Montly Musings-June

It's too hot to think deep thoughts. Plus today's my volunteer day followed by a trip to see the orthopedist,  so keeping it simple. I'm linking with the Monthly Musings girls, Holly (Pink Lady) and Patty (Good Better Best), who offer ten topical questions to answer on the last Thursday of every month. This month we're talking Summer Vacation Guide, and everyone is welcome to jump in...here we go- 

1. Share your summer trips for 2025. 

Our backyard is a summer destination so we try not to do a lot of traveling this time of year. 

We love company in the summer months and typically have a lot of it. We prefer to do our own traveling in other seasons. 

That being said, this year we've booked a house in Hilton Head for a family beach vacation late summer, and I'm looking forward to that. All the grands will be there, along with their parents and I'm sure it will be crazy fun. Have you ever been to Hilton Head? 

Fun fact...this is me on the beach at Hilton Head, aged 3. 

We lived in the nearby area that year. I've been several times as an adult and the island has a relaxed, family friendly vibe, great restaurants, fresh seafood, and plenty of sun, sand, and water for everyone to enjoy.

2. How do you manage the post vacation laundry? 

Pretty much the same way I manage laundry year round. Just get it done. If we're in a rental with a washer and dryer I'll do laundry before we head home, even though that goes against my personal motto NOT to do laundry while on vacation. 

Also I feel like hubs and I have a lot of laundry for two people. Not the point of this question, but true nonetheless. 

3. Most memorable summer vacation? 

Ooh, this is a toughie. From my childhood or my grown up life? How about one of each? 

We didn't take a lot of summer vacations when I was growing up. We belonged to the local swim club and spent our days there, lived an hour from the 'Jersey shore' so always had a couple of day trips there, and went to sleep away camp for a week which we loved. 

But! My grandparents all lived out west and every so often my parents would buy six plane tickets and take their whole crew to Colorado and then New Mexico. 

We absolutely loved these trips. My dad grew up on a farm outside of Denver and my mom grew up in Albuquerque so the landscape, the food, everything was big and exciting and so different than our East Coast life. 

We loved seeing some of our cousins on these trips too. Everyone was spread out far and wide and people didn't travel the way they do now so it was all very special. 

Now as an adult I've had some pretty fabulous trips so picking just one favorite is nearly impossible. Our family trip to Lago Maggiore definitely makes the top five. 

We spent the mornings taking the wooden boat taxis out to various islands in the lake, exploring and lunching and shopping. The afternoons were spent at the pool reading stacks of books. The food was fabulous and we ate our weight in gelato. 

It was 2007 and my oldest had just finished her first year of uni, my youngest was getting ready for her senior year of high school. 

Time moves fast in those young adult years and I'm so glad we hit pause and just enjoyed being together in a beautiful place. A core memory for all of us. 

4. Do you cook or eat out on vacation? 

Depends on what sort of vacation we're having. If we're in a rental house at the beach with five littles ages 8 and under, then we'll definitely be preparing many meals at home. Our plan for the summer beach trip this year is for each couple to plan one dinner, eat one dinner out with the whole group, pizza on the beach one night, and take out seafood at some point. We'll mostly do breakfast and lunch at home too. It's just easier and more enjoyable in this stage of parenting/grandparenting. 

Now, if it's just me and the hubs then I'm all about eating every meal out. 

5. Are you an overpacker, underpacker, or a just right packer? 

If we're traveling by car there's no such thing as overpacking lol. I'm a just right packer when it comes to air travel. 

6. Beach, lake, or mountains? 

Yes please. 

7. Road trip or fly? 

I prefer a road trip, but sometimes flying is necessary so I deal. 

8. Favorite vacation activities? 

A book and a beverage and a beach chair. 

Walking on the beach. 

Walking the countryside.

Exploring foreign cities. 

Going where the locals go. 

Eating where the locals eat. 

museums and history 

Coffee or wine sipped in a European city square.

9. Best packing tips? 

I'm a fan of packing cubes and use those when I'm trying to save space. For road trips I like to pack in tote bags, which hubs is not super keen on, but I feel more organized this way. 

10. Favorite road trip songs? 

I like a mix of 70's (best music ever), country, upbeat, and laid back. It might depend where we're going too. For a beach trip there will be lots of beach music which is one of our favorite genres anyway. On car trips we usually listen to Sirrus radio and switch between the 70's, 80's, The Bridge, and Y2country stations. 

Also, we listen to books on Audible when we have long car trips, and break it up with music. 

Enjoy your summer travels everyone, wherever you may roam.

Life And Stuff

My daughter and I were talking about how she had recently gone back and read a blog post written in 2006 by someone who went on to become a very popular blogger. This particular blogger had taken a trip somewhere my daughter plans to visit and she remembered this blogger writing about it.

She told me how much she loved reading the post and how it was written in the format of here's what I did on day one of my vacation and here's what I did on day two of my vacation and here's a picture of every single dessert we ate and here's the beach we walked on and how there wasn't a single link to anything commercial and it wasn't polished but it was oh so real.

And we both agreed this was why we became bloggers and it's the thing we miss when we don't blog.

I'm bringing it back. Here's some stuff from the past few weekends that I never got around to mentioning and that maybe isn't worth mentioning because it's just friends gathering and reminiscing and people coming and going and babies being adorable and isn't that the stuff life is made of?

Two weekends ago I was here-

Hilton Head Island.

It was a too quick weekend spent with girls I pledged a sorority with nearly four decades ago, but who are still eighteen in my head. We laughed until our sides hurt and remembered how good that feels. There was some beach sitting, some shop til you drop kind of fun, shared appetizers and stories and a brilliant sunny Saturday. There was birthday cake (pink of course) with too big candles and heartfelt wishes.

We chased down a sunset but were laughing too hard to run so almost missed it.

Almost.

The kind of weekend you want to tuck in your pocket and pull out from time to time when the world feels gray and your heart needs a pick-me-up. That kind of weekend. These girls. The stuff life is made of.

While I was away hubs drove over to Tennessee and picked up his mom and brought her to the lake to spend a few days with us here. The weather was glorious and we had a wonderful time showing her around tiny town. On Tuesday she visited Daughter2's classroom and read a book to her kindergarten students. So special!

We had an early dinner afterward and enjoyed hearing about her day, and then we spent most of the next day on the lake because it was too nice to do otherwise. This summer weather in October is something, isn't it?

We drove my mother-in-law back to Tennessee Thursday evening, then went on up to collegetown Friday morning for homecoming festivities. We had lunch at a little spot called White Duck Taco where we sat outside and caught up with some of our favorite people also in town for the homecoming shenanigans. White Duck does fancy tacos and I had one Thai chicken and one pork belly and both were scrumptious.

That evening we went to dinner with a big group of friends and then Saturday was game day. Let's just say it was warm. Have mercy! 

Still we tailgated and enjoyed seeing the brand new stadium, but by halftime we were melting so we called it a day and headed back to the hotel for a nap before the evening party.

I know this picture looks cloudy, but those clouds lasted just long enough for me to snap a picture. The rest of the time the hot hot sun was staring us down.

I love visiting campus even if they did take down 'our tree' and put the stadium in it's place. The grounds around the school are still so pretty and hubs and I always take a walk hand in hand and remember why we fell in love. It's good to remember.

Are you still in touch with your college friends? Do they still know how to make you laugh, pull at your heartstrings, say remember when, sense you need a hug or maybe lemon drops and a reality check (hi Amanda!)? Ours do, and for that we are truly grateful. Who knew thirty five+ years ago our lives would be so entwined still?

I really need to blog more because now here I am many paragraphs later and I haven't even mentioned baby boy being adorable. He needs his own post anyway, don't you think? No worries...he'll get one. Or ten. Or maybe a hundred. teehee.

Happy Thursday everyone!
SaveSave