Well hello again everyone! I hope this finds everyone having a better 2021 than 2020. This a bit of a delayed post because of a broken screen repair on my computer.
Anyway, we took the kids on vacation for spring break. We went to Wisconsin Dells. This is the first year the kids’ and Phil’s spring breaks lined up and we wanted to take advantage of that.
Vacation isn’t always easy for us.
It takes months of preparation for Brenly. We start talking about where we are going. We look at pictures of where we are going. We start counting down sleeps. We talk about how long the drive is. We talk about what time we will leave and what time we will get home. We talk about the plan for when we arrive. We talk about our plans for activities. We talk about when we will eat and what we will eat. We talk about the noise. We talk about our plan for leaving.
We talk about all of it.
Most importantly, for me, we talk about rules. Rule #1. You must always be able to see Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa. Rule #2. Listen. Rule #3. Don’t talk to strangers, etc.
I wish we didn’t have to talk about safety and rules so much. I wish we could just tell them one time and they would get it. Brenly doesn’t understand safety a lot of the time. This gives me so much anxiety. My anxiety builds and builds as we count down the sleeps. My head goes to the worst possible places. I won’t tell you about those.
Brenly’s excitement builds but along with that, her anxiety builds too. I can feel it. She can feel it.
It’s exhausting for both of us. But, we do the best we can.
A lot of times, I don’t feel like my best is good enough.
But this time, on this vacation, the preparation paid off.
Our daughter, our sweet, smart and beautiful daughter, was amazing on this trip. Well, amazing aside from the fact that her and her brother started asking how much longer the drive was about 10 minutes after the start of our 4 hour drive.
We went to the indoor amusement park first after checking into our room. Everyone must have been on spring break at the same time. The place was crazy. Lots of lights. Lots of noise. Lots of people. LOTS of people. These are all things that are hard for Brenly. To be honest, they are hard for me too but not like they are for her. It is 100% Sensory overload.
Brenly put on her headphones and mask, looked at me (LOOKED AT ME!) and said, “Mom, I want to ride the ferris wheel please.”
Oh sweet girl, if you only knew how proud I was of you in that moment. You can ride the ferris wheel a million times. And I will go with you.
“Mom, I want to ride the carousel next.”
I almost teared up. You can ride the carousel a million times too. And I will go with you.
We rode rides. We played games. And then we got tired.
“Mom, can I have chocolate ice cream?”
Absolutely. I will have some with you.
While we waited in line for ice cream, you found the wishing well. I gave you some coins and told you how wishing wells work.
You looked so thoughtful before you tossed in your coins.
I wondered what you wished for but didn’t dare ask.
Did you actually make a wish?
Did you wish for the ice cream we were in line for?
Or maybe another ride on the ferris wheel?
Or the new Owl Diaries book?
Or something bigger, like to fly on an airplane?
Or travel the world?
Gosh, what I wouldn’t give to know what goes on in that beautiful mind of yours.
If only I could be your wishing well.
I thought about my wish and tossed my coins in too. I can’t tell you what I wished for but I just know in my heart that it will come true.
We got our ice cream and walked back to the room hand-in-hand.
And I felt an overwhelming sense of contentment and peace.
It was the best day.
To be continued…
#beautifullifeofbrenly #thiswasonlyday1 #moretomorrow
The Beautiful Life of Brenly 