As you read this post I'm lounging on the beach, sipping Mai Tais and enjoying the view. Well, okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I'm probably at the beach but more than likely, I'm chasing 2 children and trying not to fry my paler than pale skin. But I am enjoying myself (and the view of my wonderful husband building sand castles with Sweet Pea and Baby Girl :-).Every year my family takes this week (AEA week for those of us in Alabama) for ourselves. My parents, my sister, her husband, their son, my husband and 2 girls, my brother and his new wife, and usually the baby of the bunch (another brother) all gather together for this week. This year my baby brother has to stay at college - how dare they schedule exams this week?!? And my sister and her family can only stay a few days since she just started her new job and couldn't get the entire week off. But none of that matters.
We share a house. Lounge by the pool. Grill out whenever we feel like it. Read books. Take naps. Play games. Talk. Catch up. Or do nothing at all. It's heaven.
And a chance for us all to reconnect.
Growing up, our family vacations always centered around traveling to visit family. As one of the few family units on both sides that deigned to move away from the nest, we always seemed to use whatever vacation time was available to go back home. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved those trips as a child. I'm very close to my family and despite the fact that I only saw them once a year, really enjoy spending time with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.
But somehow this is different.
It isn't like we don't see each other on a regular basis. I work for my father for heaven's sake. So does my brother. My mother works at my daughter's school. My sister and her family are staying with my parents until they find a house. We have plenty of togetherness. So why is this different?
Because there's no pressure. We simply kick back and enjoy the view.
Here's hoping you've found a view to enjoy this Spring Break!
Instigator
In case you haven't...Here's Matthew. May he be waiting beside your pool with a Mai Tai in his hand :-)
5 comments:
Love the pic of Matthew.
Since I was an infant my family always went for a week to Panama City Beach with my mother's side of the family. That included aunts, uncles, cousin, grandparents, assorted friends who tagged along...LOL.
We stopped doing that a few years ago as the children of the family grew older and the family expanded. We still try to go to the beach for at least a few days...just my immediate family though.
For years we stayed at the same hotel and then we decided to try out a newer place. Last year, when we went back we saw that the old hotel had been torn down to make room for more condos. It was kind of sad to see the place I grew up going to gone.
I love to look at the beach, listen to the surf, but can't stand the thought of sharks or jelly fish swimming abount underneath my legs.
An interesting thing happened to me when I was about 13 or 14, a very impressionable age. I SAW THE MOVIE JAWS!!!
Kathy
LOL Kathy. Well, you wouldn't have done well on some of our trips to the beach then. My brother was fishing once off the beach when I was little and caught a little shark (about 2 feet long). A couple of years ago, my little nephew was stung by a jelly fish. Then last year, I was standing in water just below my knees, not even 3 feet from shore, when about 6 or 7 skates or stingrays (not sure which) swam by nearly swimming into me. I literally could have reached out and touched one if I had wanted to.
I am not an ocean person either...mainly because I hate putting on a bathing suit. LOL.
I'm ok as long as the water is clear enough for me to see the (insert creature here) coming at me. I just don't want to be the head with the body dangling in the dark water like a worm on a hook for whatever wants to take the bait.
I prefer the beach from the shade of my umbrella on a chaise with a rum doused drink in one hand watching the waves. Might even splash in it and build a sandcastle, but otherwise, I'm good.
Man, that sounds good.
SP
I'm jealous. I'd much rather be on a sunny beach than here in this cold, especially after the taste of spring we had a week ago. Maybe spring will come back.
I only wade in the ocean. That's all it's good for IMHO. I love to walk along the surf about ankle deep and listen to the sounds of the beach -- ocean, birds, wind, other people.
Love the pic of my man Matthew!
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