Beach house

Having a demanding family makes simple things like going on holiday together, complicated. The last time I was on holiday with all three my kids were 4 years ago, when Ben was still a baby.

It was the worst two weeks of my life and when I got home, I broke down in tears and vowed to never take all three kids on holiday again.

A few months ago an incredible opportunity presented itself to buy a little home by the sea. It's a two hour drive from our home and it is perfect. Our family has a threshold for long distance driving, which peaks at about two hours. Anything longer than that and you are risking family murder. I think I referred to the situation in more detail in an earlier post regarding "roadtrips".

The house is simple and on a quiet cul de sac, overlooking an estuary. It's fenced and gated, an absolute must for my little 4 year old that often gets Forrest Gump urges and just wants to take off and run! It's close to the beach and very low maintanance. It has a neighbour with a fabulous black labrador, named Max. Max is awesome, he lives and eats next door, but he always greets us with a wagging tail when we get home. The kids play with him like he belongs to them and he even barks at stangers passing our perimeter. It's like having a holiday pet without all the responsibility. My kinda dog.

Needless to say, we bought it and since Jan we have spend every second weekend at our little getaway. Then our first school holiday approached...we have some renovations at our permanent home and thought it a good idea for me and the kids to go spend a week at the beach house and escape the mess and disruption. Great idea!

The week is over and we have to head home tomorrow. It was amazing. The kids were angels and we all had a really chilled holiday. We flew kites, played board games, spend hours on the beach and park and even went boating on the lagoon. Nobody fought and despite very intimate living conditions, everybody got on just fine.
We did arts and crafts, took a trip to a nearby town for some kiddies playfun and I even had a fantastic massage.

It has taken me four years to pluck up the courage to take the kids away on holiday and it was a huge success. There are of course the little silent helpers like prescription meds and a year of behavioural therapy. What I have learned this week is that we too can do things normal families do. With a little planning and a little creativity, (like buying a holiday house) we too can make some fond memories of holidays spend lazing and just kicking back!