My lovely Aunt Gert use to say I had itchy feet.
I always wanted to go somewhere else and do something else and see somewhere else. I still do.
It's probably why I adapted so well to the lifestyle of being a military spouse for 20 years. We'd move every 3 years which was just enough time to get settled in to a new place, explore the local offerings, and just as I was about to get bored it was time to move on.
Now that we are settled here in Memphis my itchy feet need to be scratched with family vacations and yoga trips.
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| Me doing wheel pose in front of Santa Monica Pier ferris wheel |
But, let's just indulge in one more picture!
My summer travels were spent going weekly from my home north of Memphis into the city to LeBonheur Children's Hospital. Yeah, not the most sought after vacation destination. It was the summer of broken bones in my house and just as one kid would finish orthopedic surgery, it was time for another kid to take a fall and back to the ER we'd go.
The end of the year had two unexpected trips for me. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 liver, lung and brain cancer. What do you do when you are so far away and your mom is sick? You call the airlines and hop a plane. I went home twice this fall to be with her.
And in just three days I'll be spending my Christmas day traveling through airports with six kids in tow. It will be the first Christmas ever spent together with my parents, my sisters kids and my kids. Five adults and nine kids in a three bedroom house with one bathroom. Can you say chaos? It's going to be wonderful chaos!
Next year I'd really like to skip the emergency room trips. Instead, I've got planned:
- Another trip to California for yoga training
- A weekend get away to New Orleans for me to attend a John Friend workshop and my husband to catch up with old friends. It will be the first time I've been back to New Orleans since we evacuated Hurricane Katrina.
- A family vacation to Disney World! But shh, don't tell the kids! I don't have all the details worked out yet but I'm really saving my pennies for this one. My oldest will be almost 17 and family vacation time with him is coming to an end. My youngest will be six, so I'm hoping she'll be old enough to remember her trip to the Magic Kingdom.
If those trips don't soothe my itchy feet, I'll have to pull out the map and start driving somewhere!
Jilda and I would like to go to Ireland either in 2011 or 2012.
ReplyDeleteWe've been once and it was a great trip. Where else can you drive on the wrong side of the road legally?
6 is the perfect age to go to Disney for the first time. That was always our family rule. I stayed with grandma and grandpa when mom and dad would take the older kids to the park until I was 6. Mom says at that age they really can 1)appreciate meeting the characters 2) ride most if not all of the rides, 3) are toilet trained and hopefully past the tantrum stages, and 4) can remember the trip and enjoy those memories forever. I know I jumped the gun and just took Sarah at 1, but the opportunity arose and I won't go again until the kids are at least 6.
ReplyDelete