Summer "Vacation" Begins

Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids. To me, the idea of summer "vacation" always sounds good until it hits me that that means all four kids will be home with me every day, all day long. Last night when I was tucking my youngest into bed, I said, "You get to sleep in tomorrow! Summer vacation starts, isn't that great?" She looked at me and said, "Why are you so excited?" Well, I had to think about that. There is absolutely no reason for me to be excited about it. Summer always means more work for me. There is always more laundry, for some reason. The kids are constantly making a mess in the kitchen. Beds go unmade, there is a constant flow of kids through the house, and the occasional "I'm bored" that sends me through the roof and I seem to have to run to the grocery store every couple of days. So, really, summer vacation is no vacation for me, but the idea of a vacation sounds great! The freedom and outdoor activities are what make it seem different for me, even though my work load is actually bigger. Anyway, "vacation" has begun.

Road Trip!

Tomorrow is the big day! All four girls and I are taking a road trip back home to Indiana. It seems strange, but I am more excited about going there than I was about going to Disney World last week. It has been almost a year since we moved and I am still very homesick, as are all the rest of my family. I think only the dog is happy here, and really, she is just happy anywhere we are. There are only 397 days left until we can make a clean break from here, and I just can't wait. My husband said something the other night as we were getting ready for bed. It was sort of funny, but sad at the same time, and I was feeling the same way. He said, "You know how when you are on a vacation, and you are getting toward the end of it and you are sort of looking forward to getting back home? Well, I was thinking that, and then I remembered what home we were going back to, and I wasn't so ready to go back." When we were boarding the airplane heading from Orlando to Dulles, I had forgotten that we weren't going home, home, we were going to the Virginia home, and I too, was feeling a little let down. I think this summer and the next school year will go fast as they all seem to do, and in no time, we will be looking toward finding a new home, back home and that will be one of the happiest days in my life!

Back From Disney; On To Indiana

We had a great week in Orlando where we spent four days hopping around the Disney parks and one evening we went to the Medieval Times dinner show. There were storms on three of the days, but the rain didn't seem to matter much. The girls and my husband and I did just about everything there is to do at Disney. We all got a little (too much maybe) sun and had lots of laughs and thrills thanks to the genius of the FastPass at the Disney rides. Now it is down time for two days and then the girls and I leave for Indiana where we will be spending the better part of July visiting family and friends. The girls have only been out of school for a week and a half and already the summer feels like it is nearly over. When we get back from our visits it will be August and only a few weeks until the new school year starts. My how time flies when you are having fun!

Disney, Here We Come!

We are getting all packed up for our trip to Disney World later this week. It takes several days to get all six of us ready to go. We went to Disney World a couple of years ago during the Christmas holiday. We had fun even though it was crowded. This time everyone is a little older, and taller, and the prospect of being "big enough" is really charging up my two youngest daughters. My youngest one will still be too little to ride some of the rides, but hopefully she won't have to be stuck riding only the spinning teacups (I refuse to do that one!) and the Dumbo ride and all the other similar ones that just go around in a large circle. The other thing that is different about this trip is that we are flying. The thought of herding four children into a plane for a two hour flight was much more attractive to me than packing us all into the car and driving for thirteen hours. Since our oldest is fifteen, this would have been almost as bad as being held hostage for thirteen hours. Only our oldest daughter has flown, so the flying thing is super exciting to the girls. The other thing, and best part about the trip is that we will be meeting up with my sister and her family while we are there. They are flying down from Indiana and we are flying from Virginia. I have not seen my sister in almost a year! It has been a very long and lonely year for me so this will be the cherry on the top of this vacation. My girls miss their cousin so much that my youngest daughter said she is "just gonna tackle him" when she sees him. He's sixteen years old, I'm sure he'll enjoy that! The girls really love their aunt, uncle and cousin that much! Even though this kind of vacation holds no rest and relaxation for me, I think it will rejuvenate me enough to get through one more year of being away from my family. Onward to Disney!

Plane, Train, or Automobile-Summer Vacation Trips

I am trying to plan my family's summer activities and I keep hearing that gasoline prices may climb as high as $5.00 per gallon during the summer months. With that in mind, my husband and I decided that instead of driving to Florida in June, we will (all six of us) be flying to Orlando. It seemed cheaper, not to mention faster, so that trip is settled. The other summer activity was for me to go back to Indiana to visit friends and family during the month of July. I would be going there with the four girls, but my husband would stay behind because he has to work, of course. Driving the 600+ miles with four girls seems a little daunting to me, so I decided to check into other modes of transportation options. I don't think flying will work for us again, because the cost is too much to fly into either Fort Wayne International or South Bend. My next option is to take the train. There is an Amtrak station not far from where we live and a station in Elkhart, where my parents live. For all five of us to travel, I think the total cost for regular coach seats is around $413.00 roundtrip. I have only travelled by train a couple of times and then it was only from Elkhart or Fort Wayne to Chicago. I also don't know how the girls would do on the train--it makes me a little nervous. So, for now, I'm just watching the gas prices (rise) and as they do here in Virginia, "biding my time."