. He doesn’t think so, and he loves his work and ministry and the people. But everyone needs a Sabbath rest. And he does something ministry-related every single day. Let me repeat that: Every. Single. Day. So I’m trying to get him to take all his Sabbath’s at one time. For five straight days. It’s probably next to impossible, but hey, I thought I’d never live in the South and say “y’all” and look how that turned out. Y’all.

So here’s to Sabbath rest, sleeping babies and quality time. And here’s to the tan I desperately hope to get so I can stop looking like I came from Washington. Oh, wait.