Vacation Memories...

I have really been lucky to have gone on some wonderful vacations. I don't even know if I could choose my "favorite." As an adult when the kids were little we did a couple Caribbean cruises, talk about relaxing with just the sun, sand and surf.... (if i take a deep enough breathe i can almost smell it still)! There was also a trip to Cancun, and that wasn't bad, but the cruises were better. But, I still think that the best vacations are the family vacations. I love the sun and sand and adult only time, don't get me wrong, but there is always that little bit of "guilty pleasure" for having such a good time and leaving the kids with grandma and grandpa... Besides the best memories are always made when the kiddos are around!

Even growing up, some of the best vacations we had were family camping trips. My parents would load us all (5 kids and there was always a few stragglers and adoptees) in this huge 15 passenger van - bus is a little closer. I remember one year driving out to a "lighthouse"... we drove down this dirt two trek with all 9 of us in the van for almost 2 hours. Dad kept saying, "if we turn back now it will be just over the next hill..." Well, we never found it. It was on the map, but my mom finally convinced him by pointing out the obvious, "you know, it's going to take just as long to get back out?" I think food was the ultimate in the decision to turn around though, we hadn't packed a lunch for that type of outing. But, the point is, it was a blast. Even just spending 4 hours on a dirt two trek road with 7 kids in a van that bounced around like crazy on that two trek... We sang, played games, picked on each other and probably drove my mom close to insane, but it's a great memory.

Then there was the time my dad decided to pack us all (9 of us again) up and take the camper out to Wyoming (we live in Michigan so this is quite a drive). We stopped at so many places along the way, Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands (even though it was like 120 degrees and like a desert there at the time). We drove almost 24 hours straight on the drive home.

We did a lot of camping and driving, but those experiences are what kept us close as a family. And I loved every adventure that came are way. The "almost" best, from my before marriage days, might have been the "Wilderness Trip" that my siblings and I took with my dad. There was my one sister, two of our "adopted" sisters (they weren't legally adopted, but my parents took them in when their family life was rough) and my younger brother. We got dropped off in some secluded point in Canada with just our canoe, backpack, tent and food for the week. We went through like 7 lakes, and when you got out and had to hike to the next lake you carried the canoe, and backpack, tent and food... It was almost exhausting at points. But the glory of God's creation was all around you up there. You were surrounded by beauty and nature in an almost untouched state. I remember feeling like I was invading it at times. We would all be in the canoes and there were times we were all so quiet, in awe at our surroundings, and all you could hear were the loons and the smack of our oars on the water... We had a youth pastor with us and one day he canoed us out to individual locations. The goal was to sit by yourself in total quiet with just nature for a two hour period... (luckily we didn't see any bears) I took nothing but a canteen of water and my journal. That was a great time to just reflect, pray, and absorb the beauty of it all. I want to go back, but have to wait until my kids are old enough to go. I think it's something that they would both enjoy and learn from.

Ah, that was a nice memory... kind of long. Now, I'm working on our family vacations. Taking our kids to see the great things around us. We went to the Great Smokey Mountains this year on vacation. Last year we visited my sister in Arizona and got to see the Grand Canyon and climb Bell Rock in Sedona. I want my kids to see the beauty in the different states and see what America is like. We are making a list of where all to go... It might take us a while, but I can't wait to show them as much as I can...