The 10 things I learned on vacation

Hi all
Tom will be doing a separate historical perspective of our trip to Kerala, but I wanted to share with you my top 10 list of "What I learned on vacation" ...

1) If you go on an elephant ride up (and down) a mountian, the ONLY person guaranteed to enjoy themselves is your 22 month old. Everyone else will be scared to death and crying, begging to have it end (Mom and Dad included).

2) Jimmy Loves Kay - During a rather hectic part of the trip, Kay vomited 7up and chips all over Tom and the seat. Jimmy became really really concerned and began hopping from foot to foot. "What can I do? Kay are you ok? Oh no Oh no... KK, I love you. Do you need anything? Do you need a hug, a kiss, a backrub? Oh no Oh no". This continued until we were safely back in the car. At which point Jimmy decided that he loves Kay SO MUCH that the next time she vomits on a car trip, he'll clean the whole thing up so that Mommy, Daddy and Saravanan (our driver) dont have to worry. I am holding him to this.

3) Kay can not say one of the letters of the alphabet. Can you guess which one from our car conversations?
"Do you yove me Jimmy?" (see above)
"Baa Baa Yack Sheep"
"Here Daddy, here's the yist" When Tom was looking for the room service brochure
"Can I sit on your yap?"
"My yip hurts"

4) Contrary to popular belief, eating room service on a white linen table cloth with candles is NOT romantic when you are eating in the hotel bathroom in an effort to not wake the kids.

5) It is possible for both boys and girls to pee & poop on the side of the road when there isnt a bathroom for miles and miles. Visualization: Step on 5 yr olds feet while holding his arms/hands way above his head and have him lean back. Try to control his squirming and giggling. Hold your 3yr old in a "swing" position. You squat and your daughter sits with her hamstrings in your hand. Then she's in a sitting position and if your feet are wide enough apart, you'll miss getting "hit". Note: This only works if your 3 yr old weighs 25lbs.

6) Someone will get sick on vacation and it will happen on the worst possible day. Case in point, Billy had a 101-102 tempature on the one day that it was 95 outside. He insisted on crawling into my skin and being held tight all day. I think I lost 5 lbs in sweat.

7) As many of you know, getting a massage in Asia is a mildly violating experience. Needless to say, its no different in India. 2 gallons of oil, a wooden table, one piece of cloth and one string. I'll let you imagine the rest.

8) The kids favorite part of the trip wont be the mountains, or elephant or fishing village or 200+ yr old temple or mountain goats or Diwali dancers ... No... their favorite part (which they keep reminding you of) is the swimming pool at the hotel that is not even as nice as Lifetime. We traveled 20+ hours over 4 days for this?!

9) Dont let your 3 yr old eat her airplane meal unsupervised. 10 minutes into the flight she popped a raw jalepeno into her mouth. The woman sitting behind us tried to warn us but we were busy trying to get Billy to stop crying (100 temp) and Jimmy to put his seat belt on and stop kicking the seat in front of him. I am sure the rest of the airplane was nominating us for the parents of the year award when she proceeded to scream the rest of the hour flight.

10) Bangalore is "home". We landed after our 5 day adventure and pulled into our house at 9:45pm Tuesday night. Jimmy exclaimed "Its good to be home".

I think that says it all!

(Final Tip of Day- When you get home, double check if school is open the next day. This will prevent you from hauling 3 kids out of bed at the crack of dawn, fighting with them to eat and brush their teeth and then standing at the bus stop for 30 minutes while you wonder why the bus is late....Not to mention your 5yr crying the whole way back home because he is sure he is going to miss assembly....)