Vacation For Thought

"Our memories of the water will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."...author unknown

My son and I were relaxing on the boardwalk at about sunset on the last evening of our vacation when I took this peaceful shot.  It was a perfect end to our vacation experience, which turned out beautifully and left us with many cherished memories that will last a lifetime.

A while back I wrote a post about my husband's favourite expression, "the best things in life are free".  Don't worry - I haven't had too much sun to know that a vacation is definitely not free!  But a vacation affords us the luxury to step back and smell the roses, and that's worth every penny.  It gives us the time to enjoy and remember life's simple pleasures.

When you take the time to stop and look around, the beauty of our natural environment will relax you more than anything else.  We took a cruise on our first evening and spent ninety minutes just taking in the view, the water, the sunset, the trees, the air, the birds, and virtually every sight and sound was simply breathtaking.  It is not that these things are unavailable to us all throughout the year, we just do not stop to appreciate them.  I'm going to take a minute each day from now on to stop and take in the environment I previously have taken for granted.

A vacation reminds us of simple moments that bond a family.  For example, when was the last time your whole family sat down and enjoyed the togetherness of eating every meal four days in a row?  We never do it, and that is something that will soon be changing at our house!  What better use of twenty minutes can you find to connect and show you care than appreciating a home cooked meal together as a family?

A vacation allows us the opportunity to remember that life is amazing because we share it with those we love.  A swimming pool only comes to life when you hear the laughter and joy from your children splashing around in it.  I watched my children knowing that they're growing up and building their childhood memories.  I could continue to watch from the sidelines, or know that it's more fun to join the party and participate with them.  So I entered the cannonball competition every afternoon and danced and got silly in the pool when the staff encouraged the parents to.  And I know from the look on my daughter's face that she was happy I did.  I played with my son in the pool and lake and let him splash me about a hundred times and took him across the island on a guided nature hike that we both loved.  At night we competed with other families and played Family Feud.  The more time we spent together, the more I wished it was always like that.  All this reminds me of that old expression "a family that plays together, stays together."  I will keep that in mind from now on!

A vacation does not have to cost thousands of dollars to leave you with thousands of wonderful memories and new ideas to keep those feelings alive all year long.  It is a reminder to all of us that time is limited, so use it well.  And when you do, peace and happiness will follow you.

I will leave you today with one more vacation photo - my daughter participating in her cannonball competition, which she won.  It was actually a cannonball flip, which impressed the judges and me!

Wow!! How did she do that?  When it was my turn against the other parents, I knew I was not going to win...I'm not very athletic, but I wanted to be in the spirit of having fun and making memories, so as I jumped, I yelled out "whoohoo!!!".  I didn't win, but the judge said I showed great enthusiasm and deserved the prize for best "sound effects".  My daughter and husband could not stop laughing!!  Glad to be of entertainment!

Cheers and have a great weekend!

Linda