Summer@Home: The Bliss of NOT Being at Home

We went on vacation this summer.

To many people, that's not a monumental statement. However, we don't actually go on vacation very often. We visit family at their homes. Or we visit family homes when the owners are not there. But I can only count three real vacations we've been on since Herb and I were married just over 10 years ago. This year was one of them.

Our oldest, Ian, is going to college in the fall. So honestly, we don't know how many more of these "everyone is here together at the same time" vacations we're going to have. So we splurged and went to Hilton Head Island for a week. It was my favorite vacation spot when I was growing up. I had so many fond memories of Hilton Head that I wanted to share it with my kids.

One of the things I didn't really expect was how freeing it was for me to be on vacation with the family. Other than the drive up and back — which Herb had to do on his own — it was easy for me to forget that I couldn't drive. For the most part, when we went anywhere, we were all going together. No disappointments for the kids from hearing, "I'd love to take you, but I can't because Dad's not here."

And we were bicycling distance from the grocery store.  Hallelujah and pass the peanuts! I could go to the grocery store. By. My. Self. I'm not sure that I ever actually did. But just knowing that I could was enough.

And it was a Piggly Wiggly, no less! You can't beat that with a stick.

[Piggly Wiggly ... yet another amazing memory from my childhood! But I'll write about that another time.] 

There were two particularly memorable events from our vacation that I'd like to share.




Memorable Event 1: Gregg Russell
If any of you have vacationed at Hilton Head before, you likely have heard or heard of Gregg Russell. He has been performing concerts under the big old oak tree in Harbour Town for 37 seasons. That's right. The same Gregg Russell that I listened to when I was a kid is still there.

Herb, Sandy, and I got to sit under the oak tree and hear Gregg sing, just like I did when I was young. Joshua and Jordan also got picked from the audience to come up on stage and sing a song. I don't remember if Gregg did that when I was a kid, but it was sure a hoot this year!

It was more a case of Jordan wanting to go up, and knowing he had a better shot if it was a duet. Two girls will sing together on stage, no problem. But getting two boys is a different show entirely. Jordan's no dummy.

Gregg caught on really quickly to the fact that Jordan, though the younger, is the heftier of the two...

It was a truly magical night. The rain threatened, but did not materialize. We ate ice cream under the stars afterwards with one of Sandy's friends from home who happened to be there at the same time. And I got to relive some really wonderful childhood memories.

Memorable Event 2: Things Not to Do on Vacation with Teenagers
This is going to be short, because I'm going to embarrass myself.

DON'T drink two pitchers of frozen sangria while waiting for a dinner table. I don't care if the wait is an hour and half long at 5:30 p.m. (Only at Hilton Head in July...)

DON'T realize on the spur of the moment that your oldest child can now be a designated driver and order another round at dinner.

DON'T decide, after said pitchers of sangria, that it would be fun to see how much you can embarrass your teenagers by...

1. Almost falling out of your chair laughing after you order grimp and shrits.
2. Kissing your spouse at the dinner table. ("No, they won't throw us out. See, I'll prove it to you...")
3. Assuming that everything you say and do will go over your younger children's heads.
4. Almost paying the teens to take a walk on the beach after literally throwing the little ones in bed when you get back to the house.

'Nuff said.

Finish Well.