Looking at Other People's Vacation Photos is So Boring...

hen I was a kid, we drove nearly every year out to Utah, first starting from northern Indiana, and then from Kentucky. The goal was to get to relatives cheaply, not to see the sights. If I were going to make a list of all the states I've been to, the list would be quite long. But most of the time, I was passing through, not staying for a visit.

Now with kids of my own, we make the same trek twice a year. Not to Utah, but home to Kentucky/Tennessee. Our trip is shorter than the drive to the west, but the goal is the same - get there quickly and cheaply. The hills and mountains and then hills again pass by in a blur while I catch up on my reading, the boys re-watch the same movies for the hundredth time, and Michael drives and drives and drives. When we cross the border we say, "We're in Tennessee!" and then coming home, "Hello again, North Carolina."

I have a dream that someday we will buy an RV and spend the whole summer driving around the country. One time, I suggested to my boys that we buy an RV and spend an entire year on the road. Perhaps when Cole is in 5th grade, Eli is in 4th, and Rylan is in 1st, I mused, because that is the last year I will not have a job. The boys took me seriously and started telling their teachers, "I won't be here in 5th/4th grade. We're buying an RV."

Maybe someday I'll take a trip where I stop to see the sights in all those places I've passed through, but for now, vacation looks like this:


My mom and I took the boys sight-seeing in Philly on one of the days that Miriam had to work. Okay, let's not kid ourselves...we took the boys to see the Liberty Bell and then forced them to walk around Philadelphia for three more hours. Everything else after the Liberty Bell was child torture (if you ask Cole, Eli, or Rylan) except perhaps riding the carousel. Actually, they were pretty good until the last 30 minutes, and my mom and I highly recommend these storytelling stations that they have set up throughout the city.


On to Kentucky! A friend of my mom's has miniature horses and graciously invited my boys over for a ride. Actually, I think we invited ourselves, but she was still a gracious host.


We spent a couple days in Tennessee catching up with Michael's sister, whose family was stationed in Hawaii for three years. It was awesome to see them. All of a sudden, Christian is a teenager! (You can tell by his carefully styled Bieber haircut.) Plus, Diana is pregnant with her fourth, making her another one of those people who makes me feel like a slacker. I was disappointed going through my photos to see that I didn't catch a picture of Diana - she looks so good! And...my in-laws got rabbits. You do not want to know why!