Another Quiet Summer :-)

Our favorite family activity is traveling. In our 19 years together Ben and I have been to some wonderful places; Hawaii, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mexico, California and having monsters to drag along with us has slowed us down alittle, but not stopped us. We have dragged them to St Thomas, California, Canada, North Carolina and many more places. We enjoy traveling, seeing new places and revisiting some favorites. At the end of every summer I declare, "We are staying home next summer" and by Christmas we always have something in the works.

Not this year. This year it is not even Christmas yet and we have 3 weeks of summer travel booked and partially paid for. A week at the end of June through July 4th is booked for New Jersey and Boston. Then in August, two weeks at two of our favorite beaches, Hilton Head,SC and OBX! Best part is our accommodations for all of these trips looks to be super comfy and very inexpensive! That is important when traveling with a family of 5!

In Boston we have been able to book a suite at a Hilton property for an excellent rate thanks to my sister! Hilton Head we scored the Disney Resort, with full kitchen, for FREE thanks to the in-laws! A whole week at a $300 a night resort for free! Washer/drier and full kitchen, for a mom that is heaven:) And for our week in OBX, we are sharing a house with the Kelley's and it is costing us about $600 for the week. A house with more than enough room for 2 large families to be comfy. A house with a kitchen(yes, I am hung-up on the kitchen thing. Going out to eat with tired monsters is expensive and not fun:)and a washer/drier and walking distance to the beach!

I am so excited that our plans are coming together. I hope we have good weather, at least most of the time:) I hope we make it to Fenway. I hope Hilton Head is as beautiful as we left it and I hope OBX clears the sand from Highway 12 by the time we get there:)

With our crazy and hectic lives, going on vacation gives us time to be together. Time to be together and just have fun. No worries of homework or commutes, routines or dry-cleaning, just time together having fun and reconnecting.

That is why we travel so much. There are plenty of people that think it is a waste of money. That maybe we should by a bigger house or save more for retirement, but for us this is what works. Work hard to play hard! Work together to play together! That's how we roll:)

So, with almost all my Christmas shopping done and birthday shopping for Killi(dec.18th, Nutcracker at the National Theater with Dad) and Maggie(mar.20th,Taylor Swift with the whole family), it seemed logical to get summer squared away too:)

What's left you ask? CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!! Yep, I will start unloading the shed this coming week so that Thanksgiving Night, it will be LIGHTS UP!!!! Yes, I am one of THOSE people. I love the lights! I even LOVE that all my friends tease me about them:)