A FAMILY TRIP

It was a warm December Morning, The car was ready to go, fully packed to the brim. We were prepared for the road trip ahead of us. I made sure to personally stock the car with a lot of things we might need, food, snacks, clothes, water and other essentials. Especially with my two troublesome children who wouldn't stop bickering and arguing about how a road trip is supposed to be.

I sat in the front seat, beside my husband who was already seated, horning impatiently for us to get in.

“Alright, alright we're coming”. I yelled, pushing the two bickering children into the car.

I held the map in one hand, the playlist in the other while my husband drove, singing loudly in a totally off key voice to a version of Jingle bells playing in the background.

“Dad, you're spoiling the music” my two kids whined at the back.

I chuckled from where I was, listening to their bickering.

“And it's not even Christmas yet” Sarah my youngest daughter seated at the center in between Leo, and the Dog, said sassily.

“It's never too early for some jingles.” my husband chirped from beside me, tapping his hands lightly on the steering to the beat of the song.

“Besides, I think we need a theme song for this family trip.” he continued.

“Then play something else, and stop ruining the song for us” my son, Leo said, his eyes and attention still on his phone.

I rolled my eyes and settled back in my seat, putting my sunglasses on as I scanned the road for a fuel station and fruit stand. We needed to buy extra fuel to avoid running out of fuel and being stranded on the road.

We were off to a beach resort down south, in the next town. My husband had booked it as a surprise vacation for us all after the enormous amount of stress we had been through this year as he put it. I wasn't one to complain, we all needed the break afterall. Between work, moving into a new house, and taking care of these two handful of kids, I for one needed the break.

I put my hands into the snack bag and brought the plantain chips I had packed into it earlier, munching on it slowly.

“Mummy can I have onekm” Sarah chimed

“Me too!” Leo followed after.

“Here you go,” I said, handing one to everyone including my husband.

The journey so far was going well, this side of the road was smooth and free of traffic. The view was amazing, we passed through the zoo, and saw a peacock. Even my son, Leo, finally took his eyes off his phone to admire the view.

But then it happened.

The car stumbled on something, making a weird sound in the process “what was that” my husband exclaimed.

“Maybe a flat tire” I offered.

Soon, he pulled over to go look at the tire. The air outside was so hot, the sun scorching. Truly, the front tire had gone flat. Just as we were figuring out what to do, the dog pushed the door open, running out. Sarah took off immediately after it, screaming its name.

“Watch out for the mud” I yelled following after them.

But it was too late. Sarah was already seated on the ground in a puddle of mud, the dog in her hands, panting happily.

“Mum, he chased after a chicken” she said laughing.

I put my arms on my waist, wondering what on earth I was going to do with this child all covered in mud

By the time I had finished cleaning the dog and Sarah up. Changing her clothes, washing her hands and legs with the bottles of water we carried at the back of the car. My husband was almost done changing the tires, sweat forming beads of ocean around his bare chest.

“We are never going on another family trip” he said breathlessly, wiping the sweat off his face.

“I thought it was jingle all the way” I teased him.

Finally, we arrived at the beach resort a little after sun down, there was no noise, the atmosphere was warm, and there was a big beautiful lake at the back of the resort.

“Woa!” my two kids said at the same time.

“It's totally worth it,” I said, smiling at my husband.

Inside the resort was magical. Nothing too grand or extreme, it was simple but still perfect. There were chairs, board games and a working air conditioner, just what we needed. We dropped our bags to the ground and collapsed onto one of the couches. Who knew travelling could be exhausting.

Later that night, we sat at the patio, staring at the lake. It was beautiful at night, especially as the moon casted a warm glow on it. My husband brought a bottle of wine with cups and poured it for everyone.

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“To family” he toasted

“To more vacations” I added

We clinked our glasses, laughing and smiling.

“Maybe this wasn't bad at all,” the kids finally admitted.