I’ve probably stated, ad nauseam, that we’ve been terrified of travel with the Monster.  The big issue isn’t the “getting there” part, the changes to schedule, or other odd shifts… but nighttime issues.

And still, for some crazy reason, we’ve taken at least one more-than-a-day trip each year for the last few.

Honestly, the real issue is that the Monster doesn’t sleep through the night.  At home, this isn’t an issue because we’re in a stand-alone house and because he rarely wakes anyone – I hear him some mornings when I’m getting up for a run, but most of the time, it’s just the occasional thump or bump in the night – but when we’re all in a hotel, there’s that concern that he’ll wake someone in an adjoining room or us.

It’s to the point that, when we’re going away, I check out locations nearby that are open 24 hours so I can take him out of the house in the van, and hopefully get myself a cup of coffee or something.  (We’ve had incidents were this has not only had to happen, but where I’ve gotten nearly zero-sleep over a weekend.)  This is not the way to enjoy anything… and don’t get me started on the adage about how “when you have kids, it’s a trip, not a vacation”.

Last week was our yearly trip down to Williamsburg and Norfolk to go see the Tides and ride a few rides at the amusement parks (courtesy of our annual passes at Sesame Place).  This means, of course, more than a night away, in a hotel, which… actually’s starting not to petrify us.

We’ve found the best solution, really, is to make sure the boys are in their own room.  I don’t know if it’s just that R can sleep through the Monster waking up, that the Monster doesn’t make as much noise anymore when he wakes up… or what.  Maybe we lucked out and the combination of melatonin and a busy day helped to get him to go to sleep and not bother anyone.  Maybe it’s just having us in the room – between my snoring and anything else – that has him being more liable to wake folks.  (Not that R doesn’t snore, but.)

But it’s getting us convinced that we could try a trip somewhere more interesting.  We’ve not started talking about it yet, but probably next year’s vacation will be to somewhere a little further afield than a state or two over…