An adventure, all right

I've been in almost non-stop Poland planning mode this past week, to the point where J had to state strongly, "Cara! Everything's fine! We'll get it all done!" this morning because I was asking repetitive questions regarding certain items on my to do list. That's just how I am about travel. It makes me nervous, and it's multiplied by 1,000 since having a child, because I have to pack for her, too. Plus, there is the level of unfamiliarity involved with this particular trip to the Czech Republic and Poland. Here is one of the lines from the Google Maps directions I got for the drive from the Prague airport to our destination on Friday:

Continue onto Ji?æn?? spojka (signs for Teplice/Mlad?° Boleslav/Hradec Kr?°lov?©/Spo?ôilov)

Now, COME ON.

But in all seriousness, there is something about the thrown-together/unknown lands/chatty toddler/Polish wedding part of this trip that makes me all the more excited. It's going to be really fun, and really, really funny.

Nora's beyond ready and has been screaming about Poland for a couple days now, despite the fact that she doesn't know what Poland is. When I told her we were going upstairs to change her diaper earlier this morning she said, "No! Poland! Airplane!" and I was like, you've got it, little one. One more day. And we are going to have the time of our lives.

Upcoming

I know I've been pretty quiet lately, and there are a few good reasons why. First of all, this is August. The lazy days of summer when nobody really works or does anything productive. Right? You guys out there with real jobs? You're not actually working, right? Secondly, we've had a lot going on lately, including a few weekends away here and there, and most notably, planning an upcoming trip to Poland for Max's wedding. And we're taking Nora. We tell everybody this. "And guess what? We're taking Nora." Then we wait and see how badly they want to tell us we're crazy.

Of course, I don't think we're crazy, and in fact can't wait for this little family adventure, which will also include a visit to Prague. I'm loving the idea of this trip because it's probably not somewhere I'd have gone anytime soon if not for this wedding. Planning is more challenging than I'm used to. All the z's and consonants in general in every hotel name and restaurant listing. Let's face it, I'm probably never going to learn Polish.

But that's the thing. I think getting out of your comfort zone is really important every now and then. Like taking a nine-hour flight with your toddler, who throws violent, violent tantrums when the oatmeal isn't done as fast as she wants it. Guess what, Nora? No oatmeal on airplanes. But castles in Krakow and pierogies and making new friends in faraway places? Worth it.