Daddyblogger RJA over at Urf! is talking about embarking on a multi-family vacation, and its potential to bring a family and friends together … or tear them horribly and hilariously apart.
At the end of the week we will all either be closer and more of a family or we will not be speaking to each other. There’s just no way to tell.
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There will be plenty to keep the kids entertained: building sand castles, surfing, burying each other in the sand, swimming, screaming, crying, jumping, laughing, sleeping?, watching a different TV, drinking juice boxes, asking questions, complaining, searching for the last kid they buried in the sand, playing games, watching Le Tour, counting stars, gambling. As for the parents, well, it will be a week of sitting. Sitting and staring at the water.
Ah, that reminds me of the time my family (me, my mom, my dad, my sister, my four-month-old brother, my aunt, my uncle, and my cousin) packed up and headed to Disney World in Florida on Christmas Day (incidentally my birthday, so it was the best present ever) in 1987 (I turned six that day). I remember the long car ride, and playing with the few new Christmas toys I was allowed to bring along. I remember passing by tourist traps and the enormous parking lot at Disney World. I remember the little blue shorts with white piping I wore every day (because they were the only pair of shorts I’d managed to pack). I remember the somewhat seedy motel we stayed in, and the absolute mind-boggling size and scope of Disney World. I remember being terrified on Space Mountain, and wanting to go on Pirates of the Caribbean again and again. And, even as a kid, all those horrible dolls in It’s a Small World After All terrified me. Those are the kind of memories imprint in a six-year-old’s head pretty easily.
What about you? Got any family roadtrips coming up, or memories that still burn bright in your head?
Responses to “Hitting the road”
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
We had a camper with a bunk-style bed that sat over the cab of the family truck. One summer we took off for a 10-day driving/camping vacation. I was about 9 or 10, my sister 6 or 7 & my brother too young to ride in the camper with us. Sis & I spent the ENTIRE trip lounging on the bunk over the cab of the truck singing “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain” and “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”. Neither of us can carry a tune in a bucket so it was awful to hear, especially since we sang as loudly as we could. Our parents were amused the first day but I really thought they’d kill us by the time our vacation came to an end.
July 20th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
My husband and I have no family in Memphis, so we’re always on the road to visit our moms, dads and grandparents and our kids are pretty good road warriors, having taken long trips since birth.
Before the portable DVD players came along, we’d have a bag of stuff for them to do, and we’d always pick up some little game at Cracker Barrel or convenience story on the way.
On one trip to North Carolina for a family reunion, my daughter talked her dad into buying this stuffed mechanical parrot that mimics what you say, twice. We played with it for awhile and then everyone went back to their reading. After a bit, Gracie pipes up and asks the inevitable: Are we there yet? The parrot was still on, and answered her: Are we there yet? Are we there yet? We all about died laughing. …OK, I guess you had to be there.