I remember well the fun we had driving from San Francisco to LA, along the beautiful coast, with the windows down and The Who blaring, backpacking across Europe, snorkeling in the Caribbean, watching a bull fight in Mexico....
Then came kids.
A lot of them.
My husband and I were determined then to not let naps or diaper bags cramp our style and are determined now to not let sports schedules or job schedules cramp our style. We had to figure out a reasonable way to consistently take a vacation with our family. And we did. Renting a beach house for a week at the Jersey Shore. Might seem like a downturn in vacation plans, but on closer consideration, not so much. We now total 11 (since my daughter got married), and take 7 days together and bask in the sun, ride bikes on the boardwalk, take a short trip to watch the Philies win, and sit around the dinner table for endless periods of time. And laugh and drink and say remember when. And smile a lot. And eat too much. And wish we all had another week. And happily do the same thing again next year. And the next year. Because it is just always fun! This year 4 of my husbands siblings will join us so it will be an even bigger beach party. My kids can't wait! The adults can't wait. This works for us.
Does your family take a summer vacation? What do you do?
It just doesn't matter where you are, as long as you are all together!
ReplyDeleteWe usually visit my in-laws in Florida for spring or early summer break. Used to meet at a state park in Indiana for family get togethers. Your week at the shore sounds perfect.
ReplyDeletemy family hardly takes a vacation, and sadly, we 're all not that close. just mom and dad, and a younger sibling, who doesnt keep in touch unless he needs to know something. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteSweet vacation time! :) Sounds like a blast!
ReplyDeleteMy family and I always do something together and in just 6 short days we are packing into the truck and heading down to San Francisco!! My husband has a meeting there so the kids and I are tagging along. We plan to tent on the way down and hit some amazing churches.
Blessings,
<><
Well we do take vacations and we even take little vacations on the weekends too. It doesn't have to be really long. Now that my kids are grown up we are trying to do the same with our grandson.
ReplyDeleteGood post. sandie
We are 2 so we it is easier :)))
ReplyDeleteThe Jersey Shore can be a good time. Though, I live fairly close to it (about forty-five minutes away), so for me it's more of an "I'm bored today, let's drive down to the Boardwalk..." kind of destination. :)
ReplyDeletevery cool...we are figuring out our plans this weekend actually...my parents gifted us their time share for a week and we traded it in and now have to choose where but i think we are going west this year....your house rental sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteThe Jersey shore is the best! I may be a biased Jersey girl though! I have never been on a vacation in my whole life! I hope to be able to afford one some day!
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to let those family vacations slip away and not take them. We take one every year and our budget determines what we do - whether it is camping, visiitng friends, or being able to rent a house someplace.
ReplyDeleteOur favorite spot - and we have been there twice - is the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick Canada. Absolutely our favorite place. We went last summer and hope to go back in 2013. This year, we are renting a house on Cape Cod with our oldest son's godparents....
Sounds like a great summer vacation! I'm sure all look forward to it from year to year!
ReplyDeletebetty
You have a place to get away from everything and you are all together having fun, what could be better!!! We have NEVER had a vacation in over 40 years of marriage. People can't believe this, but it is true. Not even anything close to a vacation. Our kids are always telling us to get away from it all, they are puzzled. They take lots of vacations.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to Corpus Christie this fall for the Jazz Festival and I can hardly wait! I get butterflies in my stomach everytime I think about being next to the gulf again! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the Jersey shore... we used to go to Wildwoods every year for our family reunion!!
ReplyDeleteWe cannot afford to travel, so we do staycations. But, as long as we are together, that is all that matters to us.
ReplyDeleteI love this...family time is so important. Pulling away from things that pull us away from each other! Good for you...we are trying to plan a getaway now. Our family is 5 but usually add two with my mom and add. And our daughter is almost 20 so in a few years, I'm sure that number will grow :) We can't wait. And our kids (even the teenagers) love hanging out with us, who would've thought it? ;)
ReplyDeleteI just had a summer vacation in Boracay, Philippines but I was with my friends. And the beach house is amazing!
ReplyDelete~Ronida
We are adjusting our vacations with each child. We have a few easy drive-to-tahoe-play-on-the-beach trips, and a big trip with the entire family to Hawaii!
ReplyDeleteJessica
stayathomeista.com
Wowza...that sounds like a great vacation, what with all the family members:) Unfortunately, with little ones, our family is not as brave, but someday...
ReplyDeleteEmmy
http://scarberianfashionlover.blogspot.com
now thats our kind of vacation!! We do much the same, only on smaller proportions!,, (less people, ha ha), sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSadly my older two want to do their own thing this year, so we haven't decided on where we will be heading yet:)
ReplyDelete~Anne
Yowsa. I need to increase my income so I can go visit some of these places. It sounds like fun. Enjoy and have a great vacation time.
ReplyDeleteRelaxing with loved ones somewhere different, doing different things, eating, drinking, sounds like a good holiday to me.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Swimming and going to a new place with the whole family! =)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lot of fun! We alternate between big vacations and more relaxed ones. We love to cruise and usually take our vacation in the early spring to avoid hurricanes! We also love to stay at a low key hotel on Lake Michigan for a little more relaxed vacation.
ReplyDeleteWe do the same thing every year with our crew of 11, except we do it at Newport Beach. It's the best thing ever!
ReplyDelete=)
We don't have much family. Our son is grown and we went to Cancun together last year. In two weeks Mrs. C and I are going to Turkey, but our days of family get togethers seem to be over. A shame.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful time! My family doesn't take them regularly but we've taken a few where we had a large group and I can honestly say, those are the best!
ReplyDeleteWe do the same thing just a different location!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of fun. Generally we do not take family vacations. When I was young I went annually in the summer to Bible camp. That was lots of fun. It's amazing what you can cram into a week and all the wonderful memories that come with it. Have fun on your next vacation.
ReplyDeleteWhat's a vacation? I have some vague memories of something kinda like that, but it's been so long the memories are faded and dusty.
ReplyDeleteWe always have a summer vacation...my parents, brethren..the kids...it's great. We tend to go to the same place too. we've tried different places but the kids will them always say....'can we go back next year'...it's nothing elaborate but it's great just to get together and slob for the week....plus my Dad always does all the cooking so I always get a week off from that too. It's light hearted with few plans in place so we can all have time to relax...i don't think enough people spend times with their families these days!!
ReplyDeleteWe always try to plan but sometimes it does not happen due to work schedules etc. I am going to Miami though to meet up with loved ones in 2 weeks, am so excited!
ReplyDeleteLove family vacations....we took 3 weekly vacations so far with the whole gang - that would be around 16 of us including all the married kids and their kids - to the Delaware shores. We have such a blast together! This year we haven't planned a vacation because we are planning to move sometime. We hoped it would be this summer, but who knows! Things are going so slowly. Maybe we will take a week-end vacation =)
ReplyDeleteI love to vacation with family! I especially love it when my parents join us! We were blessed with a trip to Israel in March and are going on a mission trip to Nicaragua. We have never traveled so much, and I love it! We will also be camping at a Christian music festival that is close to us for a week with some family and friends!
ReplyDeleteSince i retired everyday is a vacation :-).
ReplyDeleteSounds like fabulous plans you have! We never took a regular vacation while I was growing up. I've taken my son on vacations through the years. We've taken short and long trips, but the long trips usually involve visiting family out of state that we miss. We are quite spontaneous since it's just the three of us. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day!
We go to Ocean City, New Jersey, and do the whole cultural thing there ~ riding bikes in the morning on the boardwalk, Johnson's popcorn, definitely fit in a Phillies game (because we are from the Philly area), and hang out with friends who live there year round. My husband sets up on the beach each morning early and gets his kites in the air. Fun and relaxing times!
ReplyDeleteMary Alice
We have vacationed with hubby's brother and SIL, but no one else. Somehow, none of our kids have ever been able to go with us anywhere, although we have taken grandkids. Some of those experiences were good - some not so good, but memorable all the same.
ReplyDeleteI love to travel, but give me a week with family and I am truly my happiest. Bonnie
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I could cope with so many people even if they were my kids, but I'm glad it works for you!
ReplyDeleteWe travel to the States about 6 times a year, to AZ, to find some sun. We don't get much in the UK!
Sounds like you guys all have so much fun each time you go! That's so awesome!
ReplyDeleteOur tradition is that we usually go somewhere different each summer. We try to take at least 2-3 different trips. Sometime to see family, and sometimes just to a fun place we want to visit. My husband is a pilot so we fly free (it's standby of course,. but we definitely don't complain!) so that helps us to be able to go more places.
I loved reading about all the fun you and your wonderful family have! Great memories for sure!
Your vacation sounds wonderful! We never had enough time or money for a proper vacation, so we visited and stayed with my in-laws before. Now our financial situation is a bit better, and we plan on taking several mini-vacations around where we live. Still gotta visit my in-laws (they are older and live far away), but that's OK - they are lovely people.
ReplyDeleteOh man this sounds amazing! What a great way to connect and bond with your family. I love taking little trips with my fam too - we are planning on going to Frankenmuth, MI this year :)
ReplyDeletekendall
songbirdsandbuttons.blogspot.com
What great fun you all must have! No wonder you are anticipating.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Loved this post. You write so beautifully. For summer vacation we go to our beach house or we sometimes travel. It just depends on what we are interested in and what pulls us in. :)
ReplyDeleteTami
http://www.thethingswefindinside.com/
It sounds wonderful! It really does.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds interesting. More the merrier.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like so much fun!! A vacation sounds so nice right about now! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds fun! I wish our family could take more vacations like yours.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a whole lot of fun! Sometimes the destination doesn't matter, it's that you got to have some fun with those you love that really matters.
ReplyDeleteLove this tradition. I hope to keep this one too! Vacations are great for creating memories and bringing the family closer together... :D
ReplyDeleteVacation? What's that? I guess if I had to define this for myself, it would be that everyday is a vacation because it's all just life. I can live it here as well as on a beach somewhere. I think this summer I will vacation here, in my life. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't do a summer vacation, I wait and go to TX to visit my family in the fall when it's not so hot there. I enjoy just swinging and reading in my back yard. When my wife was living, we went to Michigan and spent at least a week, sometimes more as money allowed, on the Lake Michigan coast. We always got a nice room at one lodge or another, spent lots of time walking on the beach, or hanging at the lodge's swimming pool. Lots of good food and drink, and lots of, well, we were alone, with out kids for a whole week. You can fill in the rest of the blank!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
Wow that sounds like an awesome vacation!! Lots of good memories I imagine, seeing you go there every year :) I am sure the kids will grow up loving that part of their Summer!
ReplyDeleteIt sounded so much fun, so relax and awesome vacation for me. I would like to have one with my family this coming June school break.
ReplyDeleteI always loved are family vacations. My husbands family all live in different parts of the U.S. so we did a lot of road trips. The kids always had so much fun.
ReplyDeleteNope, no family vacations...
ReplyDeletebut we all do an overnight in one of our state parks every year.
Same park, same approximate date.
Love this time together.
Hubby and I will go to Arizona next week (7 hours in a car, no kids with us!!!). Then in June we will go spend three days at the beach with the kids. I can't wait!!
ReplyDeleteHow fun, a family reunion! My friend has sister reunions annually and they travel to different cities every year to meet over a long weekend. In a few weeks, my husband and I along with our dog will be driving to Yellowstone. We have never been there before so it will be an adventure.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you are all together that is the best bet!
ReplyDeleteI am your newest follower from Moms Monday Mingle! I look forward to reading more of your blog! You can find me at
http://mommy2allgirls.blogspot.com. I hope you have a good day!
This sounds like an awesome summer vacation! My fiance and I are vacationing at the end of July, and I could not be more excited. I hope to keep the summer vacation tradition alive in our marriage as well.
ReplyDeleteLynn
CARMEN VOGUE
Oh it sounds like lots of fun. I'm planing our summer holidays and winter not even here yet. What dose that say about me?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful! Our family loves to go to Disneyland and the beach. It's nice to get away. :)
ReplyDeleteDo you know what is on my mind right now?? I just want to take a short vacation with my family in a vacation beach too, and enjoy all the quite moments as much as i can.. When i was reading your post I've already visualized myself in the beach house already :-))
ReplyDeletesounds great!:) have fun!:) xoxo
ReplyDeleteI wanted to show our 7 year old the beach, so this year I rented a beach condo on the Gulf Shore and we're going for Memorial Day weekend. I'd love to do a week, but right now can't afford it. Maybe next year. I'm thinking it will be an annual thing as soon as we find a place we love!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! As long as you are happy and spending time together....that's all that matters! We don't do a regular "vacation" vacation each summer...what we do is take a few weekend camping trips, locally, in the summer. It's just more affordable. All that matters is that we are together and having fun! =)
ReplyDeleteAWESOME! No we do not have such pleasures as yours...my youngest son is married to a lady that "hates" being around people so they for the most part do not attend any of the family gatherings, or outings ...if so my son and grandson comes alone...leaving behind his wife and step daughter....she the stepdaughter is a lot like her mom ....and not real crazy about those kinds of things....How I wish we ALL could get together how much more enjoyable for my son and grandson to have wife/mom and daughter/sister to share this joy .....you are blessed!
ReplyDeleteWe'll just be doing a staycation this year. Some years are harder to plan than others because of different schedules. Important thing is just being able to hang out with my kids, eat a lot, laugh a lot.
ReplyDeletei think this sounds perfect! my family keeps talking about it, but we have never done it. when my kids get older, i will make them vacation with us still (and they will love it!) =) good for you for keeping the tradition!
ReplyDeleteYeah this sounds like so much fun! It reminds me of my own vacation traditions to Cape Cod every year. We love it there. We go with siblings, children, grandmothers. It's so wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSummer vacations changed here from round the world to Michigan beach house and we love it, as do our 7 year old twins. I wouldn't trade that week at the beach for anything, and would love to add extended family one day, that would be wonderful. Enjoy your summer!
ReplyDeleteI love your posts and thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeletehttp://alwaysssmiling.blogspot.com.es
Our summer vacations went from round the world to Michigan beach house a few years after seven year old twins arrived and I wouldn't trade that week at the beach for anything. I would love to include our extended family, but we would then need to grow to two weeks, or a month, or two...I love summer! Enjoy your beach time and all your family!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a lot of fun. We don't have enough family members! Have done similar with friends though and we had a great time.
ReplyDeleteSome of the best vacations aren't the fancy over the top ones. This type of vacation sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteIt is rarely the same....and usually road trips. We have been to every corner of the US and a couple of corners of Canada and the kids know how to get packed in about 4 seconds. My goal before they all leave home is teaching them how to UNpack!
ReplyDeletefamily vacation is such a wonderful time to continue to bond with one another. This year we plan on taking the kids to Disney World, if not that than King`s Island. I can`t wait for vacation time to come!
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds perfect! I always take vacation to visit my family in Georgia, which I always enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite an amazing family that you have there, girl. And you don't appear to struggle with your faith the way I do, however i thank you kindly for following my blog and will be doing likewise.
ReplyDeleteas a child we always took family vacations--as an adult my family has always tried to do the same---not too many extended family ones, though--although i would love that--yours sound so much fun!!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a perfect family vacation! My parents used to rent the same cottage every year on a lake in New Hampshire and it left my brothers and I with so many memories!!! Family vacations are better this way (and more budget friendly).
ReplyDeletegrowing up, summer vacation was not very elaborate. my parents worked a lot - so we would get off government assistance. it's not how they wanted us to grow up- relaying on others. so summer "vacation" was summer school and a trip to marine world. one year we saved enough to go to disneyland - i was in middle school and it was my first time. my friends went every year! but i am not upset about it. i remember those simple trips and appreciate my parents for their hard work. with my family now, we do something every year - but it does not always have to be big. one year we went to hawaii. another year we went camping. it doesn't have to be big... as long as we are together! :)
ReplyDeleteBefore we got married, I asked my husband if we could take a vacation every year. We did well with that. When our son was four and a half, we had to take long weekends and do something fun. Our son had neurosurgery that August. The last few years before Hubby retired we seemed to get in a spring trip and a summer trip and go away at Christmas. We saw a lot of our great nation and could show our son some places we had seen in each of our earlier years. Now, we have health issues but we do travel the 600 miles to see our son since he relocated.
ReplyDeletethat sounds wonderful!! i'd love to go to a beach house!! my family is going camping this summer - i'm excited about it but a beach house sounds better. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have been married 11 yrs. and this is our first vacay this summer--I am SO excited! Thanks for the reminder that this is coming...and for the smile :)
ReplyDeletethats why i am sad to have no siblings. we had some vacations before my father commited suicide but nowadays, no. sadly. hope you can continue this for a very long time!!
ReplyDeleteLast year I went to the Bahamas alone with my husband for the first vacation since we've been married 15 years ago. Oh my gosh, we needed it, and it was great!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I too have pasted the European adventure....rather a trip to CA. from Utah.. Your beach house with parties of family, and laughing sounds like when my siblings and I get together, too. We all have children who have changed over the years...toddlers to teens to parents themselves. Fun vacation.
ReplyDeleteThe only way we can afford to go away anywhere is to take a tent and go camping. That's a whole range of experiences again.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfect to plan everything when we wanted to take a Disney trip. There are a lot to do there. Let's have a Holiday fun in Disney.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to have those break with the whole family. Good thing you always find ways to spend a quality time with your family.
ReplyDelete