Vacations Are A Must

By presidential mandate:

All families are hereby required to go on at least one(1) family vacation per year. This mandate applies to all families regardless of the number of dependents.

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So, earlier this month, we decide to go on a little vacation. Nothing elaborate or spendy, just a little trip up to Ooma and Dupa's (grandma and grandpa's) cabin. Park Rapids, MN - here we come.

All of us.
In a van.
A Big. Red. Van.

WOOT WOOT! I love driving that thing!

Against my wishes, my wife sets a departure time of 7:00-8:00 am or anything close that she wants. I wanted to load everyone up at 4:30 am and bein the Twin Cities by 8:00.

We got on the road and all was smooth...very smooth to Minneapolis. We made a stop at a family member's apartment to drop a carpet cleaner off.

Number of potty breaks on the way: 1

Back on the road to Park Rapids, again all is smooth. A potty break or two I think. But not an issue as we had to stop for gas. Ouch $60-$70 gas bills is new one for me.

We arrived in Park Rapids on Tuesday, unloaded the van, and headed out to the boat. My dad, who is very systematic and analytical, provided me with a very detailed procedure for setting the boat up and launching it. Once I located the correct page and sub-paragraph in the three-ringed binder, we were off! Our four oldest kids were with me, and I proceeded to drag them around the lake on a tube. Fun time had by all.

The remainder of the week was kinda cool, cloudy, crisp at times, and fun. We fished, swam, boated, ate, and just had an all-around-great-time.

My parents showed up on Friday, wherein I proceeded to teach my dad how to catch fish. hehe. Fish fry that night was awesomage.

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at a place called the Logging Camp. Great food. Heth was in heaven. All-you-can-eat pancakes. Can I get a WOOT WOOT?!?!

The weather was fairly cool, so we decided to take off for home. Load up Big Red and we are on the road by noon. And then it started.

Potty breaks.

So what? Does a week of vacation shrink a kid's bladder or something? My LanTA!!!!!! We stopped soooooo many times. Turned a 6.5 hour trip into a 10 hour trip. We even had one case of a potty break in the middle of a potty break. I kid you not. Heth and the girls were in the bathroom and just as they are leaving, one of the girls says, "I have to go potty" and runs back in. Unbelievable.

But it was worth it. It is always worth it. That's the reason for the mandate on vacations. As a family, you have to do it. You won't ever regret it. No matter how bad things go, no matter how bad the weather is, no matter how many things you forgot to pack, a family vacation is always better than being at work.

Tru-Dat.