Hello everyone! We are back from a bit of a summer hiatus! Well, truth be told, I, Molly, am back from a summer hiatus…it has been my “turn” on the blog since about the 4th of July but somehow even during a pandemic we have been (probably overly) busy. Thank you for understanding our absence! I actually had a really long blog written about what we have been up to for the month of July but then I decided to spare all the details and just share some pictures and a couple of bits of wisdom I learned from my 7-year-old niece and 4-year-old son.
Prior to COVID, we had planned the month of July to be full of vacations and family time since I would have just returned from Annual Training where I would have been away for two weeks. Annual Training did not happen as it was originally planned and neither did most of our vacations…
For the 4th of July, we had planned to go to the Catskills like we usually do but we ended up driving almost 7 hours to visit Larry’s cousin, his wife, and their daughter in Massena, New York, which is only separated by the St. Lawrence River from Canada. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Here is a pic of me and the kids (Daddy was fishing) at the Eisenhower Locks (which are fascinating if you have time to read about them!):
We had a couple of days back at home and then we had a vacation planned with my family down in Hyannis. We rented a huge house near the Kennedy Compound, visited the National Seashore, went on a lighthouse tour and whale watch, etc. It solidified our family’s love for the Cape. Yes, my family came all the way from Iowa before the current quarantine mandate but we followed every recommended safety precaution. Please do not travel shame us – we would be happy to discuss different points of view but that is not the point of this blog. Here is a pic of all of us in our Cape shirts that we had made. This was taken after an awesome beach day at Craigville Beach. We all look burnt and exhausted but also filled with so much love (and homemade burritos):
Finally, about a week later, we had a “staycation” with Larry’s parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and their two children. Similar to the 4th of July, we originally planned to go to the Catskills but ended up just staying local in Stoughton. Although I love traveling, the song that was going through my head for this week was “staycation: all I ever wanted…!” It was so nice having the comforts of home but also being able to do things we wouldn’t normally do like visiting local beaches, the zoo, spending days playing in the backyard, having dinner meals at home together, etc. Here is a picture of LJ and Adeline with their cousins:
Anyway, now to the bits of wisdom:
1) After our Hyannis vacation, we had a day back at our house in Stoughton before my Iowa family had to fly out the next day. We basically did nothing after driving back from the Cape in the morning. We had lunch, we played a couple board games with the kids, sat around together in our living room, and then spent a good portion of the afternoon running foot races around the house, which is LJ’s newest passion (he likes me to time him on his watch – ha!). Anyway, the next day my niece commented on how it was such a busy and fun day. I asked her if it was as fun as spending our days at the beach at the Cape and she said that it was even more fun! It was surprising to me because I had considered the day somewhat of a “wasted” day.
2) After back to back outings during our Stoughton “staycation” of the beach and the zoo, LJ said to me unprompted, “Mama, I really like special days but I didn’t get to just play with Taylor (his cousin).”
MORAL(s) OF THE STORIES: You don’t have to go far for fun. Sometimes the best adventures are right outside in your own backyard. Often as parents we have almost an anxiety to give our children ALL the experiences and travel that we maybe had or did not have as children growing up. And adults can sometimes use travel as a way to “get away” from a place, a life, or a home with which they are not comfortable and drag their kids along in the process justifying it by saying they are giving their kids experiences. I think it is important to remember, myself included, that kids are often happy with the most simple of things such as being in their own home, running races in a backyard or getting plenty of free play time with their siblings and cousins.
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