Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I'm back!

Did anyone miss me? My family and I went to Seaside, OR for 2 nights. We just got back last night.

I haven't been to the beach (the real ocean beach at least) since I moved from NJ. So it must have been at least 3 years now.

As a little girl, my family went to the beach every summer with my grandparents. I loved it! Then I entered the tween years and hated going to the beach with my family. Then when I was a teenager, I loved going to the beach again because I was old enough to do things without my family. As a parent, I now know how important it is to build memories with your kids before they become tweens. It won't be long before the kids decide they don't want to be around their parents.

We didn't go to the beach this summer for a few reasons. First, we really didn't have any extra money. I took the kids on a trip to Detroit to visit my sister and then to VA to visit my parents and other sister. Then my husband had a long business trip to India. So between the 2 trips, we didn't have that much vacation time left. And the other big factor was that both of those trips used a lot of our vacation money! There just wasn't much leftover to spend on a trip to the beach. My husband got a promotion at work and a bonus with it, so we used some of the money to squeeze in a trip to the beach at the very end of summer (Summer isn't officially over yet!). And I'm so glad we did.

The trip was a lot of fun. We played in the sand, walked in the water, went to the arcade, ate junk food, watched the sunset over the ocean, swam in the pool and went for lots of long walks. Most importantly, we spent time together as a family enjoying each other's company. There were no chores to do, no homework to get done, no phone calls to make. It was 3 days of time dedicated just to being together. Of course there were a few moments when the kids would fight or whine, but luckily none of those lasted too long.

It was a good trip, but it's still good to be home.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Its always good to get away and recharge, even if its only for a day.

Cathy said...

What a wonderful trip! I hear you trying to fit vacation time in with visiting family, finding the money, etc. We did local trips to the mountains this year--Glenwood Springs, CO--and it was great. I used to go there as a kid, so it's fun to take my kids there.

Michelle said...

Here's hoping we get to see pictures of it! When I come out to Seattle in Nov (13-17!), my friend who's getting married is headed to the OR coast on the 17th -- we're invited to go but my husband is a schoolteacher and needs to get back to school, bummer! -- and it sounds so fun.

I SO agree with you on the making memories part. I just hope the wee ones have good ones as they get older!