Monday, July 22, 2013

Finding Your Rhythm on Vacation

I don't know if you are anything like me, but, the idea of going on vacation does not elicit relaxing thoughts at all.  In theory, I *love* going on vacation, I really do, but, all of the setup and breakdown of a vacation is a huge undertaking, not to mention that vacation this year fell smack in the middle of my planning school for the upcoming year!  No pressure there {wink...wink}.

I remember about twenty years ago when I could pack a bag {for one}, hop in the car and be off on my merry way.  Of course vacation then would be alone or with some friends and not nearly as much fun as going with my family, but, truth be told it was WAY easier to prepare.


Now the idea of vacation involves packing for four people instead of one {my sweet husband packs his own things and has the daunting task of placing all of the puzzle pieces together in the car to make it fit *just so* to enable us to hit the road.}  Packing before would entail throwing a few pieces of clothes, some daily hygiene items and a few other sundries in a bag.  Now it entails making sure there are extras of things and my youngest son has his own separate bag filled with emergency medical items, like Benadryl, Epi pens, The Duck { cute little spacer we use daily for his asthma maintenance...looks like a duck's face}, rescue inhaler and Darth Vader {our nebulizer, we named it that since the boys love Star Wars}, lovies ,Legos and the like.


Twenty years ago I had much more room in my head too.  Not sure exactly what I did with all of that room, but, spacing is very limited now and it is taken up with things like legos, food allergies, asthma, the scary thoughts of accidental ingestion of allergic foods, homeschooling {that takes up ALOT of space on this momma's hard drive} and just the dailiness of living, loving and having a good time.

Once we get on the road one would think that I would be carefree and look forward to where we are going..., but, again I see when we get there that there will be unpacking and setting up somewhere else again.  Kind of like a vacation version of Groundhog Day.  Same activities, but, a different surrounding.  While the boys are running around having fun, momma is setting up camp...again.

Now, don't get me wrong.  None of this upsets me.  I know that it is part of the deal and what we do to go on vacation. 

A few weeks ago we went on a lovely trip to the Adirondacks.  Like I mentioned I spent a few days packing up and then set up for a good while once we arrived.  We have traveled here before and stayed at the same camp and it was lovely.  We had our own private lake and the view was spectacular!









We did things different this time around and really just slowed down a bit and didn't fall into all of the touristy things we did years before.

When we go on vacation, the rhythm our of daily lives is totally changed.

Change is GOOD!

There is no television.
There is no Wii.

There is no computer.
There is no landline telephone and cell reception is very weak.











What there is is a lot of quality sweet time with your family.  Time to play in the water, time to look closely at nature and time to reflect on just how blessed you are to have four sweet men in your life!  There was time to watch a movie at a really cool movie theatre, to take walks to a local donut shoppe in the morning right after waking up, alot of time for kayaking and even some time to climb a mountain!  More on the last one is another post :-)
















Of course it really does take me a few days to settle in to a vacation. 



 





 



Usually in the middle of day two I actually exhale and the idea of being away from all of the daily chaos and just *being* with my family sinks in and I love it!  When this happens I am a different person too.  Gone is the idea of needing to get things done because I didn't take these things with me.

I only took the important ones :-)



We all have to find our own rhythm.  For me, it is a constant ongoing refining process...kind of a purging of the mind and soul.  What was important to me twenty years ago is not important to me at all right here, right now.  What is important to me now is trying to do the best that I can to be a good wife and mother.  The rest is just icing on the cake.  I am trying my best to simply live and to stress the importance of simple living with my boys and this vacation was simply living at it's best.




5 comments:

  1. You have a beautiful family!

    Also, I just wanted to say that I love the quote from St. Augustine on your sidebar.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Sounds like you did a fantastic job of focusing on your family. We too are on vacation, but obviously (since I'm on your blog) I have wifi and my computer... I like your thoughts. I'm reading Simple Parenting and think you might like it.
    Annie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Annie! I have read Simple Parenting and enjoyed it. I think simplifying is going to be a life long venture ;) I hope you enjoyed your vacation!

      Delete
  3. What a good time for me to find your blog. We are leaving for vacation tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your wise words and your beautiful pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are very welcome, Kimberly! I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

    ReplyDelete