How Did You Spend Your Summer Vacation?

What did you do for your summer vacation?  That’s the question school kids across the country are answering in classrooms this month with pencil to paper, imaginations thinking back to those beautiful days of summer.  It’s a great question really.  Because with one simple question, we are firing the imaginations of children for how they spend their time- apart from school.

For most families, summer vacation means more time to do things together and, if you’re lucky, to take a trip or two seeing new sights and visiting special places.   That’s where memories are made, and when we travel and visit new places together, our children learn more about the world as a whole.

The word travel means many things- but to children I think it beckons of adventure and a chance to explore more of life.  What’s not to like?  Beaches, water, amusement parks, forests, boating, camping, swimming, activities… ice cream!    I’m always amazed at what children find interesting about traveling. 

So what did we do for our summer vacation?  The kids went to day camp  for a week with all kinds of fun activities.  Then we took a marvelous trip across the eastern U.S. to visit relatives.  It was a chance to camp along the way and see various sights like the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.  That was very cool… looking at aviation from its inception, touching and exploring aircraft through the decades.  We continued our trip and stopped at both Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, swimming, hiking and enjoying the cool temperatures.  

The summer also included boating trips to various lakes in the midwest, and more camping.  It was a chance to go fishing as well, and to visit amusement parks.  Barbeques and late night movies became weekly affairs… mostly on a budget.  We didn’t travel to any far away countries or exotic places, but enjoyed many family activities.   Next year we even hope to reach Disney World!   So what did you do with your summer vacation?!