I don't mean 'kiss' the word, I mean "keep it simple silly"! ...In the spirit of 'keeping it simple'... after careful observation, I am suggesting we keep next year's family vacation even closer to home. I know many of you may not care in the slightest to have this conversation, but after noticing our family dynamics this year as opposed to the last, I think it might be better for us if we keep next years vacation even simpler. By this I am suggestion we go to Park City, or Heber, or Midway. So here are all the things we can do in the Heber/Midway area... Balloon flights, Biking, Boating, Fishing, Golfing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, ATV-ing, Scenic-Driving, Movies, and plenty of Sight-seeing.
So whats prompted this post you ask? Well... I enjoyed our whole vacation this year but really missed out on the 'family-altogether-time'. I don't know if its because people arrived late in the week, or we were too tired every night, or we were not as organized. But I loved our karaoke/game night, but was bummed Lynne and Don couldn't be there. I thought our family nights were the highlight of our vacation last year and was disappointed we didn't have more this year. Brent even mentioned we should have all come to the campfire together (that he worked so hard on!) and sang songs at least for 20 minutes instead of all lingering out at different times.
So the reason I thought to keep things more simple next year is so that the babies can all have naps, the parents can be rested more, and hopefully the cousins will all have a place where they can continue to run around together. I think it would be nice if we found a place where we can lounge around comfortably, read a book all day if we want, or chit chat with each other, and not feel so pressured to pack every day with big activities and then come home exhausted every night. I think the times that we all spend together in the evening are the most memorable of the whole vacation, irregardless of what sight-seeing we do, and I would love if we had more energy and opportunity for that the next time around.
But this was still a great trip, don't get me wrong! .... I would also even love to spend a vacation on the "Jackson Hole" side of Yellowstone and adventure around the Teton area more. Maybe that would be a good idea for one year. I love these vacations... I don't want them to ever end... 'Party on Wayne, Party on Garth!"
1 comment:
Nikki,
You have some really good ideas here. I think also last year we planned an "off-day" in between the big days, and that gave us a rest and it seemed like we had more energy to do things in the evenings.
If we did something close by like you mentioned, then it might be easier to coordinate with people who don't feel like they can miss work - maybe they could leave work early and come up in the evening or something like that.
It might even work to have just one big activity, an "anchor activity" and then have open days around that where we can hang around as a family. Also last year we loved having that playground in the middle of the cabins, but this year it seemed like even without that the kids had fun with each other. But I did hear a couple of the kids mention that they were bored - so I might be wrong about that.
Anyway, it seems like we have fun getting together as a family and hanging out. It might be fun to do more family-reunion type activities - sack races and games, crafts together. It would take more organization and planning on our part, though. But I don't mind chipping in (obviously. that trivia game was a lot of work. Next time I am organizing a ring toss - Nik can I borrow your ring toss?).
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