Our Vacation, Part One

Tis the morning after our vacation, and all is quiet in the house. The only sound I hear is the sound of giant trucks doing some sort of construction (shouldn’t there be a rule that they can’t do this before 8am???).

The nicest thing is that I feel. . .relaxed. This is an odd feeling for me, especially after vacation since I usually come back exhausted and a bit frazzled. What is my secret?

1. We drove, and didn’t try to fly anywhere.

2. We stayed in a condo, which meant I could cook dinner, make coffee whenever I wanted it and do laundry a couple of times during the week (I realize this doesn’t sound relaxing, per se, but going out to dinner with three kids under the age of 6 is NOT FUN; plus the laundry thing makes it easier now that we are home).

3. We stayed in Vermont—land of beautiful mountains, friendly people, clean air and great local beer. Here is where we stayed, specifically.

4. The girls could participate in ‘camp’ any day they chose. I realize this isn’t for everyone, but it was wonderful for us, especially Belly who would’ve ditched us to join camp for the rest of the summer, had we let her.

If there was a downside, it was that we spent a lot of money, probably as much as our honeymoon, although we now had three kids and my mom with us. There were ways we could’ve done it for less, but I didn’t figure this out until we were there. So, I learned that I should explore options besides those presented in the shiny color brochure.

I also learned a bunch of other things about my family—but, more on that later. Right now, I want to go outside and listen to the birds (still audible beneath the din of the trucks) and pretend that I’m looking out at huge green mountains.

Comments

  1. Mary Alice says

    Welcome home. That does sound really nice. I am a fan of “drive to” vacations as well – and also those that only take 3-4 hours to drive to. Anything over four hours is Not A Fun Drive to me.

  2. Welcome back! Sounds like a great trip.

    I don’t mind flying (when your whole country is the size of NJ you do a lot of it), but I couldn’t agree more about the condo/villa. It’s SO much easier when you’re traveling with kids – more room to spread out, fewer restrictions for them, kitchen and laundry facilities… We’ve rented villas in Europe a few times with my extended family and it just makes all the difference – especially if you’ve got a pool to enjoy while the younger kidlets are napping!

  3. PS We never had a camp option – my kids would LOVE that!

  4. Blog Antagonist says

    I totally get the condo with a kitchen thing. It makes things so much more pleasant. Glad you had a great time and I can’t wait to hear about it! I have always wanted to visit Vermont. Sigh. So many states, so little time.

  5. Tell Belly that Nate is going to make it feel like camp there in just a couple of weeks. Welcome home!

  6. Rock the Cradle says

    I loved going to Smuggler’s Notch as a kid…I’ll have to take the Impling some day.

    Welcome home!

  7. Whirlwind says

    We love visiting VT, but haven’t been since our friend moved.

    If we travel, it would have to be somewhere we can drive – I dread hitting an airport with these three!

  8. Alpha DogMa says

    Because we are cheap and poorly socialized we bought the camper – we take our home wherever we go. Plus the dirt is our own.

    However I do want to go to one of these family camps some day. Very very soon.

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