Long Overdue Blog Post #3

Musings on Vacations

If  it is almost 5 months between posts, do I even get credit for having a blog???
So…as I take a breath….School is out, summer is in full swing….My mind takes me to the topic of vacations…
When I was a kid, we took our annual summer vacation from Southern California (the vacation Mecca to most), packed our station wagon, and travelled to Idaho Falls, where my father grew up.    Yup…from the sunny beaches of Southern California to Idaho Falls.  In case you were wondering…we did stop in Provo…taking our lodging at the illustrious Motel 6….Luxury stuff happening all over the place.  Hey…there was a pool…I was stoked!!
Once we arrived in Idaho Falls, we got the royal grandkid treatment.  The basement full of retro toys, a ping pong table, and full crazy breakfasts with toast made by my grandfather…with every kind of jam, honey, or spread your little heart could desire.  From here, we travelled to Island Park…we have a family cabin built by my dad and my grandfather…a cabin in the pines,  built of lodge poles…the greatest place ever.  There was river floating, fishing, mini-bike riding, long walks by the Snake River, and trips to Yellowstone!!  And, I learned a most important life skill…how to shuffle cards and play Poker!!  Great memories of my childhood….

These days our lives have morphed this vacation principle into a concept we like to call….SPORTCATIONS.  Yes…I know there are a few of you out there nodding your head…you, too, are familiar with this warped version of family vacations…

Our kids are busy into athletics…our boys in soccer, our girls in gymnastics.  Most of our “extracurricular” budget falls under this heading…dues, tournament fees, uniform fees, coaching fees, travel expenses, competition fees, etc.  So where is our vacation budget???  Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!  Nonexistent…but NEVER FEAR…we do travel…just under a different title…SPORTCATION!!!

From May2012 to June 2013…our SPORTCATION itinerary looked like this….

Boise for Gymnastics Level 9 Western Nationals, May 2012

Phoenix for Soccer Far West Regionals, June 2012

Park City for Soccer Tournament, August 2013
Las Vegas for Gymnastics Invitational  AND Soccer Tournament in January, 2013
Phoenix for Gymnastics Invitational in February, 2013

Phoenix for Gymnastics Regionals, April 2013

Roseville, California Gymnastics Level 9 Western Nationals, May 2013

Hawaii for Far West Regionals Soccer Tournament, June 2013

Made it all the way to Semi-Finals!!!!

So…we actually travel…just not like the traditional “vacation”…We haven’t seen the Grand Canyon(only driven by it on the way to a meet), have only done Yellowstone once, and Disneyland is a thing of our past…but if you ask me where I would rather be….I will sit contentedly on the sidelines of a soccer game or at a gymnastics meet, watching some of the greatest sites I will ever see… my kids finding their confidence, achieving their successes developing their style , plotting their dreams….Best seat in the house….Best vacations ever!!

Apron Strings...and all those little crazy things...

So…this blogging thing….it’s interesting!!  I have been thinking about what to write since my first post (figuring that just 1post wouldn’t actually count as a true blogging adventure) and have wondered how this picking of topics works…

If you know me…the word RANDOM is probably coming to mind right now…and that’s where my thoughts often take me…

But I have had a recurring randomness this week, so here goes…

One of my favorite movies from the 80’s (yes…I am an 80’s child) is another John Hughes production ,“She’s Having a Baby” with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern.  Funny stuff!!  If you haven’t seen it…SEE IT!!  In the movie, there is a song called Apron Strings by Everything But the Girl….when I came to love that movie, it had an entirely different meaning…I was young, thinking ahead to starting my own family…

Apron strings…so often it implies having your kids underfoot, close in your lives, sometimes too close…it implies kids who cling to their moms maybe too much??? 

Often it is said to be a relief to “cut your apron strings”….Hmmm….

But today… I so wish my apron strings were just a bit longer and stronger…

My oldest is 18…keeps saying things like “When I move out….When I go to school…When I am  on my own”  And then he has the audacity to say phrases like “this summer…after I graduate….coming up pretty soon”….This can’t actually be true. 

I am in Denial…De Nial….Da Nile…The Nile…it’s a place in Egypt…a really pretty river!!

So what do I want for my apron strings??  STRONG, but FLEXIBLE…like stretchy enough to follow my kids on their life adventures…maybe INVISIBLE??? 

When my kids were little and so, so, so busy (so, so, so many of them all at once), I yearned for the day when they were big….

Now I wish for ROOTS and WINGS, and my special order APRON STRINGS!!!