Mango Vacation

Ok, so it wasn't really a vacation.  But we did take a trip.  And we did consume a lot of mangos.  Here is a brief rundown of the fun times we had when we traveled to a town about 6 hours away--we'll call it MD.

About an hour into the trip, we came to a long line of cars stopped in front of us.  As we observed people around us, we realized there were 2 options:  stay in our car and take a nap, or get out and walk.  We joined the dozens of people who were getting out of their cars, and we started walking toward the front of the line of cars.  Thirty minutes later, we found the source of the problem:  a car accident.  Two or three big trucks had collided and the police were busy trying to figure out what happened.  They were drawing on the ground with chalk and measuring distances with this little measuring tape.  They were just finishing their report (which was filled with all kinds of diagrams and equations) so we decided to make our way back to the car.  It ended up taking us about 10 hours to make a 5-6 hour trip.  I'm glad I packed lots of snacks!  

Despite the delay, we had a very pleasant drive.  Abigail entertained herself nearly the entire drive, and Nick and I were able to have some grown-up talk without too many interruptions.  Just before we got to MD, we saw a watermelon patch!  We couldn't resist being tourists and jumping in for a quick picture.

It rained the entire time we were in MD.  Thankfully, umbrellas are cheap!  I think every time we go out of town, we end up buying new umbrellas because I always forget to pack them.  Now we have about 8 umbrellas sitting by our front door!

We took advantage of the more humid climate in MD and ate a ton of mangos.  We had mango smoothies and mango icy drinks at every meal.  

We had a lot of fun walking through the market at MD.  Here is the meat section.  This couple was really nice--they wanted to talk to us, and soon we were surrounded by a crowd of people lined up to talk to the foreigners.  We got a lot of language practice in!  

I find that the more we travel as a family, the easier it gets.  I pack lighter every time.  We don't worry about bringing strollers or pack-and-plays.  The diapers take up most of my small bag, so we just pack a change of clothes or two and hope we don't get too dirty!  It's fun to be able to go see a new place and meet new people, and I am grateful for the opportunity to take our kids along while we work!