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Personal | August 18, 2015

A Vacation Gone Awry

I’m so excited to be back! Warning: This in not a fashion post, it’s a “deep thoughts” by Carly Lee post- ha! I promise my next post will be all my vacation outfits, so stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to read my “deep thoughts” or not -ha!

I have a new appreciation for all the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies! You guys, this is hilarious, and I swear this wasn’t planned… In this picture, Clark Griswold is trying to keep his family’s spirits high as they drive to their big destination by singing. They’re still at the beginning of the trip….

National Lampoons Vacation

And now here is the Lee family… (I swear I didn’t plan this!).

Lee Family Vacation

Guess what I’m trying to do in this picture? Yup, I’m trying to keep my family’s spirits high as we drive to our big destination by taking a picture with my new selfie stick -ha! We are also at the beginning of the trip…

Do you know why we all love the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies so much? It’s because they are so true! Since I got home from vacation, my friends have been asking me how it was. I’ve been saying something along the lines of, “Oh man, it was a lot of work”, or “It was a trip, not a vacation”! They are all shocked, because the pictures I posted on Instagram make it look like I had the best time. I just laugh, because our family vacation went about as well as a National Lampoon’s Vacation. On the night we all got home, my husband and I were trying to figure out why we were completely exhausted and a little bummed by this trip. So we started recapping the trip. Our recap just made me laugh, so I have to share! As we were talking, I realized why this trip looks a lot like a National Lampoon’s Vacation. It was complete with all the usual marital spats about directions (no I said left!…that’s not what Google says!), and whether someone remembered my son’s earplugs (did you grab them? I didn’t grab them, did you?!?!), etc. There was an ant infestation in our rental car (no seriously, they were swarming). On the first day we had to take the car seats out of the car and bang them on the cement to get the ants off before the boys could sit in them… we returned it. Our car got egged twice (we were unwelcome renters in a “neighborhood for neighbors, not for renters”, as the sign in our next door neighbors lawn reminded us). I understand both sides of the story, but being egged?! Our rental house didn’t have a/c (not usually a problem in California, unless you go during the hottest two weeks -eek!). We were terribly disappointed by the reaction from our sons when we told them we were going to Disneyland (the reaction so didn’t look like the commercials. It was more like- “cool, can we go the hotel now?”… what did we expect? -ha!). My youngest son was scared of most of the rides, because they were too dark (he’s 4, sweet boy). Oh, and don’t even get me started on my terrible decision to try and look cute at Disney by wearing a dress (more on that later)!

After being home and talking and laughing with my friends about the hilarity of my family vacation gone awry, I’ve had some time to think and I’ve learned a few things…

I’m going to try really hard to learn that commercials are advertisements… they are advertisements, Carly! If my children don’t have the same reaction to going to Disney as the kids on the commercial, that’s ok! Because they will have an unbelievable reaction the next day to a dinky $3 dollar water gun that comes with gum balls!

I’m also going to learn to tell myself in the absurdly ridiculous, crazy frustrating moments to laugh a little. It’s not that bad. It’s just not. Plus, it’s those super frustrating moments that make even better memories! I’ll never forget the time my dad and stepmom got in the biggest fight going through Gettysburg. My dad was driving the suburban faster than the tour cassette tape was guiding him, and it was making my stepmom so mad. It’s so funny to think about now (sorry Dad and Barbara)! Or the time when my siblings and I couldn’t stop laughing while driving to the Grand Canyon in the suburban. We were having one of those eye watering giggling fits! Well, we got yelled at, so we all started laughing into our pillows! We must have driven my dad and stepmom nuts! You see what I’m saying? Those are great memories, too!

And I learned that just like everyday life at home with young kids, you have to cling to the “transcendent” moments you have with your kids (the ones when you are staring at them with overwhelming love and joy because of something they did or said, or heck they may just be sitting there), so that you can get through the minutiae of everyday (I learned this from Glennon Doyle at Momastery, article here).

I will also learn that just because I’m on vacation, it doesn’t mean that the inconveniences of life aren’t going to happen. In fact, they may happen more -ha! But it’s ok, because as my friend says, “inconveniences build character”. And well, they may cause some really great, hilarious memories to happen too -ha!

Next time I go on a vacation, I’m going to come back to this post to try and adjust my expectations, and to try to remember the things I learned. I know a little perspective adjustment from me will make for a much more pleasant vacation.

So as you look at my pictures on Instagram and on the coming blog posts about my vacation, just remember that they may look perfect-ish, but that’s just the best representation of the best moments. And don’t get me wrong, there were some amazing “transcendent” moments!

I have to say a special thanks to my friends. As I came home trying to figure out my emotions around this vacation and why it was such a completely different experience than what I had envisioned, not a single one of them gave me that blank, I have no idea what your talking about, look. Instead, telling my vacation story started being one of my favorite things to do, because it was just so darn funny.  My friends laughed with me. They felt my pain, and they told me their hilarious vacation stories back. They told me I was not alone and that I was heard. Thank you friends, thank you.

 

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Comments

  1. Bethany says

    August 19, 2015 at 7:24 AM

    Oh my goodness. I am reading this on the last day of my own vacation with the same exact thoughts. Thank you for putting my emotions into words and welcome back.

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 19, 2015 at 3:19 PM

      Your comment makes the three hours (not sure why it took so long) it took to write this post completely worth it!

      Reply
  2. EKB says

    August 19, 2015 at 8:41 AM

    I took my oldest daughter to Disneyworld this past spring and stressed like no other trying to figure out how to look cute while doing it. After tons of research and reading I figured out my “uniform” of comfortable and cute (JCrew Basic Chino or Denim shorts/Cute lightweight t-shirt/Jewelry to dress it up and some vintage tennis shoes). It was not glamorous by any means, but I wanted the photos to stand the test of time and that is what stressed me out most! After I couldn’t believe how stressed I had been over something so simple!

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 19, 2015 at 3:18 PM

      Ha! I came to the same conclusion!

      Reply
  3. Marty Rafferty says

    August 19, 2015 at 10:25 AM

    With 5 kids we have had some very “memorable” vacations…. the one that comes to mind first is when we entered our rental house to find the Master bedroom covered with mirrored ceilings. Our then 3 year old daughter reached under the bed and pulled out a men’s red leather thong. My husband and I screamed so loud we almost cracked the ceiling! Poor little girl thought she’d found a “prize. Yep we had to boil her after touching that!!

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 19, 2015 at 3:18 PM

      This made me laugh out loud! The hilarious stories everyone is sending me after reading this post has been the best surprise! But, I think your story takes the cake!

      Reply
  4. Shannon says

    August 19, 2015 at 10:44 AM

    My husband and I were just talking about what age we should take our little guy to Disney World. Both of us remember that when our parents took us to Disney World we were both more excited to play in the hotel pool. Our poor parents. Forking out all that cash for a dream vacation and the kids just want to swim in the hotel pool. My husband and I also decided that when we do decide to take the little guy to Disney World, he won’t even know the hotel has a pool until after the first day at Disney. Selfish little punks :).

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 19, 2015 at 3:14 PM

      Ha! Great idea, don’t even tell him about the hotel pool! Genius!

      Reply
  5. Amanda Hydock says

    August 19, 2015 at 9:09 PM

    Ha, love it! Family vacations are always an adventure.
    Next time you hit Disney, give me a ring. You know I’m an expert…it’s my job!!

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 21, 2015 at 4:36 PM

      Sounds good!

      Reply
  6. Lauren says

    August 20, 2015 at 10:46 AM

    So glad to have you back! Thanks for keeping it real! If only my life were as great as my Instagram pictures! Looking forward to your vacation outfit post.

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 21, 2015 at 4:46 PM

      Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  7. Tiffany says

    August 20, 2015 at 5:57 PM

    Oh my gosh! I’m reading your post as I lie on the couch, exhausted, having just returned from our 10 day family vacation (7 days of that on a boat) yesterday. We were in a beautiful location with family and all my 17 year old cared about was whether we had cell service or not! I completely relate to your post and as always am so happy you are keeping it real!

    P.S. the hubby and I are heading out to dinner and a movie by ourselves tonight because we need a break from our kiddos!

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 21, 2015 at 4:47 PM

      My husband and I did the same thing! I love it!

      Reply
  8. Pilar says

    August 21, 2015 at 1:04 PM

    Ugh. Egged? So rude and ridiculous. I am a native Texan that has been living in CA for over 10 years now (hub’s job), and I’m sorry to say I’m not surprised by that….at all. Glad you are able to laugh about it now. It’s definitely a different planet out there.

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 21, 2015 at 4:55 PM

      Thanks for your comment! I had to remind myself over and over again to not take the egging personally, and your comment has helped. Thank you.

      Reply
  9. EBH says

    August 21, 2015 at 2:19 PM

    My child was scared of all the dark rides at Disney too, and it seems like they were all in the dark! At one point I remember almost yelling, “There is no crying in Disney World!!”

    Reply
    • Carly Lee says

      August 21, 2015 at 4:56 PM

      YESSSSS! I wanted to yell the same thing!! That should have been the title of my post! Thanks for your comment.

      Reply

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Bracelets by @espacio_popupshop 
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