When my dear Wendy was offered a suite at a resort in Williamsburg, VA, at a crazily low price, she decided to command me to join her...and five of her kids...with three of mine. The dates fit perfectly within our very tight early summer schedule. The price was certainly right. The boss said I could go. Win-win. All the way around. We were all really excited.
Our departure date crept up and bit us in the butt. But, always champs in a crunch, we got ourselves together and made it out the door in time to catch the bus (i.e., Wendy's Suburban). We made it to Williamsburg with only one pit stop at Walmart for a potty break, and already knew what we were making for supper. We checked in without a hitch, chose our bedrooms without a fight, cooked and ate without so much as a spill. Yessss. We planned our meals, found both a Walmart and a Martin's close-by, shopped, and (finally!) hit the sack.
Our week progressed in very much the same pleasant and orderly way. But, after parenting eight children together for six days, we discovered that our households are quite different, as are our parenting styles. While our children have all been raised to love and serve God, and while we take part in some of the same family-related church and social activities, and while we are roughly the same age, we are so different in the ways we approach certain behaviors in our kids. I won't go into detail since Vegas rules apply in this situation, yet, suffice it to say, it was a week full of eye-opening wonders within our friendship. Even though our youngest children are far from being babies, and our oldest children have flown the coop, I feel that Wendy and I have both taught and learned a few things in our sweet little suite in Williamsburg. I believe it is a credit to our relationship both before God and before each other that we didn't take offense at being shown other ways of doing things. I don't believe we are ready to jump into another vacation right this second, but none of us came home vowing "never to go on vacation with those people again."
Our last night together, Wendy and I laughed until nearly 3:30 in the morning--I was really surprised one of us didn't have an attack of some kind. That's how hard we laughed.
All things considered, our vacation together was a wonderful time with wonderful friends. We swam, rented a movie, got ferocious sunburns, went to the beach, made craft dough, saw a magic show, and bothered the front desk people relentlessly. Most importantly, we put our busy lives on hold and simply went with the flow. We do sometimes need to stop and smell the roses as we toddle through life, or, in this case, the magnolia blossoms. Hats off to you, Princess Wendolyn!
