Randomly Tandemly: Mommy Vacation!

Winter? Sucked. Hard. I am not a "winter girl". Yes, I know. Upstate NY is not the place to be in you're not a "winter girl". But Upstate NY is where I am...and Upstate NY is where I shall stay. Well, I'll stay until my husband decides to move us elsewhere - and ideally "elsewhere" would be PA...which is also not exactly mecca for girls who dislike winter. But I digress. The point? Being a non-winter girl, I spend a lot of my time dreaming of far off places. Places that are warm. Sunny. Bright. (Because Upstate NY? Is mostly gray-ish beige from November through April. Blah.)

So...winter was balls. Sick kids, snow, slush, dismal skies...all balls. Vacation? Would be AWESOME - and definitely not balls. My BFF Keelie and I spent lots of wasted time "chatting" (I love Facebook's IM thing. She's at work, I'm home with the kids...and we can still talk for what sometimes ends up being hours. Awesome.) talking about our "Dream Mommy Vacation": what kind of vacation would it be? Where would I go...what would I do...who (if anyone) would I take with me?

Hmmmmmm. If I let the over-exhausted Mommy part of my brain (the part that doesn't want to think about anything right now except sleep...and Robert Pattinson...possibly both together) answer, the decision would be pretty simple: somewhere warm and free...where I could sit and do nothing...for free...alone...where the alcohol flowed freely...for free...where it didn't matter if my legs weren't shaved...where snow, ear infections, and puke were somewhere far, far away. Oh, and did I mention that everything would be free? Yes. That's where I would go. And it would be heaven.

But the rationalish part of my brain (the part that is currently thinking about sleep...and Robert Pattinson...possibly both together) knows that my perfect vacation? The one that I would love to take? Would be a little different. I would still go somewhere warm...everything would still be free...I would still sit and try my hardest to do nothing...I would drink any alcohol I could find...I would not shave my legs. But I would not be alone - I would be with my kidlets and my hubby. And it would be perfect. Or something.

And in reality? That vacation? STARTS TODAY! WOOHOO!! We leave for Florida this afternoon, and I am so freakin' stoked.

The "Dream Mommy Vacation Checklist" has been checked off! See?

1) Vacation to be FREE (or mostly free): CHECK! My Dad and Step-Mom live in Florida. We're staying with them for a week.
2) Location to be warm: CHECK! Right now in Florida, the highs are in the low 80s. Sweet.
3) Sitting and doing as little as possible? CHECK! Heck...what good are grandparents if they won't watch their grandchildren?
4) Flowing booze? CHECK! My brothers and I joke that my Dad is "famous" for making drinks "Bob-sized" - the man drinks beverages out of glasses bigger than those red/blue plastic cups used for beer pong. Awesome.
5) Not having to shave? CHECK! No one will care if my legs are picky. And if they do? They can suck it.

I am so excited. In t-minus 6 hours we head out the door. And it's going to be awesome. I can't imagine planning a vacation without my kids or my husband. It just wouldn't make sense. They are my life. I may complain about them, and sure I fantasize about going away with Robert Pattinson without them, but I could never do it. If the vacation is going to be perfect, it has to include my family. "Dream Mommy Vacation"? Here I come.