FAMILY VACATIONS

Pics taken from a vacation in 2005.

 

FAMILY VACATIONS ARE IMPORTANT TOO!!!

I believe that taking a family vacation (Mom, Dad, kids) is very important. Any family that has the money should go on a family vacation. In my opinion it should be a priority. You don't have to go far or somewhere spectacular like Disney everytime. Just camping in your home state is good. It is a great bonding time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. No distractions like work or other drama. You get to explore new places, maybe even different ways of life or cultures. Not only that but it teaches kids (it did for me anyway) love of history, state and country. This is very important to me. I want to pass that on to my stepson.

I think a true vacation it at least 7days but ideally is 10 days (encompassing 1 full week - 1st week-end, all 5 business days and the following weekend.). That is the vacation time I rememeber spending with my parents when I was a kid. We usually went to places in our home state of Michigan. It was fun and interesting. I will have to blog about all the great Michigan places to go later. Sadly, I don't think a lot of families get that time anymore.

Chuck and I like to take at least 2 weeks with his son Jordan. One of the weeks is usually a family camping trip with Chuck's siblings and all their kids (even the teenagers!). It is fun - we go camping at different places in Michigan each year. Unfortunately, we are not able to do it this year because some of the family have changed jobs and cannot get vacation time. Chuck and I usually like to take a week and go up to my parents place outside of Manistee, Michigan. We love to go to the beach and up to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. We canoe also. Last year Chuck and I went but we were not able to take Jordan due to his mother being her lovely self. It looks like this year she is going go be just as troublesome. I had actually wanted to take 2 weeks and go to the U.P. Chuck's son (he is a teenager)has some activities he wants to particitate in which may preclude his going with us for two weeks. It is just sad and frustrating. We don't get to spend a lot of time with Chuck's son and vacation time is always special. Chuck's ex doesn't seem to make having a family vacation a priority. That is her choice but now she wants us to sacrifice our time. There are a lot of activities that kids can participate in during summer. I am sure they make allowances for family time. If they don't I it doesn't really matter that much to me because there are times when family (family time) has to come first.