Comments on: Family Vacation or Sleepaway Camp?

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:06:15 +0000

Becky, the blog editor corrected “mind” and made it “mine.” Sadly, we cannot fix your Valentine. Just heard how awful the CA fires are. Very sorry about this disaster.

By: becky up the hill

becky up the hill — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:13:22 +0000

Oh dear. I used the incorrect ‘mine’ too. I made Steve a valentine this year and wrote in glitter ‘Be Mind’..he had a laughing fit. I’m peevish because Yosemite is on fire and the smoke is..smoky.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:29:08 +0000

Winnie, I love your point about the shifts that occur when the family shape changes temporarily. So true! Your stay-at-home mini vacation with R & P sounds wonderfully zany
And Becky, yes, English children are very well behaved compared to Americans. Laughing fits are fine in private, but might get you tossed out of a restaurant. Definitely a less permissive country.

By: becky up the hill

becky up the hill — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:01:33 +0000

I wish I had some relatives in England. I suppose I do really. Mine migrated to the Territory of Michigan in the 1800′s. I doubt there is anyone in the old country that would remember me. I wondered why those children in the Narnia books and now movies were sitting so quietly waiting for trains. I guess their kids are quiet? My ‘boys’ are adults and don’t go on vacations with us anymore. I think if we ever were blessed enough to go to England we’d be okay. Unless I had a laughing fit…do middle aged women have laughing fits there? Is that okay? I can’t seem to stay on track here..sorry Jennifer. I think this was suppose to be about taking your children on vacations. You don’t have DVD’s in your car? Back in the 90′s we took our near adult children to Monterey, Ca. for Thanksgiving. We took the middle seat out of our mini van. My husband and youngest son put together a t.v. and a vcr in the empty part of the van, if I remember right part of it was sitting on a ice chest. There were wires/cables running everywhere. If ever there was a version of the Clampets in the 90′s..it was that trip to Monterey. I’m sure the valets at the Marriot hotel got some laughs.

By: Winnie

Winnie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:12:04 +0000

I love the togetherness of family vacations, but I also love the rejuggling of relationships that happens when various members of the family take off on their own. This week Chris and Alex are away together on a trip, so it’s just Rachel, Philip, and me at home. All the usual patterns have been disrupted. We’ve been eating dinner at 9:00, watching movies until 1:00–we even had a three-way tennis match on Rachel’s day off. Normally I barely see my children from one day to the next. But somehow this week has become a stay-home mini family vacation. On Saturday Alex and Chris will come home and regular life will reestablish itself–until someone else takes off on a summer adventure.