Weather and Family Vacations

The weather is absolutely beautiful today! The weather has also been acting very funny the past couple days. A day starts out with clear, blue, sunny skies, then in a few hours it is getting overcast and instead of being comfortably warm, with a cool breeze, it feels almost like snow could fall. That's New England for you, I guess. :) When I got up to have my Quiet Time this morning at 8:30 (Hubby and I had a lovely evening at his parents last night, and we decided to spend the night) it was very grey out, and it definitely looked like it was going to rain. When we left after 9:00, it still felt very cold out. However, now the sun is shining, it is comfortably warm out, and there is a nice breeze blowing through our little apartment.

My family left last night for their annual - twice a year - vacation to Maine. My family has been going to the same place for 9 years now, and this is their 15th time going. It is also where my Husband and I Honeymooned. It is a beautiful place, right on a nice, quiet lake. My favorite thing about our vacations, was when we went in September because the leaves are just starting to change their colors, and we hardly ever see anyone else on the lake. Of course one of our (us children's) favorite parts about the week, was when we went on our private boat ride with Dad. I remember the first year my Dad started doing that (taking each of us out throughout the week, on a boat ride, just the two of us). He and I took the canoe (with the Kayak paddles), and we brought a cooler with lunch and our Bibles out with us as well. We also did some "exploring" of different parts on the lake, and we were gone for 3 hours. It was lots of fun, and it was a great time to talk.

As a young, teenage girl growing up in these times, not following the pattern of the other young people (even Christian young people) around me, was foremost on my mind. No matter what, I didn't want to follow the paths that I saw others going down, and I knew it was possible. Both my Mother and my Father gave me very good wisdom and guidance along the way, and I didn't follow the path that other young people were following. I didn't want to be like everyone else, and I wasn't. One of the most important things any young person can do is work hard on their relationship with their parents. Going to Maine was always a great time for refreshment and reenergizing. I always came away from those vacations, feeling closer to my siblings and my parents. That is one thing that I greatly miss, being married. But, I have the wonderful memories of 8 years, and going on vacation 13 times (Praise to the Lord, for providing that place for us), and I know that I want to create such great memories for my children, when the time comes.

Here is a list of some of my favorite memories (not in order) from when we were in Maine:

1. Doing dishes with my sisters, and singing our favorite songs together

2. Doing dishes with my Dad, because he always made things more fun

3. Taking walks with my Mom (almost) every day, for good exercise, and a few moments to talk

4. Taking walks/runs with my sisters

5. Going out in the paddle boat with my 2 sisters, closest (in age) to me, and talking about things we were struggling with

6. Journaling early in the morning or in the middle of the day, on the porch swing

7. Having my Quiet Time out on one of the boats in the middle of the lake

8. Reading. Reading, reading, reading. On the boats, on the deck, sitting in the warm sun, inside on the coach, late at night when everone was asleep, reading! :)

9. The time my Mom and I were reading through the Left Behind series together (she was ahead of me most of the time), and read through over half of the series in one week. :)

10. Doing puzzles with Mom and R

11. Playing Trouble while eating Breakfast

12. Playing Rummy, Monopoly, and other favorite games.

13. Watching movies and eating Popcorn at night (my family is up by 6:00 in the morning and so we went to bed around 9-9:30. But when we were on vacation, we stayed up until Midnight, and slept in until 8:30-9:30. It was rare that we were outside before 11:00.)

14. Being able to have long Bible studies every morning after breakfast (before we went outside) because Dad didn't have to leave for work

15. Somtimes we would stop at Wells Beach on our way home, and if it wasn't raining (which it usually was on our way home) than we would all get out of the big van and we'd get to go walk on the beach (and go in the water for those who were prepared :) ).

I could probably go on and on about all my favorite memories. Let's put it this way, every memory is my favorite. :)

What does your family usually do on vacation? Leave a comment and share. :)

One thing that I have learned over the years, is to enjoy every moment with my family when we're together. I never took for granted, our trips to Maine, and I'm so thankful that I didn't, and that I did treasure them, because they were special, and each trip was always a blessing.

I took this picture on our Honeymoon, on our way home, when we also stopped in Wells. (The picture at the top of this post is from when Kelsie and I visited the Ocean at Harkness.)

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