Summer vacations are so much fun, but also a lot of work! There's all the planning and budgeting and packing, and then all the cleaning up and catching up on regular things again afterwards. Sometimes the hardest thing about vacation is just deciding what to do, and where to go. And when we'll go! Several years ago, the hubster and I hit upon a plan to help us narrow that decision-making process, at least for some summers. We remembered that friends of ours had kind of taken the summer off from a lot of their church responsibilities so they could be free to travel and do other things with their kids, because the oldest was graduating high school and would be going away to college in the fall. That (and the Seinfeld episode "The Summer of George") inspired us to start a sort of family tradition. We allow our graduating student to have a big say in what the family vacation will be. (We've also tried the same thing for me and for the hubster when we had milestone birthdays or wedding anniversaries.)
So in 2010, we had our first graduate, and the Summer of Harrison took us to the Cleveland area to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Football Hall of Fame, and Cedar Point. And see a Great Lakes lighthouse, if possible, which we made happen at Marblehead Lighthouse State Park and at the East Harbor State Park beach.
In 2013, we had the Summer of Spencer, which actually turned into the Autumn of Spencer. He's not a big fan of hotels and touristy things, but did want another chance to visit his grandparents in western Canada, and that worked out great, because my parents were celebrating their 50th anniversary that year. We flew to Spokane, then spent a couple of days at Glacier National Park before driving to Calgary. Our time in the Calgary area included a day in Banff National Park and lots of time to visit with family and some old friends.
This year Landon is our graduate, so we are planning for the Summer of Landon. The last time I wrote about it (see Vacation Plans), he was still pondering ideas. As of this week, we have a destination, some dates, and we are getting started with the actual planning. As with the other boys, Landon has come up with an idea that is just different enough from what we usually do to be a real memory-maker; but not crazy out of character for any of us.
Landon loves following sports and especially baseball. So he's requested a road trip that would take us to at least three MLB cities for games, along with a couple side trips. We had to find a stretch in the home game schedules that allowed us to visit Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati within about a week or 10 days and catch games. We've got some dates penciled in that will work, and as a bonus, the Toronto Blue Jays are the visiting team for one of the games we're planning on! (That's the team DH and I cheer for) The side trips we're planning include a day at Cedar Point, because Landon also loves roller coasters and they've got a fairly new one there that is HUUUUGE. Or so I'm told. And another side trip will be a stop in Columbus, where our oldest son lives, so we can spend a little time with him and see what his life is like, and maybe even catch a AA ball game there.
So in 2010, we had our first graduate, and the Summer of Harrison took us to the Cleveland area to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Football Hall of Fame, and Cedar Point. And see a Great Lakes lighthouse, if possible, which we made happen at Marblehead Lighthouse State Park and at the East Harbor State Park beach.
In 2013, we had the Summer of Spencer, which actually turned into the Autumn of Spencer. He's not a big fan of hotels and touristy things, but did want another chance to visit his grandparents in western Canada, and that worked out great, because my parents were celebrating their 50th anniversary that year. We flew to Spokane, then spent a couple of days at Glacier National Park before driving to Calgary. Our time in the Calgary area included a day in Banff National Park and lots of time to visit with family and some old friends.
This year Landon is our graduate, so we are planning for the Summer of Landon. The last time I wrote about it (see Vacation Plans), he was still pondering ideas. As of this week, we have a destination, some dates, and we are getting started with the actual planning. As with the other boys, Landon has come up with an idea that is just different enough from what we usually do to be a real memory-maker; but not crazy out of character for any of us.
Landon loves following sports and especially baseball. So he's requested a road trip that would take us to at least three MLB cities for games, along with a couple side trips. We had to find a stretch in the home game schedules that allowed us to visit Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati within about a week or 10 days and catch games. We've got some dates penciled in that will work, and as a bonus, the Toronto Blue Jays are the visiting team for one of the games we're planning on! (That's the team DH and I cheer for) The side trips we're planning include a day at Cedar Point, because Landon also loves roller coasters and they've got a fairly new one there that is HUUUUGE. Or so I'm told. And another side trip will be a stop in Columbus, where our oldest son lives, so we can spend a little time with him and see what his life is like, and maybe even catch a AA ball game there.
How do you choose your vacation destinations? Or how do you make the summer vacation memorable for your family? Leave a comment and let me know!
Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read about some great ideas other Crew members came up with in the Summer Inspiration Round-up, which will be live on Friday, May 27th.
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