Monday, June 6, 2011

scenes from the weekend

scenes from the weekend


scenes from the weekend


scenes from the weekend


scenes from the weekend

The weekend included taking the boys to a Renaissance themed birthday party, going out to brunch, visiting with family, and Ben's graduation. Congratuations, Ben!

I'm feeling pretty quiet over here right now, but I do have a question: we have a few vacations planned this summer. I'm a real homebody and don't do vacations well. Moving around in big groups stresses me out a lot, even when that "big group" is my own very sweet but rather large family. Anyone else out there have that problem? Any tips for enjoying a family vacation?? I'd love to hear.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. You guys are very sweet!

6 comments:

Sunshine Alternative Mama said...

I'm a homebody and have a hard time with vacations as well. One thing we always to is stay in a timeshare unit or suite hotel so that we have kitchen facilities and a separate bedroom for parents and children. This becomes our home base. We eat breakfast in each day and often bring back bread, cheese, fruit, etc. for dinner (or cook full meals if we have a timeshare unit). Because we have a separate bedroom area we come back to the rooms early and the children can go to bed while the adults relax. I detest trying to sleep in a standard hotel room with my boys, as I can't fall asleep at 9 and they can't function if they stay up until 11, plus I need some quiet time to recharge.

I hate busy vacations so we compromise, mixing in vacations where the point is to hang out at the beach and relax with the more ambitious city or national park vacations. Even on the busy vacations we plan to sleep in and have slow mornings at least some days, and as the homebody I even skip some excursions; it isn't the end of the world that my boys and DH went to Alcatraz without me.

I always take a heating pad with me as some rooms are cold, and I take my own pillow and throw if I have room in my luggage. I even take along blackout fabric and painter's tape so I can darken a window if need be, and I bring ear plugs and a sleep mask. In my toiletries I always bring a calming balm such as Badger Yoga and Meditation Balm or Badger Sleep Balm, along with Dr. Bronner's lavender soap for it's relaxing properties. I usually pack a small candle in a covered tin. I bring along my Kindle and a compact knitting project. Oh and tea! I always pack tea!

Enjoy your vacations!

... Em said...

Guess the advise of Sunshine Alternative Mama is sufficient :-), it´s really practical...

I like your weekend pictures, have a nice day

Meg said...

This is a timely post. Our vacation this year is going to be a little different. Usually when we go somewhere with the kids, it's to a one location (the beach) and we rent a house for a week. It's nice to have a home base, and I can do some of my home-y things, like cook and knit and read.

When it's just me and Rob, we'll often take a several-days-long roadtrip where we're staying in a new place each night or two, and we'll go-go-go like crazy to see everything there is. I can handle that for short periods of time.

But this year, we're taking the kids and my mother-in-law on a weeklong road trip. Many hotel check-ins, many packing and unpackings of the car. This stresses me out a little bit. It is difficult to share a room with three children. Having my mother-in-law really is a great help. I'm trying to plan some fun activities for in the car--books on tape, games, that we can all enjoy. And of course, I'm bringing along some knitting and reading of my own. I keep reminding myself that the stressful stuff is only temporary!

Andrea said...

Lovely. My advice: fountains, escalators, and high-rise hotels. No, really, we went to Philadelphia and those were the things the boys loved most (of course they enjoyed the museums and historic sites as well, if not all the walking). The hardest thing for me was letting go of wanting to eat really good food out--it just wasn't going to happen, so we settled on paper-plate restaurants and/or sandwiches back at the hotel. Planning a trip stresses me out, but once we're on the road, I relax and enjoy being away. I hope you do too!

Helen Gillis said...

Last year my family (husband, two adult children, their spouses, and children: baby, 5yr, 8yr - rented a house together at a beach in Connecticut. Prior to the vacation I was worrying that I would feel overwhelmed and a little crowded with so much togetherness - even though I love them all.

What made it work for me was taking a bike ride every morning by myself, and going off in the afternoon for an hour or so alone. I would come back from these private times refreshed and more ready to play, cook, etc.

Hope you enjoy all your vacations trips - I read your blog often and am insprired by you.

Thanks,

Helen Gillis
Malden, Massachusetts

Anonymous said...

I'm the same way with vacations. It started when I had children. They are still really young, (5 and 3) so I rationalize that we're not going anywhere until they are old enough to remember it, but this is a lame excuse. They both have minds like steel traps.