As I was sitting on the toilet reading a magazine called “Long Weekends” that I received as part of my swag from Gleek Retreat, I got excited. I started getting travel thirsty, my inner explorer was pounding its way to the surface.
But really…
I don’t know if I mentioned that all my kids are going to be home for most of the summer. All five kids. Home. Doing nothing. Except telling me that they are bored. And throw in a long term mess for good measure. Which means, Hi, I’m Melissa. I’ll be your entertainment committee. Welcome aboard. *Fake cracking smile*
Help me.
Anywhoo. I was reading this magazine. The title is “44 new things to see and explore”. It covers Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennslyvania and West Virginia. So, pretty close to my own backyard. Give or take a day in the car.
There are some really great places to go. Caving, white water rafting, visiting wine country in Indiana…I mean, who knew that Indiana had a wine country!? So does Michigan. And I lovvvveeee wine. Even more so when they are all home. Self medication…duh! 😉
For the first time in ages, I feel like summer won’t be a complete stressful nightmare, except for the fact that…did I mention all the kids will be home? Most of the stuff around MIchigan can be done as a day trip and who cares how late we get home? The other things will definitely have to be done over a long weekend. I haven’t done any research so I don’t know the expense of anything. But, with a family the size of mine, going somewhere every weekend is an impossibility. Big family, little budget. Tiny budget, ginormous family. Anyways…you get the picture.
To think I considered this magazine to only be worthy of bathroom reading. I may have an entire summer worth of blog-worthy travel posts…or not. And even better, I may have a summer FULL of different things to do besides fight with my husband over him playing volleyball every stinking weekend.
Even if we don’t go anywhere that this magazine recommends, I know that there is no way…in hell…I’m sitting around doing nothing and getting PMS’y about it. We are going to have to find cheap, fun things to do. Or I’m running away from home.
So tell me, what are your plans for this summer? Do share!
I’m definitely making a trip back home to visit family before Pineapple is too old to (lie about her age so she can) fly for free. 😉 Not sure what else beyond that but her daycare does take a week off every summer so I’ll be WFH then. We’re also hoping some friends will come for a visit!
Wine country in Illinois? Learn something new everyday….
XOXO Rachael
@PineappleBabble
.-= Rachael´s last blog ..My 10 Grossest Parenting Moments….to date. =-.
I’m playing both mom and dad til March, so the whole cmaping-fishing-outdoorsy thing…yep turns out I am stuck with that task. If I wanted to sleep on the ground I would not have married. But, as my youngest pointed out, we have air mattresses. So we will be camping and fishing and going to the park and movies. Oh speaking of movies, we are driving 6 hours south to get together with my besties to watch the midnight showing of Eclipse. That should be fun. I may decide to take another 4 hour drive from there and hit South Padre. Living in Texas, we have no choice but to drive and as much as I hate driving, I hate being trapped in a house with these kids and their friends.
There is, by the way, an EXCELLENT little winery on Route 34 (Ogden Avenue) in Oswego, which is just south of Aurora – Fox Valley Winery – http://www.foxvalleywinery.com
And if you’re planning to run away from home – let me know – maybe we can go Dutch.
.-= lceel´s last blog ..Tuesday Tale – Blocked =-.
Well let’s see, I plan to pack my kids off to daycare every day and go to work. Just like every other day. 😉 Unfortunately with starting a new job I will not have vacation for six months. Hopefully I’ll be able to take some time off next year.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Jodi and Jennifer =-.
Well if you are willing to drive a little further – NC is quickly becoming a well known area for it’s wineries (to replace the tobacco farms that we are losing). Plus, I’m here!
.-= gigiq´s last blog ..Apparently there is some little jezabelle running around trying to steal my son’s heart. =-.
You never know what you’ll find in the bathroom. Gross. You never know what you’ll READ in the bathroom, I mean. If you come over to the West SiEEde let me know – I am all about GR!
.-= Jen @ BigBinder´s last blog ..Well, Michigan Week Isn’t Going To Celebrate Itself, So… =-.
Packing to move, mostly. Though when I have the kidlets I plan to visit splash parks and the zoo and generally speaking Get Out And About.
.-= TeacherMommy´s last blog ..new =-.
We are taking a family vacation to visit some relatives and then Hubman has to travel extensively for work this summer so it will just be me and the kiddos.
I am planning fun stuff for us all to do.
.-= Another Suburban Mom´s last blog ..Random Dozen =-.
I hope you get to make some trips! We have no plans, but having kids under school age means summers aren’t really any different from winters except for temperature.
by the way – my grandmothers response to “I’m bored” was “smart people never get bored.” Pretty much puts an end to that complaint since no kid wants to call themselves stupid. Maybe give it a try?