There is no such thing as a Vacation with Four Children - Unless You've Left them with the In-Laws

Well hello all (the three of you that read this blog I imagine). I've returned from "vacation" with the family. And, as the title of the post indicates I think the word vacation is a misnomer at best.

Now, for purposes of full disclosure, the vacation got off to a bad start. Unfortunately we needed to change our plans at the last minute to attend a funeral for my wife's step-brother's wife who just recently passed away due to cancer. And yes, it was not fun, and yes, we'll miss Susan. I will for certain, she was one of my favorite in-laws. But believe it or not, that wasn't the worst part of it. It was the travel.

We live south of Boston (about 40 miles give or take). The funeral was south-west of Hartford, CT. The vacation spot is in Danvers, MA - right on the border (literally) of NH. So, 2 1/2 hours of driving to the funeral, the funeral, grave site, collation afterwards - then 2 - 2 1/2 hours of driving to the resort (with the indoor water park - which was the reason we were going).

You know what it sounded like...

- Dad, how long is two hours?
- Dad, has it been an hour yet?
- Dad, are we out of Massachusetts yet?
- Dad, are we in CT yet?
- Dad, I'm thirsty.
- Dad, can you put on Jonathan Park (a series of audios that the kids are listening too for home schooling that's all science related and very well done...)
- Dad, can you put on Jonathan Park?
- Dad, can you put on Jonathan Park?
- Can we listen to Jonathan Park yet?

That was in the first 20 minutes. And that was the *good* part!

More to come (maybe provided I've sufficiently recovered) later.