Griswold Family Vacation

 Last week, I was the rear end of my own joke.  I was what I would normally cringe at when I walked into an airport.  I was on a family on vacation. 

My parents are getting ready to celebrate their 40^th wedding anniversary.  So my sister and I, along with our spouses, decided it would be nice to take the folks on a family vacation.  Take them some place they have never been for a once in a lifetime trip.  We took them to the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.  My sister, her husband and 3 children make 5.  My wife, daughter and myself make 3 and our parents are 2 more.  We were a group of 10 making our way through airports and across the country.  Because my sister is the ultimate procrastinator, she booked separate flights, thus taking a different route.  Nonetheless, this was a family vacation even Clark W Griswold would be proud of.  Between the luggage, excessive in the case of my wife, a stroller, carry-ons and anything else we can find, were a sight to see.   I am not sure who our cousin Eddie was but there was several people deserving of a nomination.

On this trip, I was forced to break every travel habit I have.   Checking luggage, which means waiting for luggage once we arrived.  No express lane at security.  Nope, head straight for the family lane.  Nothing halts progress with TSA like a stroller with cow manure on it.  I guess we should have washed it after visiting the state fair.  I often frequent the same airports; therefore I have my favorite places to grab something to eat.  Not this trip as I have 9 other people to please.   Boarding the plane is now a process.  Even though all our seats are together, this still becomes a long, unnecessarily drawn out process, thus holding everyone else up from finding their seat.  I became what annoys me deeply. My ability to live in a shell on a plane was gone.  When you look like a traveling circus family, everyone wants to talk to you.  They want to know where you are going, what ‘s the occasion, how long are you staying.  I can’t plug in my earphones and be my typical self and make this go away.  Oh no, someone from the herd had to break the silence, thus creating a conversation I typically dredge.  Of course, you are forced into similar conversations on your way back.  YEAH, there was something for me to look forward to.  (note the sarcasm) 

10 hours of flying is long for anyone, especially for my little girl who will be 3 in December.  My IPAD was consumed with kids app’s and many episodes of her favorite TV show’s.   She did squeeze in nap somewhere in between.  My wife on the other hand thinks she has an illness.  She thinks she gets motion sickness when she is forced to fly coach.  Since our little girl now requires her own seat, first class is no longer an option.  Buy 2 first class seats maybe, but never 3.  So she had to tough it out.  I was not opposed to drugging her, my wife that it is for my own sanity.  My sister, because of her procrastination, had 2 tight connections.  She and her family had to look like the McCallisters from Home Alone as they ran through ORD and LAX.  

They did manage to make all 4 connections, which were each less than 60 minutes.  To bad for them, the Captain for one of their flights didn’t make it causing them to miss a connection in ORD on their way home.  Luckily for them, they were able to get on the next flight to IND, 5 hours later.

On our version of the Griswold Family Vacation, it took everything I had to keep my sanity in check, much like Clark. There were a handful things that did get on my nerves and annoy me.  People walking slow and my own family riding the moving sidewalks.  I bit my tongue and pressed forward.  We are family, together on vacation and they tell me nothing could be better.  We survived and all made it home safely.  We are still talking to each other, which is a plus.  Most importantly, our parents had the time of their lives.

Next spring, I will report on Griswold Vacation Family #2, which is a RV Trip across the country with wife’s family.  Again, YEAH, something to look forward to!!!