Ellen Greenblatt’s family needed a vacation – and who doesn’t? So they packed their bags and headed for the airport. . . . Well, sort of.
After weeks at home, the kids, age 3 and 5, decided they needed to get away. “We’re going on vacation,” they announced, hauling their suitcases out of the closet. Their equally desperate and ever-imaginative parents jumped on the plan. “Great,” they said. “We’re coming too!”
No one was going anywhere, but the four of them were going to Costa Rica, one way or another, by a real flight or a flight of fancy.
Vacation planning began immediately. They already had plane reservations, so all the kids had to do was pack — and how much do you really need to take for a beach vacation in Costa Rica? Bathing suits and a few toys made it into the suitcases, and they were ready to go in minutes.
Getting to the airport was an adventure, involving carefully rolling their suitcases during several circumnavigations of the dining room table. But boarding the plane, formerly the staircase of the house, was a piece of cake. The kids sat together in one row, with the parents behind — after their dad, acting as the flight attendant, served bunny crackers and goldfish as refreshments. Then everyone settled into their staircase/airplane seats for the flight, which, magically, lasted just a few minutes.