Marco Island Says Goodbye Sometimes

I've been on a very restful and very well-deserved vacation for the last two weeks, mostly in Marco Island, FL. It's a great place to visit near Naples - lots of boats and water sports, lots of beaches, very slow and relaxed town. I intentionally didn't take the computer with me, so that I wouldn't be tempted to do any work. Instead, if I got a good idea, I just made a note of it in my phone. So, lots of phone notes and lots of work to catch up on. Still, I'm always so grateful for time away from home and work, especially with the kids, because even when we don't do much, spending time together in a strange place brings out different sides of us, and we learn things about each other that we probably never would have seen otherwise. This trip in particular had taught me so much about my kids and myself that I feel he need to share some of them.

Top Ten Things I Learned on Summer Vacation:

1) My kids love the water. This is strange because I remember trying to teach them both how to swim about three years ago and how difficult it was to get them to even try. Now they want to go to the pool or the beach every day and stay until the sun goes down.

2) The kids do not like anything that floats on the water. Want to take a day cruise? No. Charter a sailboat? No. Rent a jet ski? Can we drive it? Probably not. Then no.

3) Movie theaters in Heaven will have dinner tables, full menus, and wait staff.

4) Do not get annoyed with your son when he makes some absent-minded mistake. God knows what you are thinking even if you try really hard not to let it show. If you do show even a hint of frustration, in less than five minutes, you will do something equally absent-minded but with infinitely greater consequence. (Full story will follow soon.)

5)Having a place with a kitchen means never having to wake up early or get dressed to get the kids breakfast. They prefer Froot Loops and Toaster Streudel anyway, and you're on vacation. Besides, they might just be old enough to fry a couple of eggs if you let them.

6) Sun block only works on the places where you put it. If you don't make sure you get complete area coverage, you just might end up with a ridiculous bright red swath of pain across the right side of your chest, making you look like you fell asleep under an umbrella with a rip in it, or maybe the biggest fan of the the Flash the world has ever seen.

7) If you take ten days off of exercise and eating right, you will gain approximately five pounds.

8) Out of all the exotic and interesting restaurants there are in tourist spots, your kids will still want to go to the franchise family joint like the one around the corner from their house. That or maybe McDonald's. Or order pizza.

9) If shopping is one of your vacation staples, I suggest giving the kids their own money to spend, rather than letting them beg you for things. First, they think forty or fifty dollars is a lot of money. Also, it's amazing to watch the same kids who would otherwise beg you for the most expensive thing in every store come away from a whole day of store-hopping and spending with three or four very well-planned and negotiated purchases, and almost ten dollars left over as well. (Example: Dad, are you going to buy those sunglasses? I'm thinking about it. Why? Because if you do, then I might buy this pair. Because they're all 'buy one get one half off'? Uh-huh.)

10) No matter how much fun you have or how great the location is, it always feels great to get back home.