Tuesday, August 25, 2009

We Did It!

We loved it so much we got one of our own! So for the next 5-8 years, our vacations are strictly of the camping sort. Five to eight years is the approximate shelf life of our boys' enjoyment in spending good, quality time with their parents. After that, they spoil into girl-chasing, moody, too-cool-to-go-camping-with-their-weird-parents teenagers. Until then, they are all ours! (I really don't think they mind.)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Don't Blink

This is our last weekend of summer vacation. School starts Monday and another year begins. For the past six years, my new year starts not in January but when the school doors open at summer's end. Where did the summer go? And how is it that my boys are another year older when surely a year couldn't've passed since I sent them off to start their last school year? I must have blinked. It all passed as I looked at the back of my eyelids for a nanosecond. Some great sleight of hand master swished it all away under a red silk cape and older boys appeared where my littler ones had stood just a moment before. How'd he do it? He won't tell. And no matter how much we ask, he won't reverse the trick.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Three Boys

Once upon a time, there were three boys. They were typical boys who did typical boy things. Like...

Play with fireGo fishin'Ride horsesExplore cavesCareen down huge hillsGo really fastThen do it againHike in the woodsAnd they all love the same girl.The End

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Just Stars, Moonrise and Flame

Another thing about our camping experience that I LOVED were the nights. Being outside in the woods, faces warmed by a fire, surrounded by almost total darkness except for the dots of other campfires peppered across the valley. No hazy sulphuric refraction of city lights bouncing off the clouds. Just stars, moonrise and flame.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Vacation Report

I'm baaaack! I've been absent from the blogging world for a few weeks due to preparing for vacation, actually vacationing, and coming down from vacation. We had a fabulous vacation. You might snicker a bit when you hear what we did. It was a bit daring of us to try this type of vacation, but we loved it. All of us did. After it was over, we all agreed it was the best family vacation we have ever had. It was relaxing and fun. We tried new things. We went somewhere we'd never been before. We busted up a stereotype that we had about the place we visited. We ate great food. We didn't bathe on a regular basis. Huh? That's right. We stayed dirtier than we normally do. We had an adventure.

What did we do? We rented an RV and went to West Virginia! Now stop the banjos playing in your head. We had those playing in our heads too as we drove the RV across the state line into WV. But you know what, we found out that WV is beautiful. And we didn't see one local that made us turn tail and run. The banjo players never showed up. We have a new appreciation for the state of WV. At least in the part we were in, the farms were pastoral, the vistas breathtaking, and the weather delightful.
As far as the RVing part of the vacation, we loved that too. While we anticipated feeling too crowded with 2 rambunctious boys in a living space smaller than my laundry room, we actually never felt hemmed in. We were outside most of the time and the time we were inside we were asleep. I made a comment to my hubbie on the fourth day, that I was amazed that we had basically been outside for 4 consecutive days. I couldn't recall being outside that much ever. He said, "yeah, that's camping." Guess I have been a suburbanite too long.
We liked the simplicity of RVing. You can't bring everything with you due to space constraints. So you do without. My kids had very few toys with them, a handful of Legos, a few board games and a book each (most of which remained untouched the entire week). They were never bored! Amazing. They spend every day of their lives surrounded by toys, games, TV, Nintendo, organized playdates, and guess what? They complain of boredom at least once a day. Strip all that stuff away and they are so creative, adventurous and fun. Looks like this suburbanite needs to make a big trip to Goodwill. Just wait till school starts.I have lots more stories to share about our adventure. Come back soon!