The recent blogs about hellish vacations have reminded me of mine.  Back on the '70s, i naively thought it would be a good idea to plan a vacation for all 7 of us.  I booked a big cabin at a nearby lake.  DH's friend generously offered to lend his outboard motor boat.

We packed our van & took off.  I can't remember what the 3 boys were doing in back (these were pre-carseat days) but whatever it was, DH was incensed.  He yelled at them half the way there.

The plan was to meet our friend & his family at their clubhouse to firm up arrangements.  Their place was in a compound that included a rec center.  We sent the boys to the rec center but soon they were back.  In record time, they had broken the pinball machine.

We checked onto our cabin.  Things seemed to be going as well as you can expect with 5 kids so close in age.  One day, we did gokarts, one day we did all the rides, etc.

The day we got the boat, DH wanted to teach each child to water ski.  We found a secluded cove and each one was able to get up.  But then something went wrong.  After OSS being told repeatedly to keep his rope away from the motor, guess what? Much more cursing & yelling from DH who was frantically trying to fix it.  Next thing I saw was water coming up in the boat!

I can't swim & thought it was my last day.  Luckily, we were able to get to a big rock where we were rescued.  Many $$$ later, the boat was fixed & returned to our friend.  When i got back to the cabin, i thought, should I go home now & call a divorce lawyer? Or should I wait til I get home then call a divorce lawyer?

When I went to my next therapy appointment, i told my counselor about the trip and my shattered dream.  He said, "JRI, there's fantasy, then there's reality".

Later vacations weren't so bad and I'm trying to think why.  Once the SKs moved in, everything was smoother without all the back and forth.  Also, they got older.  We often brought a friend or 2 and that helped (those kids were so well-behaved & their parents never believed it),  i learned to bring something for myself, art supplies, journal, books.

Whenever I read about vacations on Steptalk, i flash back.  It gets better, guys.  Hang in there.