The Best

My family loves Day 1 of a vacation. Wherever we are and whatever we're doing, everything is "The Best". (This is not to be confused with Day Zero, travel day, which is hell on earth and only endured thanks to whatever chemicals in the brain repeatedly wipe out painful experiences such as childbirth and long days of air travel so that you keep doing it.)

Day 1 is the bliss. The reward of arriving to a new place after a long day. The delight in new mini bottles of shampoo. Crisp sheets and warm air and magnetic key cards and discovering that the TV has Netflix, and "look, there's a Bible in the drawer!". 

The start of this trip was no different. We arrived at our hotel late on Friday to enjoy a one-night stop before picking up our RV the following day to drive around Arizona and see the sites. In my mind, this was also the last time any of us was likely to take a shower for the next 5 days, so I was particularly delighted by the bath products. As usual, it didn't take long before "the best" was being thrown around. 

"This is the best hotel we've ever stayed in" (take that, Hualalai). 

"This is the best breakfast I've ever had" (we do love a breakfast buffet). 

"Look at that view!" (Tyler's first words upon waking up to the rising sun on the red rocks outside). This one especially fills my heart because I've so desperately wanted my kids to appreciate "the view" wherever we go, and they usually don't seem to notice. 

I like to think all of that excitement and positivity isn't so much about the hotel amenities as it is about the feeling - the feeling of anticipation for new adventures, of uninterrupted time together, of taking a break from the things that have been hard. 

For me, "the best" is watching them feel it. It's seeing Max's curiosity about a cactus (and then watching Tyler pick cactus needles out of his hair and clothes when he got too close). It's the pride on Max's face when he carried back 12 pieces of french toast from the breakfast buffet. Or the sound of them all laughing as Dylan destroyed the boys in a game of Uno.

Max vs. the cactus

I probably won't remember most of those little moments, and I certainly won't remember the shampoo brand at that hotel, but I bet we'll all look back and remember these days as some of "The Best".