The Best of Times

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

This is an amazingly versitile quote because one can apply it both to the French Revolution and to a vacation taken with five children in tow.

I wish to expound upon the latter: a vacation with five children in tow.

It was the best of times...

• I saw six bald eagles in flight over the course of our trip
• Western Washington is majestic in its beauty (Deception Pass ... *sigh*)
• We walked to the beach where our daughters ecstatically collected shells
• We rescued a washed-up sea star
• We rode on a ferry (with our car)
• There was a jacuzzi at our vacation house
• We ate clam chowder and fish & chips for dinner one night (yum)
• We met up with old friends and new ones (Hi, Vijaya!)
• I played Wii "Just Dance" for the first time
• Our kids all enjoyed themselves and we enjoyed our kids
• Sophie, our two-year-old outdoors aficionado, cried as we were leaving, "Whidbey Island, I need you!"
• Our two-month-old was a champ in her car seat (most of the time)

It was the worst of times...

• We forgot our camera at home
• The vacation house lacked a dishwasher (I have become terribly spoiled living in the U.S.)
• It rained a lot
• A woman outside the whale skeleton exhibit yelled at two of my children when they didn't deserve it
• I left my purse at a restaurant on one side of the Cascades and didn't realize it until we were on the other side
• We listened to a lot of whining and/or crying and/or fighting from the four non-baby passengers in the back seats of the minivan
• Gas is expensive
• The pass was scary with lots of snow

Tomorrow is Friday already, which means Spring Break is almost over. *sniff sniff*

How was your week?