My twins are ten.  And I’ll give you one guess how many years it’s been since my husband and I went on vacation alone together. Yes, it’s true.  Other than one or two weekends in the country, or at a cousin’s wedding out of town, my husband and I have never gone away without the kids.

I’m not complaining.  I made the choice…sort of.  When you have twins, the grandparents aren’t so eager to stay with them while you’re gone.  And even if they were – when you have your twins at 34, and you’re the youngest, the grandparents can’t really handle staying with the twins when you’re away.  The aunts and uncles have their own kids.  Plus, this is NYC.  Who has room to take two more kids for a whole vacation?

As they got older, we took vacations with our kids, and there are only so many vacation days you can take in a year. I mean, sometimes you have to work.  So what with one thing and another, it’s been over ten years since my husband and I have been away together.

And now we have the chance.  Our kids are both going to Yellowstone National Park with their fifth grade class. An amazing trip.  One of the teachers was a Park Ranger there, and he is leading the trip. They’ll both be gone for five days.

And I’ll give you one guess what we’ll be doing for those five days.

Oh – I didn’t mean that!  We’ll be basking in the sun in Florida. Mooching off my parents, who are kind enough NOT to be using their place down there during those days.

What will it be like without them?  My parents’ place is Florida is where we’ve taken the kids every year since they were born.  What will I do without all that sand to sweep up every day?  All those meals to worry about?  All those beds to make?

I’ll think of something.