not her first vacation.

I am so excited for our vacation. Like, so excited I can feel my heart beating faster in my chest every time I think about it. What's funny is that I keep trying to consider this our first family vacation. It's not. Not even close. Last summer we vacationed like it was our job- a week in Martha's Vineyard, a week in Bar Harbor and a week on the Cape. We've also taken trips to Newport, RI, Atlanta and my parents' in Abilene. In her (almost) two years, Meredith has done a fair amount of traveling. 

So why try to make it a first in my mind? I think that the first year especially feels so exciting because it's all a first. Her first stroller walk! Her first time sleeping in her crib! Her first camping trip! Her first time apple picking! Her first time pumpkin picking! Her first Fourth of July! Halloween! Thanksgiving! Christmas! You get it. It's just so amazing. And soon, it's not necessarily her first time, but it's the first time she's not sleeping through it all. 

So our vacation next week, will not be her first family vacation. It will be one of many, but it is still going to be special. I think that's why we mark of all the firsts- to make it special. We want to remember it, have pictures and warm fuzzy feelings every time we think of it. Next week will be no exception. We will take pictures with both cameras and the shutter snap of our eyes, directly connected to our heart and mind. We will sit back and be amazed that we are parents and that she is this person. Not a little blobby baby who sleeps through everything. She is a little girl with opinions and preferences and fears and so much personality. She talks to us and runs with us and eats meals with us and will be filled with wonder, right along with us, as we experience Mickey Mouse and the ocean and those quiet, sunkissed evenings after a perfect summer vacation day.