The week before...

My family first started planning this vacation four years ago. At the time, it seems so far in the future, it seemed like it would never happen. The first three grandchildren (including Tayson) had been born, but they were all babies. We enjoyed speculating how our families would change before vacation. Two years ago, my parents reserved the timeshare units, and one year ago, all the airfare was purchased. One year still seemed to be a long time, so I tried really hard to temper my excitement, or the year would be excruciatingly long. A year also provide a great amount of time during which something could go wrong to ruin this well-thought-out and expensive vacation. (Aren't I such an optimist? I prefer to think of myself as a worrier.)

During the whole month before the trip, the collective inboxes of my family's email accounts were fuller than ever, as we all were trying to communicate and coordinate grocery lists, family portrait dress codes, and who was going to what amusement park when, etc.

When the departure countdown was reduced to one week, I finally released my pent-up excitement and let it run wild. At this time, I also forced myself to sit down and make my to-do lists (this is how I function best). These lists included the to-buy list, to-pack list, general to-do list, and basic time-table of when certain things needed to be done. The week was going to be a busy one!

That night, after I had gotten all my lists done and was feeling fairly organized and prepared, Tayson started screeching in pain. And I mean really wailing. I would have been really confused but for one tell-tale sign: he was grasping one ear. Yes, the dreaded ear-infection. Having never flown with children before, I was already nervous about flying cross-country with a very active and energetic little boy and an infant. Now, my mind was invaded with images of uncontrollable screaming at 20,000 feet, ruptured ear-drums, and a life filled with sign-language (remember my earlier statement of being a worrier?). Add 'doctor visit' to the to-do list, and a couple degrees to my stress level.

Countdown: 4 days to lift-off. Tayson's ear infection was starting to show signs of improvement and I was starting to relax a little. This was also the day that I forked over a bundle of $$$. Clint and I finally decided on what parks we wanted to visit, and we purchased the tickets for them online. We also reserved our rental car for the week. Dang, but those parks are expensive!!!

Countdown: 3 days to go. I took our car into a transmission shop for a standard 50,000 mile transmission tune-up. You can guess where I'm going with this, can't you? Yup, the tech came out to get me so he can show me my transmission, and how it was grinding itself to pieces. Our options? Purchase a brand new-transmission from the manufacturer (most expensive), purchase a used transmission from a junk-yard (less expensive), or allow the shop to take our transmission apart and rebuild it with new parts for the bargain price of $3000 (least expensive). The frustration I felt at this point was immense. We had just purchased this car in October after doing extensive research and shopping around, trying to find a car that was reliable, rated high in quality, had low miles, and a low price. We felt this was a good choice, and bought it, with only 42,000 miles on it. I thought back to the previous night and the $1000 I had spent on amusement park tickets and car rental with a twinge of regret. So, we left the car there for them to work on while we were on vacation, and drove away in a rental that the shop arranged for us to have for only $20 for the 3 days before we left.

Countdown: the day before. This day is perhaps the one that caused me the most stress. When I took Brennen in for his 4-month appointment, it was determined that he needed a 'circumsicion revision' and it was scheduled for this day. It was the earliest appointment available and if we waited until after the vacation, he would be too big and it would need to be an operation in the hospital as opposed to a procedure in the office. I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect and if he would be miserable and in pain for the whole vacation. I worried all for nothing. The area was given a numbing ointment, a little extra skin was snipped, and I took him home. He never let out a whimper, even after the ointment wore off. It didn't hurt that the doctor gave him a dumdum sucker to enjoy during the procedure.

This day also turned out to be the busiest day of the week, of course. My organized little timetable, it turned out, was a little too optimistic. In addition to Brennen's doctor's visit, I had to take Tayson to get his preschool class picture taken, go to work for 4 hours in the afternoon, and make 2 last minute shopping trips for forgotten items. The night before our departure, Clint and I stayed up until 3 am finishing everything that needed to be done, with the intention of leaving our home at 7:30 the following morning.

Countdown: T minus 4 hours. The three different alarm clocks we set all worked, and we awoke, very tired, but very excited. When we arrived at the airport, my brother, Wes, and his fiance, Sharlyn (who were also on our flight), were already there. The last time I had flown anywhere was the Christmas of 2000, when we went to Mexico. This was before I had kids, and before 9/11. Going through security was a joy, let me tell ya. Tayson spent the time before our departure watching the big airplanes out the window and playing with his toy plane, while the rest of us visited and relished some yummy Quizno's sandwiches.