Friday, July 24, 2009

Vacation at Home

Today is the second day of my vacation. I am enjoying some Sports Center, coffee, and the world wide web. I have not taken a vacation since the week Braden was born. Since virtually all my readers have children you can understand that the first week home with your new baby is not much of a vacation. So this week is my first week of true relaxation in well over a year.

What will I do with this golden opportunity. Will I go travelling? No. I am leaving the country next weekend so home is where I want to be. Frankly, I have no plans other than spending time with my family. I want to soak up every minute that I can with them.

This week is as much a vacation for Arica as it is for me. She will have help with Braden every day this week. I will be able to give her some much needed rest. I hope I am a good assistant.

Being on vacation leads me to think about the future vacations I will take with our little family. We are already planning on going to the beach next year. If you are from Arkansas the beach means the gulf coast a.k.a. the redneck riviera. That seems to be the thing everyone around here does with their small children. I love the beach so I plan on keeping the tradition. Jimmy Buffet is one of my heroes. I have always dreamed of living the beach bum life much like the leader of the parrot heads. I could wear shorts and flip flops every day. I could drink fruity drinks at the tiki bars. Life would be relaxing. Since that is very unlikely a beach vacation seems like the next best thing.

Of course at some point we have to take Braden to Disney World. I need to start saving now to make that dream come true. Maybe I can forgo a few fishing lures this year to get the savings ball rolling. I went to Disney World when I was about seven years old. I don't have a lot of memories of the trip. I want to wait until Braden is at least that old before going. I might even wait until he is a little older to make sure he remembers some of the good times at the happiest place on earth.

When I was a kid we didn't take many vacations. I played baseball every year and it always lasted nearly the entire summer. Even with the busy schedule my Dad and I always tried to find a weekend to go to St. Louis and watch the Cardinals. I certainly plan on keeping this mini vacation tradition. I hope to take Braden and Arica to a Cardinals game next summer. While in St. Louis we will visit the zoo as well. They have a great zoo, and I look forward to seeing Braden's reaction to all the animals.

Those are a few of my vacation ideas. I don't plan on packing the family truckster every year to trek across the country. Some years we will take shorter trips or fly to maintain our sanity. I do plan on doing my best to vacation somewhere every year. Hopefully our family will be able to forge some wonderful memories that will last us a lifetime. Even the Griswold-esque disasters could give us fun stories to tell forever. I am excited already, but for now we will start with a vacation at home. After all, nothing can be better than spending a week of quality time with my two favorite people.

Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs

11 comments:

PC Xavi-Nena said...

Traditions are AWESOME! Just wait until the holiday ones get going. We love holiday traditions around here and making up new ones each year that stick through the following years. :) I love the beach, so far we have only been once we are in Texas but it was Va Beach and at that time we only had 3 babies and they were far to young to really remember.

Katherine said...

We want to take Ethan to Disney World, too. I grew up (for a while, anyway) near Disneyland, but I've never been to Disney World. I think we're going for Ethan's 4th b-day,which means we'll have to go again when he's older, but our 10th year anniversary is 3 days before his b-day, so I thought it might be a fun way to celebrate both.

Daddy Files said...

How about this? Next time the Cardinals and Red Sox battle each other in Interleague play and our kids are old enough, we'll have to meet up (either in STL or Boston)?

I haven't been to Busch Stadium and I want to make it to every park with my son eventually.

SurprisedMom said...

Vacations are great things, especially if get to stay home, relax and just be with the people you love! There's no packing, worry over catching flights, additional expenses, etc.
My children were deprived. We never took them to Disney World, Land, or any other place Disney. They will have to take their children and maybe The Mister and I can tag along.
I think you mentioned somewhere else you were going to Scotland on a business trip. I've always wanted to go. I hope your trip is successful and you get to play tourist as well.
Have a great time with your family this week. I hope it's wonderful!

Brandy@YDK said...

those are great memories. I wish i was rich so I do all that traveling with grayson when he's older

BellaDaddy said...

Man, right now, I cant even begin to remember how to spell vacashun, vaKajun, Vackushon...ah heck...HOLIDAY! Either way, I dont get one ;-(

KWG said...

Excellent. We've had a couple of family vacations the past few weeks visiting family, and they were the most amazing times. Bea's a little travel trooper and earned her wings on her first flights! I embrace every moment I'm with my family as well.

And man, I'm telling you, I can't wait to go to Disneyland and Disneyworld.

Tom said...

You hit the nail squarely on the head with this: "Even the Griswold-esque disasters could give us fun stories to tell..."

Exactly. I was thinking about writing on this very thing today.

The fact is, no matter where you go or what you do, once you hit the road with the family you're guaranteed to make memories that the kid(s) will remember for a lifetime. Heck, most of my great vacation memories are from disasters.

Go and do!

Mike said...

The Family Truckster! LMAO! I could watch that movie 100 times and still laugh! I need a vacation, I never take any!

PJ Mullen said...

My wife and I were in the Keys on a leg of our honeymoon cruise and we got to hang out at the bar Jimmy Buffet loves down there. I so could see myself drifting into that life style.

I hear you on the Disney thing. I went when I was 7 too and don't remember squat about it. Now my friends are taking their 1, 2 and 3 year olds to Disney. I don't quite get the point of that. My wife and I have already agreed that if we are going to get fleeced by the mouse the kid will have to be old enough to remember being there.

I hope you, and Arica, enjoy your staycation.

seashore subjects said...

Vacations are great anywhere you take them. It is the time spent not doing what you normally do that makes the time wonderful, more so than where you go. So, enjoy the vacation I am sure your family will.