more playtime in the streams.
adventurers.
brave explorers.
and after that….WET.
oops.
we got dry clothes on and headed on towards home.
a m a z i n g.
and the very last thing as we headed home…. RAM crossing!
pretty cool.
up higher on the ledge was the rest of its family.
yay colorado….thanks so much for the memories!!!
OK…. here is where i speak from the heart……………………………………………………………………….
colorado was beautiful and i loved being there together.
even when it's not perfect in my famly…or there is fighting or yelling or things not going as planned.
i can be honest and say that vacations are sometimes overrated.
we put pressure on everything to go just right….fun fun fun…..smiles all around.
and you know what…
it doesn't always go that way.
and that's o-k.
no family is perfect.
and neither are we……not even remotely close.
my kids fight.
with each other and with me.
it can get really tiresome.
it exhausts me greatly.
but i love them deeply.
i say this because it would make me sad if looking through these pictures of our trip someone would say "i wish my family was happy like that" or "they always look like they are having so much fun"
and did not think about the reality.
the reality is that we are normal…sometimes happy, sometimes grumpy, sometimes hyper, sometimes loud, sometimes kind and sometimes mean.
you never know with five kids what will happen in the next minute let alone a 9 hour drive.
i am guessing you can relate to that.
i hope.
Jan Eitzen - Oh, my gosh! Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures of Colorado. We used to go almost every year, but now it’s been way too long. I’m missing it so badly my heart aches. — I always told my kids, “You just wait!” And that phrase has stuck and been a joke for a long time, altho’ I haven’t heard it lately because the waiting is over. Dean and Amy have four beautiful children and I’d forgotten what it was like. When you’re kids start having your grandkids you’ll remember all over again what it was like, but it will be much more funny, cute, and enjoyable the second time ’round. But now, as you can tell from comments here you’re not alone altho’ it feels like it sometimes. Most of the stories in the Old Testament deal with difficult children–even King David was disobedient to God. Another one of my favorite sayings: “This too shall pass.” (I try not to overuse it, but Amy usually knows when it’s coming) 🙂
julia - I meant “bit”
julia - Thanks for that last big Meg – lately I’ve been thinking, why am I looking at this, when I’m on instagram. Everything looks so perfect. I know things aren’t but it’s so easy to pretend when a picture just shows a tiny little bit of life. anyway, I was thinking also when I saw that lake…I bet there aren’t any alligators in there to worry about. Deep thoughts.
Michelle From Australia - Being Australian, we have a 14 hour flight to get to LA. And another 5+ hours AND a layover or two if we want to go to the East Coast of the USA. Which means by the time we get anywhere, good behaviour has just about disappeared 🙁 But fingers crossed come November magic will happen and we will bounce off our flight at LA looking happy. It won’t happen but a girl can dream can’t she??
christine ishmael - My parents took us to Hawaii for a MONTH, a whole month when I was 13 and I was such a jerk the WHOLE time! My older sister likes to remind me of what a jerk I was…I still feel bad for my selfish behavior…we do our best to make things so picture perfect and I’m sorry, kids are moody lil suckers!
karen gerstenberger - We just came home from vacation, and yes, I can relate to that. Bless you for keeping it real.
I have started a new blog, in case you want to visit:
http://www.abundantlivingaftercatastrophe.wordpress.com
Hugs from Karen (Gberger)
ira lee - you are exactly right about that! and i deeply appreciate your honesty. it is hard to have patience and grace when your kids are fighting about something- again. or. they. just. won’t. listen.!!! i am learning to be more patient, kind, and understanding yet persistant and fair with punishments and -ahem- yelling! lol wish i could keep my cool, but after the hundreth fight and its over sharing the stupid ketchup i can totally loose it!! thanks for reminding us that this is life, and we must always strive to be better mommas!!! and i love the pics, wish i was there right now!!
Prairie Jenn - Colorado is so beautiful! I could live there if I just didn’t love the wide open space here so much:)
Love your honesty! Families aren’t perfect…vacations aren’t perfect, but sometimes the photos make it look that way.
Yay for keeping it real:)
Su@TheIntentionalHome - Oh yes. . totally can relate. I wrote a blog post called “Are Family Vacations Worth It?” and I read it before every trip we take to remind me, give me perspective. . .if interested, here is the link: http://www.susoutter.com/2012/02/are-family-vacations-worth-it.html
We share similiar heartbeats. . I can relate.
Your pics make me want to take our family to Colorado next. We were there for our honeymoon 20 years ago (backpacked 6 weeks out west) and I so want to take the kids. And that first pic. . are those colors for real? WOW!! Just amazing!!
happygirl - Gorgeous pics and a RAM. I had to climb a mountain to see one of those. You were so blessed. Thanks for the disclaimer on the fam and your normalcy. 🙂 I kinda thought you may be a normal family, but I appreciate the confirmation.
Christy - The pictures are beautiful and it looks like you had a lot of fun. I love the one of Annie that looks like she is in the Karate Kid pose! And the ones of Talby helping Annie. So sweet!
Kat - *Nods* oh yes I can relate!
with four kids there is bound to be someone in a bad/grumpy/sad/difficult mood on any given day.
You just have to roll with it huh?
Thanks for sharing the reality of every day life, even on holidays!
I also find it exhausts me greatly, but like you I love my kids deeply.
jenrobburton - Beautiful pics, and thanks for your honesty! It can be hard to remember that blogs, Facebook, Instagram, etc. are often only showing the good moments and that everyone has bad days, troubled times and things that don’t live up to their expectations.
Great quote I’ve seen floating around … “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
Glad you had a great, if not perfect, trip!
meaghan - HI! so fun to see you in MY state lol 🙂 glad ya’ll had a good time! it’s so gorgeous huh? sigh. i’ve oddly spent summer with my fam in texas. hmmm… hooottttt
Shannon - Beautiful pictures once again! So nice to hear now and then about the reality of family. I already know quite well how family vacations go and I only have 2 young ones so I could only imagine the chaos with 5 growing kids who all have their own personalities.
Elizabeth - I can totally relate! Thanks for such a honest and authentic post.
Jody - Man, I must admit I am tiring of blogs that show us the constant trips they go on, the cute cute homes they have or their outfits for the day – so it is refreshing to read you reminding your readers it’s not all perfect or smiley as the photos lead us to believe. And that there is more to life than showcasing our happiest selves ALL THE TIME – that does not bring any of us any closer…
Thank you!
(I sound like such a cranky pants in this note, Im sorry meg!!)
Michelle B - I love your vacation pictures. Colorado is awesome! We just got back from the Wisconsin Dells – drove there from Northwest Iowa, so a fairly long haul. With three young kids along (almost 8, 6 and 2). And your last comment on this post reminded me of what I wrote on my blog just the other day about our vacation pictures…”And I might have been tired and cranky myself and lost patience with both boys…yup, we are like a real life family and do things like that.” I guess I was feeling like I was showing to much “perfect”. I too get comments from people thinking we are “perfect”. Actually I worry that if people hung out with us in real life – well they might be let down. I try to keep it real on the blog – but I also don’t like to vent or complain about my husband or my kids on the internet. I always figure I have friends and family to vent too if I really need to. My blog is for happy stuff – however people got to know – we are human and a family it isn’t always pretty. So I appreciate you saying what you did in this post. Because I feel you – all so well 🙂
Shar - Expectations, the curse! We all have them and likely as not there will be a glitch. But, that’s okay, we just keep coming back for more. Love your photos and the fact you do keep it real, as mentioned! So, thanks!!
Clementsclan - Ha ha ha, don’t know if you read these comments Meg, but well done you! I could have cried. We haven’t had a stress free family vacation since the kids were little! It seems so much work, for so little reward. But yet we keep on doing it. So it can’t be that bad. Luckily we have short and selective memories! Love the pics, keep ’em coming. Thanks for keeping it real!
jeri - Glad you enjoyed our fine state! I get that you’re a Kansas-girl and not a mountains-girl, but there’s no place I’d rather be than in some sort of mountains.
I agree that vacations are over-rated. I love to travel but not with kids. There is nothing worse than being on a beautiful God-inspiring mountain and have your kids being mean and hateful towards each other. Almost makes me want to throw them off the mountain…aw, not really. Our recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains was probably the least “painful” trip we have had in a long time.
shiela - just lLllllloooOoovVveEeee the nature n all…gorgeous!
arlene - Loved your post and all of the wonderful pictures. Colorado is beautiful. We have taken many family vacations there through the last 40 plus years…all 1200 mile roadtrips…one way, that is. Would not trade those memories for anything.
jackie grandy - Gorgeous pics Meg. I love the mountains of Colorado. I feel the same way about vacations, especially when you visit family. We’re on vacation now visiting my husband’s family in MN and its great, but trying to coordinate activities that everyone likes is challenging. We have 9 cousins and 4 families to coordinate. It’s almost too much family togetherness. I sometimes feel like my kids are happier at home hanging with their friends and chilling out rather than running around trying to fit everything into a week. To me a vacation is hanging on a beach, sleeping in, being lazy and eating amazing food with family and friends. I want to come home from vacation relaxed and ready for life not get home fatigued and stressed because our trip wore me out. Today I said no to the crazy and packed water park and yes to catching up on my blog posts with an iced tea on the back deck.
Donna R - It’s so easy to look at pictures on a blog and get lost in how perfect someone else’s life is. Thanks for keeping it real! Love that about your posts.
Paula S. - Yes! What is that saying again about don’t compare your blooper reel with other people’s highlight reel? Anywhere there are people there will be problems, but many blessings too!
Lennie - Beautiful pics! So glad u are real and relatable!
Toni :O) - I totally can relate and that’s the reason I love your blog like so many others…your honesty and realness…we all get it. I go through life daily wondering if I’m a good enough mom, a good enough wife and a good enough employee. I look at SO many of my shortcomings but then have to realize I’m doing the best job I can do and I know how to do. When it comes to vacations, man it can totally be exhausting vs. relaxing when taking kids along. I always try to keep in mind I’m creating memories and just go with the flow. Someday though, I look forward to those vacations with just my hubby sitting on the beach somewhere enjoying a good book and listening to the water…that’s it, NO OTHER EXPECTATIONS! Cheers!
Sunny Haynes - Oh vacations! Can you really call them that with kids?! The memories are wonderful and you do things that you don’t do in your normal, everyday life but work, stress and breakdowns seem to increase! We are headed on vacation next month but we are going with 2 kids and 4 adults…maybe the extra set of adults will help with the chaos!
Angela - Girl….if I could record the bickering on vacation, no one would read my blog. The end.
Heather - God, I love you Meg. I am having a bit of a down time right now in my life. Nothing big, just on the down swing rather than the up swing, you know. Bit of strife in the marriage, bit of doubt of whether or not I should have ever become a mom, in a rut with where I’m going. And it can be daunting to read blogs and see how much better others are doing things.
We do need to constantly remind ourselves that what we read on blogs, and Facebook, is a polished version. Nothing wrong with that. Just needs to be remembered or your own life starts to feel like a turd amongst diamonds. 😉
Maureen S. - Love out west so much. Great pics as well. We had our vacation this summer at a cottage in WI and had friends and family up as well. Mid week I was feeling very babyish and put out that no one was helping very much. All i was doing was cooking, cleaning and hanging up wet towels. Thought of our house 3 hours away that was all quiet and clean and thought I would like to drive right home and be by myself, now that would be a vacation. I went out on the screen porch where my husband was reading with a glass of wine, completely oblivious to my martyrish state of mind and vented. Felt much better after he promised that he and the teenagers would help more, and laughed about how I would never have lived it down, if I had left them on vacation in a huff. Most of the time, moms just have to rise above it and adjust our attitudes to have a good time!!
Red - This is so, so true! And this is why I keep coming back to your blog. Thanks for sharing that.
And. Just this thought. Recording the happy moments is part of the reason why I blog! I tend to remember the yelling and the grumpy moments and the negative. When I blog I do package it all a bit more positively (because I don’t like to barf the downer stuff all over the interwebs). And I have noticed that it subtly changes the way I remember our lives for the better! I have more positive, happier memories because of the way I write about my life on my little blog for my friends and family to read. And I think that’s a nice side effect of blogging!
stephany - My parents live near Mt. Evans!
We just returned from a road trip to Idaho with our family.
So true what you say…it’s not always as perfect as the pictures.
It’s all part of being a family.
You’re a good mom…and inspiration.
J.B. - When people marvel about how well my kids get along because they see so many photos of the twins in harmony together – I tell them, “If you have noticed, I do not shoot videos.” tee hee
Thank you for reminding us that the ideal we have in our heads is not real life nor is it developmentally appropriate! I shall embrace the chaos and let my selective memory keep our past vacations serene!
Molly - I really like reading your blog Meg. I discovered it through Crystal’s blog, and her blog through her Etsy shop! I like reading your blog because you do keep it very real. I like that. I am an adoptive mom to one special needs girl with ADHD and her older sister who is ADD. Sometimes you want to see the pictures and see what fun the blog writer is up to, but you also like to know that they have issues, fights,etc. within their family and that sometimes it’s hard, but that you love your children deeply. And you keep it real, but fun. I love your craft ideas (my girls love to craft, I really need to make more time for it, and your Sonic happy hours. 🙂 Glad you had a good vacation. I have been to Durango and Silverton CO once. I loved CO.
jacqui anderson - meg, this is why i love reading your blog because you keep it so real. i would totally have seen those photos and thought wow wish our family vacation was cruisy like that!! thanks again for being honest with us xx
ginger - Thank you for your honesty!!!!! Everytime my family goes on vacay with my husband’s family (cousins, etc.) I always set myself up for disappointment!! We are all flawed people and I only wish our vacations could be as great in real life as in my mind. =P
Lindsey - That is why I love you, Meg! You keep it real for the rest for us!
colleen - love this post…and appreciate the honesty… what a neat vacation as I complain about packing for mine which begins Friday… Thx for this post!
allison - Its true, because I can hardly look at the pictures, because they do make me feel that way. I try not to, but I do. Why are we not that happy, content, etc..It is hard.
sarah - Ugh, I’m missing Colorado so much now. Your pictures are great. I grew up there, but am now firmly planted (yet trying not blow away in all the dust storms) in Arizona.
I miss the green, and the trees and the streams, and the sky. I’m so glad you got to spend time with your family, no matter what moods they are in.
jen smith - it’s so easy to compare our lives to other bloggers. when we go on vacation i always wonder why my kids aren’t perfect like every one else’s and then reality hits and i realize that all families struggle with the same things. every other blogger’s struggles mirror my own. as i look at my own blog and our last extended family vacation no one would know that i wanted to shake my BIL and SIL and tell them to discipline their kids, no one would know that we were frustrated that all of our plans didn’t go as planned, or that that many people trying to make a decision on where to eat could be so complicated. they only see the good and that’s why blogs are so great. they help us to remember the good things and not all the other unimportant details. and as my kids grow up and read this blog sometime down the road that’s what i want them to remember too.
Heather - Yes, vacations can be stressful. The best part about taking pictures is that later on, you can look at them and remember the experience of the place and all the fighting and grumpiness that was going on at the time seems to fade away from memory.
Kirsten J - Can sooo relate to that – it wouldn’t be a trip if I didn’t end up crying in a corner somewhere – I’ve even been known to cry in Downtown Disney and threaten to hop a plane home. Yeah, a little dramatic. But the good outweighs the grumpiness. And we never take pictures of those grumpy times so we mostly remember the happy times 🙂
Taryn - Hey Girl! Just couldn’t help but comment…we loved being with you guys during your time here! We loved seeing your family and love each personality you have “under your wings.” I’m so proud of all your processing and the way you love your family deeply! Can’t wait for the time when we can process together face to face again. Love you!
Dawn Gross - amen
Nicole Q. - Well said.
Amy K. - Some vacation I will take a picture every hour on the hour, no matter who is crabby or fighting, so we will remember it how it *really* was! As a bonus, taking pictures of screaming kids might shock them into NOT screaming. =)
Tiffany - You said, ‘it doesn’t always go that way’ …I’d like to add, it almost never goes that way (for us). But it makes for great pictures and good stories. My cousin once shared that with me, that she explained to her older son, don’t let all your memories with your sister be angry ones (due to fighting). And I thought those were good words to share. Happy Wednesday Mama Duerksen.
EmilyK - Have you read “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin? I’m at work right now and don’t have the text in front of me, but just started to read it last night and one of her points was to make every day count, not just the “special” days. And I think that is something that you actually do! I feel the same way about holidays. I love holidays and think they are important, but so is every other day! (My brother in law gets all upset when things don’t go perfectly on say Thanksgiving…) At any rate, I highly recommend “The Happiness Project.” I’m only into the 2nd chapter and it’s very good!
Thank you for your honesty!
Laine - This is why I love you and your blog. =) Thanks for writing this!
Ashlyn@Pinecone - I can relate for sure! My kids are great on long drives – but lets face it – we all get grumpy and tired. My girls (3 teens) and I took a all girls road trip to Northern MN this summer. It took about 22 hours to get to MN from NY – and we all had our moments. The photos however – make it look like we are happy all the time ; )
Your pics of Colorado are truly gorg! A ram? Crazy!! xo
brooke - unbeleivably beautiful pics. oh my. a trip to colorado is one place i hope to visit. your post was so real. thank you!
Lori Austin - More beautiful pics. Thanks for keeping it real.
Our family can barely make a 4 hour drive…ugh!
Pink and Green Mama MaryLea - Meg — Yes, yes, yes!!! Family vacations are what I call business trips because I’m still “working” and “on call” the whole time as their mom – never get a day off from that one and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. It is exhausting, we do get tired and cranky and we do bicker but we also have fun and laugh together too. The fun part of a trip somewhere new is the experience and memories we make — good and bad. It has helped me a lot to change my attitude about trips and road trips lately to view them as adventures and to EXPECT things to go wrong and to expect things to get ugly sometimes, it’s much easier that way when they do and will…much better than when I used to set off on a trip with my family and expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows the whole time. We also throw in plenty of sugar and junk food — it seems to help if I let the rules bend more on vacation and cut myself some slack. xoxo MaryLea
ingrid lapp - I loved the last part of your post. The thing is, when I look back at our vacation pictures, I forget that our 9 year old was a hot mess at supper e.v.e.r.y. night because he spent the entire day in the ocean. I look at those pics and remember how perfect it was to just be a family and be together. Glad you are honest and open, it’s the reason I love your sweet blog so much.