突然到来的秋假终于结束了，

tū rán | dào lái | de | qiū jià | zhōng yú | jié shù | le

The sudden autumn vacation has finally ended.

这意味着，我连续带娃五天。

zhè | yì wèi zhe | wǒ | lián xù | dài wá | wǔ tiān

This means I’ve been taking care of the kids for five consecutive days.

孩子爸爸请了年假，

hái zi | bà bà | qǐng le | nián jià

My children's dad took annual leave,

打算也和一些家庭一样，

dǎ suàn | yě | hé | yī xiē | jiā tíng | yī yàng

planning to, just like some other families,

出去旅游。

chū qù | lǚ yóu

go traveling.

我看到网上的数据，

wǒ | kàn dào | wǎng shàng | de | shù jù

I saw data online

选择出去旅游的家庭可能占了一半，

xuǎn zé | chū qù | lǚ yóu | de | jiā tíng | kě néng | zhàn le | yī bàn

that about half of the families chose to travel,

另一半选择在家待着。

lìng | yī bàn | xuǎn zé | zài jiā | dài zhe

and the other half chose to stay at home.

火车站、飞机场都突然多了很多人，

huǒ chē zhàn | fēi jī chǎng | dōu | tū rán | duō le | hěn duō | rén

Train stations and airports suddenly became much more crowded,

酒店、机票全面涨价。

jiǔ diàn | jī piào | quán miàn | zhǎng jià

and hotel rooms and air tickets all increased in price across the board.

我们俩着实不想劳累，

wǒ men | liǎ | zhuó shí | bù xiǎng | láo lèi

We really didn’t want to tire ourselves out,

也不想花很多钱，

yě | bù xiǎng | huā | hěn duō | qián

nor did we want to spend a lot of money,

就选择在本地游玩。

jiù | xuǎn zé | zài | běn dì | yóu wán

so we chose to travel locally.

本来打算去本地最漂亮的公园，

běn lái | dǎ suàn | qù | běn dì | zuì | piào liang | de | gōng yuán

We originally planned to visit the most beautiful park in the area,

住在旁边的酒店，

zhù zài | páng biān | de | jiǔ diàn

stay at a nearby hotel,

惬意地逛逛公园就可以了。

qiè yì | de | guàng guang | gōng yuán | jiù | kě yǐ | le

and leisurely wander around the park.

结果，坐上车才发现，

jié guǒ | zuò shàng | chē | cái | fā xiàn

But when we got in the car, we realized

那天限号。

nà tiān | xiàn hào

that there was a license plate restriction that day.

限号是大城市常有的政策，

xiàn hào | shì | dà chéng shì | cháng yǒu | de | zhèng cè

License plate restriction is a common policy in big cities,

是为了缓解交通拥堵，

shì | wèi le | huǎn jiě | jiāo tōng | yōng dǔ

aimed at alleviating traffic congestion.

根据车牌的尾号来限制。

gēn jù | chē pái | de | wěi hào | lái | xiàn zhì

It restricts driving based on the last digit of the license plate.

比如尾号是1，

bǐ rú | wěi hào | shì | 1

For example, if the last digit is 1,

那么周一不能在主城区内开车。

nà me | zhōu yī | bù néng | zài | zhǔ chéng qū | nèi | kāi chē

you can’t drive in the main urban area on Mondays.

我差一点就订下酒店了，

wǒ | chà yī diǎn | jiù | dìng xià | jiǔ diàn | le

I almost booked the hotel,

后来就只能临时改计划，

hòu lái | jiù | zhǐ néng | lín shí | gǎi | jì huà

but later had to change the plan temporarily

去别的地方住酒店。

qù | bié de | dì fāng | zhù | jiǔ diàn

and go to a hotel elsewhere.

还好我们住在主城区外，

hái hǎo | wǒ men | zhù zài | zhǔ chéng qū | wài

Fortunately, we live outside the main urban area,

可以开车，

kě yǐ | kāi chē

so we could still drive,

但只能往外开。

dàn | zhǐ néng | wǎng wài | kāi

but only away from the city center.

不管是住在家附近的酒店，

bù guǎn | shì | zhù zài | jiā | fù jìn | de | jiǔ diàn

Whether it’s staying at a hotel near home

还是坐飞机去很远的城市住酒店，

hái shì | zuò fēi jī | qù | hěn yuǎn | de | chéng shì | zhù | jiǔ diàn

or flying to a faraway city to stay in a hotel,

对孩子来说都差不多。

duì | hái zi | lái shuō | dōu | chà bù duō

it’s almost the same for the kids.

我们一家四口，

wǒ men | yī jiā | sì kǒu

Our family of four

也算是度过了悠闲的假期，

yě | suàn shì | dù guò | le | yōu xián | de | jià qī

can be said to have had a relaxing vacation.

周六回到家，

zhōu liù | huí dào | jiā

We got home on Saturday,

周日休整一天，

zhōu rì | xiū zhěng | yī tiān

rested for a day on Sunday,

周一就又上幼儿园了，

zhōu yī | jiù | yòu | shàng | yòu ér yuán | le

and the kids went back to kindergarten on Monday—

我的自由又回来啦。

wǒ | de | zì yóu | yòu | huí lái | la

my freedom is back!