​One glance around my house and you would soon discover that we have girls – and not just any girls. Teen girls. The evidence is everywhere. Today I thought I'd share what it’s like to be surrounded by girls.
 
Feelings … nothing more than feelings.
Folks, we’ve got some strong emotions swirling around these parts. One minute they're laughing hysterically. The next minute they’re on the verge of tears. No doubt about it. Whatever they’re feeling, they feel it fully from the depths of their hearts.

Bad hair is so unfair.
Hair is a common concern around here – with the exception of my youngest daughter, whose daily routine consists of hanging upside down on the side of the bed to assemble the perfect ponytail. Otherwise, it’s all about the hair – and what to do with it.

During my teen years, I sported two basic styles. 1) Part the bangs in the middle and feather back the sides. 2) Sit through a bad perm, tease the bangs and plaster it with Aqua Net.

Today my girls have an endless number of options. Curl it. Straighten it. Braid it. (Now wait, there are French braids, fishtail braids, pigtail braids, etc.) They could put it in a bun. (There are messy high buns, donut buns, buns with a twist, etc.) I could go on. But I won’t.
 
And while we’re on the subject of hair, I sometimes wonder if the bobby pins and hair ties are secretly multiplying and invading my home. I find them everywhere. 

We have never ending loads of laundry.
For some reason, every occasion requires a wardrobe change.
“We’re stopping by the grocery store? Let me change my clothes.”
“We’re swinging by the mall? Hang on, I’ve got to change my clothes!”
“Oh! We’re going to a softball game? Wait just a ‘sec – I need to change my clothes.”

Try saying this three times fast: Sassy Zeck sisters share silly selfies.
I give you exhibit A, B and C:

​Spontaneous dance moves.
Maybe I said a word from a popular song. Or perhaps a tune is stuck in her head. Either way, girls can break into a song and dance at the drop of a hat. Second thought, my husband does that too. Maybe that’s not just a girl thing. 
 
There’s no such thing as too much bling.
One could play a game of Eye Spy around the Zeck house. Look closely and you will find something sparkly in every room. Glittery pencil bags. Sparkly shoes. Sometimes I even find a little bling in the most unexpected places. Like the lint trap in our dryer. 

​Okay, it’s like this …
If I had a dollar for every time I heard the word, “like,” I would quit this writing gig and spend my days counting all my money. Every other word around here is “like.” Here’s an example: “And I was like, no way! And she was like, ‘Oh yeah!’ So I like went over there and was like …”
 
An entire bathroom drawer is devoted entirely to nail polish.
A whole drawer. Nail polish! I rarely buy nail polish. Where did it come from? Here’s what I think. When you don’t know what to buy your friend for her birthday party, there’s always ol’ reliable: nail polish.  

So there you have it: a little peek into my life with three girls. It’s wonderful and amazing. Challenging and overwhelming. Stressful and fulfilling. And always noisy and exhausting. But there's one thing I'm sure of.. 
 
I wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Christmas shopping for three girls used to be so easy. All it took was one stroll down the Barbie aisle at Toys R Us and we were basically set. But the older they got, the more complicated things became. No more baby dolls. No more Barbies. For awhile I could buy them clothes. Anything from Justice with an abundance of bling suited them fine. But eventually, even that ended. They developed their own tastes. Held onto their own opinions. And obviously, if Mom picked it out, it couldn't be cool.

So what do you buy teenagers these days?

This past Christmas I was at a loss. I didn't want to give them gift cards to Hollister or Bath & Body Works. I didn't want to give them another electronic gadget - they already spent plenty of time on screens. Why would I get them another one?

And then it came to me. I knew exactly what I wanted to give my kids. Quality time. Fun family moments and unforgettable memories. Adventure. Rest. Relaxation. And if we ended up with a few more family inside jokes, then all the better. 

So this year, instead of buying the girls a bunch of stuff they really didn't need, we put our money towards a trip. A trip to Mexico!  

We enjoyed a quiet, yet simple Christmas at home. Then on December 28th, we grabbed our passports and headed out of the country. Here are some highlights ... 

We left home about 5 AM and drove to the airport in freezing rain. Later that day we stepped off the plane in Cancun to a sunny 80-degree day. It felt strange (but nice!) to see Christmas decorations while wearing shorts and a tank top. 

Here is mi familia, checking out the beach from the hotel's ginormous deck. This deck turned out to be our favorite place to hang out. You could see and hear the ocean. You could feel the warm breeze. But you could also avoid that nitty-gritty sandy feeling after a long day at the beach. 

Our girls had the opportunity to swim with some dolphins. Of course the "dolphin people" didn't want Curt and I to sit too close, lest we capture our own decent pictures and not spend the crazy amount of money they wanted for their photos. I think Curt did a pretty good job of capturing some (FREE!!) photos with our super-duper zoom lens. 

We spent a long, fun day at Xcaret. Curt and the girls snorkeled down an underground river. We saw tons of exotic birds and wildlife. But our favorite part of Xcaret was the nighttime show, complete with beautiful costumes, mexican music, dancing. and acrobats. They even threw in a horse or two.

The hotel had a pool with a slide and a cliff you could jump off. Above you see Emily and Madison taking the plunge while Taylor stands back looking cool. Of course when Curt jumped off, he had to put his own spin on things. 

The ocean was beautiful. The girls and I spent a significant amount of time, walking the beach and collecting shells. One day we even took a boat ride to a nearby reef and did some snorkeling. It was super-fun! And I didn't even throw up from the boat ride! Success!

New Year's Eve ... I'd like to say that we stayed up all night partying. Truth is, we had a lovely dinner and ended up going back to the room fairly early. We were all super tired. (Okay, I was super tired. I think the girls ended up watching Father of the Bride while I fell asleep!)

For some reason we felt the need to take selfies in this mirrored elevator. In the top picture, we agreed to snap a picture as soon as the doors opened. Thankfully, there was no one in the elevator. The second picture cracks me up. Look at my cool husband. He's such a great dad of girls.

Speaking of my husband ... Yep. I'm a lucky girl.

Had fun playing photographer with these guys.

This is just ONE of the many desserts we enjoyed that week. Oh. My. Goodness. I'm not sure we should stay somewhere "all inclusive" again. Our motto became, "Why not, it's all included!"

And speaking of eating, I think my husband is just a little too adventurous when it comes to food. I like to stick with things I can recognize, but Curt, well, it doesn't matter if it's seafood, Mexican or unidentifiable. He'll give it a try.

Nothing a bottle of Pepto Bismol couldn't cure. This leads me to another family motto: "Dad, remember ... if in doubt, spit it out!"  

We went horseback riding through the jungle. Mosquitos were hungry that day...

Curt and the girls played in the pool while I finished off a good book.

Before I knew it, it was our last morning in Mexico. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. So I went for a walk and ended up on the ginormous deck. It was so peaceful. I watched the sun rise and tried to figure out how in the world our week had flown by so quickly.

And speaking of flying, here we are, on our way home. (Yes! They let us back into the country!) 

Vacation was over, but we'd made some great family memories with our kids. And do you know what?

It was sooo much better than giving them a gift card or the latest electronic device.

Thanks for letting me share!  

As moms, there’s a lot we could worry about. It starts early ... Is the baby eating enough? Is her height and weight within the appropriate percentiles? Is she smiling, rolling over, babbling, crawling, talking and walking when she should? Is she ever going to sleep through the night? Is she ever going to sit on the potty? And the list goes on and on!

Do you worry about upcoming seasons of motherhood with your kids? Me too. But I’m working on it. And this week, I'm writing about it.

I invite you to check out my my post, "Bracing Myself for the Worries of Motherhood" over at the Quad City Moms Blog.

Have a great week!​