We remembered the camera, but forgot the lens. This was somewhat forgivable, at least in my opinion, given the hurdles we had to clear before leaving on this two month family adventure through Spain and Italy in 2011.

We left on June 13, one week before the end of the school year. From a kids perspective, the end of the school year brings an accomplished feeling of leaving that younger self behind in addition to the anticipation of long summer days playing outside. While I admit I love the long summer days and the loose schedule, those are also the very same things that cause a touch of anxiety – especially with three boys ages 6, 8, and 10. How am I ever going to get a break? I always worried.

But leading up to this particular summer those anxious feelings were on steroids. For two months, we wouldn’t have access to babysitters, family members to pawn the kids off on, or camps to enroll them in. Would spending 24/7 with our kids for two straight months drive us insane? Will we end up hiring the barista – a complete stranger – to watch our kids while we regain our sanity? We joked about it, but really wondered.

In reality, there wasn’t much time to think about it. The end of the school year anxiety triggering celebrations – the “last” this, and “final” that – were reduced to a checklist and dwarfed by the even bigger hurdle. While we would be gallivanting around Europe, our house, as we knew it, would be gutted, torn to pieces, demolished. Before leaving, we had to box up the entire house – minus our five carry-on bags – and move everything including our furniture into storage. This was all part of the plan in preparation for a major remodel. The timing sounded perfect in planning until it came time to execute.

Somehow we managed to get ourselves on the plane with the most important things – all three of our boys, our passports, the camera, our cell phones, and our credit cards. If we forgot anything, – flip flops, sunglasses, underwear – we could easily pick it up in Seville, our first stop. I thought.

But the camera lens… This was on the checklist of things NOT to forget. We (I) forgot. The 2011 versions of our cell phone cameras were not going to cut it on this once in a lifetime adventure. So our first stop in Seville would be the Santana Foto Shop right around the corner from our apartment in the Plaza del Pan. There we found the perfect lens. Fortunately we remembered the credit card.

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At The end of the day…

• 2 cervezas and 3 orange Fanta: 10 euros
• Tickets to Real Alcazar, the palace built by the Moors: 17 euros
• 1 replacement lens for our camera: 525 euros
• Pictures we will take with our fancy new lens: priceless!