There were milestone
birthdays on the calendar this year and it was a good year to go. The much
older sister started the campaign. The niece set up a group text for “Family
Vacay”. I researched accommodations and made flight reservations. I found
a vacation rental by owner where we could have together time and personal space.
We counted the days and tossed in text of how we would like to spend our time.
We made a visit to see Mickey Mouse
and the 18 year old got her ears. The 40 year was king of the Uber app and saw
a new release movie and took the boys to a LA Dodgers baseball game. The 35
year old was all in for the beach scene, and was even ok when the temperature
dropped to mid 60s because that meant no guilt for a lazy day that we tried to
put on swimsuits but sweats felt better. The 30 year old played tour guide for his
family from Oklahoma. He made sure we dined at the Studio City restaurant where
he works.
Hubby, Doug, didn’t have a major
birthday but he took some of us to the prestigious Magic Castle for shows and
dinner. Our newest family member, nephew-in-law, voted for an excursion to
Catalina Island. The niece-in-law made time to do some shopping in the “ can’t
believe how big this mall is!” mall. Bro-in-law loves to drive and explore, and
would take off and come back with a story. Sister did what she does best, went
grocery shopping and kept in the kitchen filling the table with food for us to
sit down and eat, family style.
There was a little something for
everyone. A nice balance of tourist time and down time. The week was long
enough for us to make some major memories but short enough to think it went by
too quickly.
I wasn’t in charge. I waited for someone else to announce leave times and what we were doing. We laughed, and discussed, and were a family.
Maybe it’s a bit sentimental, but we
all need to make memories while we can. And remember if you can always make a
group tour your traveling family. We are a traveling clan, Good to Go.
