"What are you working on there, Callie?" Stef asked the next afternoon when she got up.
"Nothing." Callie answered muttering something else under her breath.
"What was that, Bug?" Stef asked again putting her hand on Callie's shoulder and peering at the paper.
"I have to write about my Spring Break. It has to be at least five paragraphs and then I can either take a picture or draw a picture to go with it. I am just having a hard time knowing what to write about."
"I can understand that." Mari said walking up. "It has been sort of a lame break from school. I mean, should she write about running off or being grounded? At least I can tell my class that I stayed the night at Lexie's house. Callie's got nothing."
Stef looked at her two daughters skeptically. "It is only a week off from school. I am sure no one else did anything too great. Besides, you can write about getting new clothes at the mall and your time at the museum."
"The mall trip that ended with me losing my allowance or the museum trip that I had to dread whatever punishment was coming my way… Other than that I cleaned Grandpa Frank's house and our house. You just don't understand, Mom. The kids we go to school with are using this week to do all kinds of things. I have at least three kids in my class who were going skiing. Another couple were going to Disneyland like they do every Spring Break. One girl is going to miss an entire week of school more because she won't be back from Paris yet. Seriously, everyone else was planning to do something interesting other than us."
"I am sure it isn't that bad." Stef said thinking about her own childhood experiences from a public school perspective.
"Oh, it is, Mommy." Mariana assured her. "Lexie left for an amusement park this morning. In fact, the night I spend there was the only night she was going to be home."
Brandon walked in about then and added his input. "Why do you think we were all around here most days? I only had one friend who was even going to be home. He was only home yesterday because he had to go to his dad's house last night."
"Hmmm, did you have to write an essay, too, B?" Stef asked.
"Yes. I said that we took in a foreign exchange student for the week and showed him all the sights around San Diego. He got to stay in my room, but now he is back in Kenya so I can't show the class. Obviously, I opted to draw the picture since we couldn't really get a family picture with him in it."
"That's a great idea, Brandon!" Callie praised getting out a new sheet of paper. "I will write about that, too. What did you say his name was?"
"I called him Simba, kind of like on the Lion King. It means lion in Swahili."
"I think my favorite part of Spring Break was taking Simba to the zoo. He especially liked the lions." Callie said finding inspiration and starting her story.
"He also liked eating pizza. They don't have it in Kenya and it was his favorite food here." Brandon added. "He didn't like spinach."
Mariana wrinkled her nose. "No one does. I bet he also hated the traffic in San Diego. I know I do. Did we also go to at least one beach?"
"Yep!" Callie confirmed. "We went to the beach by the school. We taught him to swim."
"Hmmm, I think we went to a different beach that wasn't right around here…" Brandon said thoughtfully. "Even if everyone else did something, someone might know that they didn't see us there. Besides, it was rainy and a little cold for the beach."
"You're right. We were planning to go, but didn't because the weather was bad. Thanks, B."
Stef listened to this exchange before finally interrupting. "It isn't a good to lie on your schoolwork. Like Brandon said, someone is bound to find out. Right now that someone happens to be your mother who will be making sure that no essays about Simba come out of this house. Besides the fact that I don't think people name their children Simba in Kenya."
Callie let out a sigh and crumpled her paper into a ball, but thought about it before throwing it. "Then what do I write about? Seriously, Mom! This was the worst Spring Break ever. I cannot wait to go back to school."
The other kids agreed before Stef responded. "I am off tomorrow as soon as I get home from work. We are going to do something fun together this weekend. If you hold off on your writing assignment until Sunday afternoon, I promise you will have something to write about."
Stef went to join Lena on the back porch swing watching Jesus and Jude play in the backyard. Lena gave her a kiss. "Good afternoon, Babe. Today has gone mostly smoothly as you can see. The kids had some schoolwork and we went grocery shopping."
"Sounds thrilling." Stef answered halfway sarcastically before remembering that Lena had not heard the earlier conversation with the kids. "Do Anchor Beach families really go places over Spring Break?"
"Most do, but a few stay home like we did. It is okay, really, though. We just don't have the money that most other families at the school have. You were working and we have five children to feed. The kids know we are saving for Disney."
"Have you made plans for tomorrow yet, Babe?" Stef asked.
"No, you said you were off, so I was waiting to see what we could do. Did you think of something?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. We have never taken the kids to see the Grand Canyon. My parents took me several times growing up. It is only about eight hours from here. The way I see it, if we are ready to leave when I get off from work tomorrow morning, we can drive most of the day and stay in a hotel in the area tomorrow night. We can spend all day Saturday there, stay in the hotel one more night, and then come home on Sunday."
"When will you sleep? Coming off of nights won't you be very tired? Plus, we haven't even booked a hotel. It may not even be possible."
"I would sleep while you drive. If we get the kids up at the time I get home, they will also sleep for a while in the car. Then we can put in a movie for them until I have slept enough. I just need a few hours of sleep or I won't sleep at night. As for hotels, we probably cannot stay in one of the hotels there, but I bet we can get one less than an hour from there. We will get one with a pool and a full breakfast."
"What about the price, Stef? If we don't get these kids to Disneyland soon, we will have a mutiny on our hands. Callie and Brandon will both be in middle school next year. It has to be this summer while they are all still kids."
"It will only cost a few tanks of gas, two nights in a hotel, and the price of a day pass to the Canyon itself. It will barely touch our vacation budget. There are lots of things to see, a movie to watch, and we can take the kids hiking. We will get a family picture there so that our kids can go back to school with stories of their family vacation rather than a fictional foreign exchange student named Simba."
"Simba?" Lena asked with a laugh. "Like the baby lion on Lion King? Why would that even come up?"
XXXX
Lena laid down in her bed exhausted after making the whirlwind vacation plans. All five kids were now bathed, packed, and in bed. She knew that she had to get enough sleep to do the majority of the eight hour drive in the morning while her wife slept. Instead she had millions of thoughts running through her head. Mentally she went back to helping the kids pack.
"We are going to have a suitcase for the girls and a suitcase for the boys." Lena had said. "We are going to do the packing very quickly if you listen. I am going to be in the hallway with the bags, and you all will bring whatever I ask for to me, okay?"
"I want my own bag." Callie whined.
"Don't even go there this time, babe. It isn't going to happen." Lena answered simply. "Now, I need everyone to bring me clean pajamas." Lena had gotten all the pajamas in the suitcases before asking for swimsuits and then three changes of clothing from each child. She remembered sandals, socks, toothbrushes, and underwear. For good measure she also had the kids all bring a hoodie or jacket to pack. In a relatively short time, she had both suitcases packed, zipped, and in the van.
Next Lena had the kids each pick out a movie and bring all of their electronic devices to her to pack for the car trip. Callie pointed out that all of hers were taken when she was grounded. Lena thanked her for the reminder and stuck Callie's in the bag with the others. Then she sent the kids around the house for various incidental items. Soon, Lena had two shower kits complete with hairbrushes and toothpaste as well as the entertainment and snack bag ready to go. She sent Jesus to take both of those bags to sit by the front door.
As soon as the kids were all in bed, Lena packed two small bags for her and Stef. She was unsure of their hotel arrangements, but figured they would have to split themselves between two kid rooms. Two bags would make things a little more flexible. She went through her written out checklist again.
Now, Lena lay in bed trying to get all of the preparation out of her head to allow her to sleep. Instead she got a little knock at the door and a little face looking into her room. "Hello, Jude."
"Hi, Mama. I was wondering about the Grand Canyon…"
"And you can't sleep very well?" She asked patting the bed beside her.
"Nope, I am too excited." He said crawling up on the bed and snuggling in.
"That's okay. Just close your eyes, Baby." Lena glanced up to see Jesus also lingering by the door. "You, too, Jesus. We have room."
Jesus launched himself onto the bed on the other side of Jude. "Thanks, Mama! When we get there, I am going to race Callie all the way to the bottom of the canyon. We are going to see bears and maybe a raccoon. What do you think, Mama?"
"I think you need to close your eyes just like I told Jude a little while ago. Take a few deep breaths. Let them out slowly." Lena reached over the almost asleep Jude to give Jesus a few light touches that would help him relax.
"Mama, I have a question." Brandon said from the doorway.
"Come on in, Brandon and find a spot."
He grinned. "Thanks, Mama." He got into the bed on the other side of Lena making her have to scoot closer to Jude.
"Girls, if you also want in here, I am sure there is room." Lena said as she was fairly certain both were in the hallway right now.
They immediately peeked in and came into the room to find their own spots. Mariana got in next to her twin and Callie came in next to Mariana. She buried her head on the edge of Stef's pillow. "Thanks, Mama." She said sleepily.
Lena drifted into a deep sleep that was too quickly interrupted by her alarm. She had to wake Brandon to get out of bed. "Good morning, Brandon!" She whispered giving him a kiss on his forehead. "Go use the bathroom and get dressed because we are leaving soon."
"Okay." He answered in a hoarse whisper as he got up in a zombie-like state.
Lena got up and jumped in the shower to wake up. By the time she got out, she could see lights on throughout the house. Callie was also stirring. "Good morning, Callie!" Lena whispered kissing her daughter before giving her a similar command to what she had told Brandon. Callie sleepily complied and then went downstairs about the time Stef came in.
"Good morning, Bug!" Stef greeted her daughter. "I can see that you look like you are about ready to get on the road. How are the others doing?"
Callie wandered over to her mom for a hug and kiss. "I don't know, Mommy. Mama was up and so was Brandon. I still feel kind of tired, though."
"Well, that's fine. Mama and I would like some quiet time at the start of the trip so that I can take a little nap. Maybe you could sleep more also?"
"Maybe. Are we going to make breakfast?" Callie asked a little more awake.
"Nope. We are going to stop for breakfast in a couple of hours. I brought Mama some of her favorite Starbucks to help her out until we stop. If you are all the way ready to go, you may go sit on the couch. I am going to check on everyone else."
Stef went upstairs and greeted each member of her family. Within ten minutes, they were ready to go. Jesus had to be practically carried to the car as he was not awake enough to function, but everyone else made it to the car okay.
A few minutes into the journey, Lena realized she was the only one awake in the car. She was also tired, but between taking a shower and drinking coffee, Lena was awake. She took this rare moment to turn the radio on quietly to her favorite station.
"Mama, when are we going to stop?" Came a little voice from the back an hour or so later.
"Soon, Mari. Do you want me to start your movie?" Lena answered looking into the rearview mirror to see her daughter.
"No, but I need to go to the bathroom."
"Did you go before we left home?" Lena asked.
"Yes, but now that I am awake I need to go again. Please, Mama? And I feel a little squished between Jude and Jesus. I want to move seats."
"Fine, I will pull off at the next exit. Maybe we can find breakfast there also and redo seating in the car." Lena replied seeing the other kids all start to move and stretch.
"Can we listen to something else, Mama?" Brandon asked. "I don't like this music."
"I do!" Jude said. "It is old music that reminds me of Mama."
Lena immediately turned off the music. She was not as paranoid as Stef of being called old, but at the same time didn't really want to go there. "Actually, as soon as we get breakfast, we will start a movie in the back and get out your games. How does that sound?" Her announcement drew cheers that she silenced. "Remember, that Mom is sleeping in the car so we have to keep it at least a little quiet for her."
"I see an exit coming up!" Brandon announced. "It says that it has a McDonalds, a Burger King, and an IHop. Can we eat one of those places, please?"
"Sure. Do you all want McDonalds or Burger King? Even though I would prefer IHop, I know that we need to be sort of fast."
"Burger King." "McDonalds." The kids answered before starting a small argument among themselves.
"We will do Burger King, I heard that first. Maybe for lunch we can find a McDonalds." Lena said with a little cringe knowing that fast food would be most of their meals for this trip. Some of the kids started cheering and others booed a little. "Remember that you need to be quiet enough so that Mom can sleep."
"Right, we don't want to wake the bear." Jesus said.
"Please don't refer to your mom as a bear." Lena reminded him gently as she took the exit and quickly spotted the Burger King. "Oh look, guys, it has a place to play. That looks like lots of fun!"
"Mama, some of us are too big for that kind of playground now." Brandon said looking at Callie.
"If they are too big, then I might be, too." Mariana agreed.
"Well, then just my two little boys might want to play. That would be okay. Maybe I could convince one of you bigger ones to go back to the play area with them while I order the food?"
"Not me. Remember, Mama, I have to go to the bathroom."
"Right, maybe Brandon or Callie?"
"I don't mind watching them!" Callie answered.
"If Callie is going to watch them, then I will go watch her." Brandon added with a laugh.
Stef started waking up as soon as the car stopped. "Is it breakfast time already?" She asked looking at the clock. "I thought we weren't stopping until eight- thirty or nine. It isn't even seven-thirty."
"We miscalculated how long the kids would sleep. They are now awake, hungry, and Mari needs the bathroom. Welcome to a road trip with five kids. Are you just going to stay in here while we are eating?"
"Sure." Stef replied sleepily. "Take your time, but not too much. I would like to make our eight hour drive in less than twelve hours…"
When Lena got to the playground with the food, she saw all five kids happily playing together on the climbing structure. At this time of the morning, they had it to themselves which gave them plenty of space. Lena was reluctant to call them to breakfast, but when Brandon saw her, he did it for her.
The kids ate quickly and went right back to their playing. Lena ate a little slower and watched them for a few more minutes. "Okay, babies, I need all of you to go to the bathroom one more time so we can get on the road."
"I went when I first got here." Mariana pointed out.
"And now you will try to go again. We are not stopping for at least two hours." Lena looked at the other kids all waiting to give their reason to not go right now. "That goes for all of you. Everyone will try to use the bathroom one more time."
