"And Today You Officially Became Seasoned International Travelers"
Reader Warning --- I'm going to slip into "proud dad" mode in this entry so if you want to wretch and/or not read it, now is your chance. I kinda feel that way myself reading it but hey...it's not like we have that many readers of this blog and half the point of it is to record memories for ourselves, too. So I'm going to indulge myself and write-away... : )
In every area of a person’s growth and development there are periods of time when they move slowly and steadily along a curve and times where they hit a “step-function” moment. The latter are singular “ah-ha moments” when something just crystalizes or clicks (be it in school, at work or in our personal lives).
As parents, those ah-ha moments are often the developmental milestones that stand out the most (first step // first word // that one day that reading just seems to “click” // etc.). Last night, Audrey and I were discussing the fact that on Sunday (October 12, 2014…that’s 2 days before my birthday btw…not that I care…I’m just sayin’, i mean, just in case you were curious and all). But I digress again. Audrey and I were saying that on Sunday we felt as if we witnessed a “quadrifecta” (that’s like a trifecta but even more cool) where all four of the kids officially went from being “good travelers” to tried-and-true, experienced, hard-core travelers.
Even coming into this weekend we had been pushing the limit a bit with travel. I mean…we just got back from the Caribbean coast LATE on Wednesday (after our 3.5 hour car ride turned into a 7 hour ride due to a deadly accident on the highway). After a couple of down days, we kicked off a weekend that included…
Starting off at Tikal (more in a later blog entry but you get the idea...rain, rain, rain...!)— four cities and two countries in two days
— four flights and a five hour layover
— many hours of driving
— LATE nights both Saturday and Sunday night (arriving at hotels at close to 10:00 after some LONG days)
— passing around a fever and thread illness (Charlie was BURNING UP the first night…but he plied himself with some painkillers and fever reducers and had a great day in the insane rains at Tikal)
— about SEVEN MILES of walking/hiking on Sunday…in the rain…and when i say “in the rain” I am not doing it justice. I’m talking about hiking on muddy roads and trails in TORRENTIAL downpours where you are drenched through to the bone, your shoes and socks are like sponges, etc. (not to mention climbing up multiple 15-22 story tall temples and pyramids...that's a lot of stairs!)
Yet somehow, miraculously, shockingly, insanely…we went four-for-four with kids who just plain rolled with it. They get it. They get that sometimes travel can be tough but that the payoffs can be 10x greater than the painful background story. They get that when you are done and finally showered off and finally warm after a marathon day, you can wear that crazy travel day like a badge of honor IF you got through it with something close to a smile on your face.
It's hard not to see the bright side when you get family pics like this during the few breaks in the rain!Again, I’ll write a real recap of our travels shortly, but suffice to say that the kids were all absolutely BLOWN AWAY by Tikal and that they have loved Guatemala thus far. Obviously Guatemala will always hold a special place in our hearts. And to be honest, even without the family connection, this has always been one of my all-time favorite places in the world and to finally be able to share it with the kids has been incredibly special for both Audrey and me.
Sure did feel nice to have a great meal in Antigua after the long weekend!Watching them do so while seemingly growing and maturing before our eyes (when it comes to their ability to adapt and roll with the punches of international travel) has been (to steal the overused credit-card-ad line) — priceless.