Vacation!

So far everything has gone fantastically smoothly. Rachel was an absolute trouper today, from the time Drew woke her up at (gasp) 4:30 a.m., to behaving well on the plane (and even napping for 90 minutes in my lap! Drew slept, too; neither of us got more than four hours of sleep last night). Rachel was cheerful and helpful -- sharing cheddar bunnies and her cookie, and not whining much at all -- and she seems to have adjusted well to the time difference. We landed at JFK on time (non stop flights are the way to go, plus leaving early in the morning ensures that all the airport folks are very cheery because they haven't had the whole day to get cranky!) picked up our car without a hitch (thank you Hertz for supplying a kids' car seat) and got to our hotel in just over an hour, even in rush hour traffic.

Fortunately Drew found us a hotel with a pool, and we got into our bathing suits as soon as we checked in. Good idea, too, since we really needed a pick-me-up. Rachel impressed us mightily by blowing terrific bubbles, working her way around the pool as she clutched onto the side (with Drew right behind her in case she slipped, which she did at one point, but wasn't scared at all; just got right back up on the ledge and moving around the pool again) and just generally being cheerful. I sat in the sauna for a while and got into a nice conversation with a guy from Quebec who knew very little English. He seemed grateful when I tried to use the approximately six French phrases I remember from high school.

Then we went upstairs, changed back into our clothes and went to a lovely little Italian restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. Rachel at first pouted when we told her we were going to a place that didn't have a play area, and then I told her sternly that part of being grown-up was learning to deal with disappointment. Not every restaurant we take her to will have a play area, I told her. But we brought along crayons and her princess coloring book (thank you, Drew, for thinking ahead and surprising Rachel with it on the plane) and she was fine. I had a great dinner and am about to head upstairs to go to bed with everyone (we're turning in early because we haven't had much sleep and we're all tired).

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To Tia Daniella & Darryl: Rachel was VERY disappointed to learn we weren't going to see you tonight. "I wanna see VALERIE!" she wailed on the way to the hotel from the airport, and she sniffled almost the whole way until she fell asleep. When she woke up she was still upset. "I'm a kid...and I feel lonely," she said, and I could feel my heart twist. I told her that when she travels with Mommy and Daddy there won't always be other kids around and she needs to get used to it. Things would be so different if she had a sibling, but on the other hand they might end up arguing and THAT would be a pain in the a-- to deal with.

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Funny line of the day: Drew noticed that the local newspaper's Website had a name that wasn't remotely related to the name of the actual newspaper, and we both scoffed.

"That is STUPID," I said.

"Don't say stupid," Rachel said. (We've decided that saying "stupid" is a no-no in our house). "Say 'dammit!'"

Drew and I, of course, cracked up.