Though I took a break from writing this summer, I made the most of my time off.  Now that both my young daughters are in school full time, we try to take advantage of their vacations to travel as much as possible.  We made several trips this summer, in an effort to spend time with family and friends.

We started the summer off with a trip to West Hartford, CT where we attended our oldest nephew’s high school graduation.  Despite the oppressive heat, we had a nice visit with family and were able to commemorate his achievement.  He is now a student at Oberlin College.  After the graduation, we spent a few days in Boston, MA, where we stayed with friends and visited my in-laws.  The kids enjoyed going to the beach, swimming in Grandma and Grandpa’s pool, and sampling the local seafood.  By the end of the week, they decided they wanted to move to Boston.

We spent a few days at home before taking off for our next trip to California.  We flew into San Francisco and spent time with friends and family along the northern and central coast.  I loved having the opportunity to catch up with so many loved ones.  The kids enjoyed seeing their west coast friends, exploring tide pools, going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and attending the California Mid-State Fair.  By the end of that trip, they decided they wanted to move to California.

After a few more days at home, I took a solo road trip from Chicago to Montclaire, NJ.  It was quite peaceful to have some time alone.  I did the whole drive in one day, listening to an audio book and music along the way.  The purpose of the trip was to deliver my father’s car to my brother in NYC.  After enjoying a brief but satisfying visit with my cousin and brother,  I flew home out of Newark, and then spent a few more days at home before our next excursion.  Between each trip, I had just enough time to unpack, do laundry, and repack.

Our final trip of the summer was our annual road trip with the kids and the dog out to our Spring Lake cabin, up in the mountains outside of Albany, NY. This time, we pulled an all-nighter, where my husband and I shared the driving straight through from Chicago to NY.  It actually worked out pretty well.  We made minimal stops with no overnight stay at a hotel en route, and the kids slept most of the way.  We relished the quality time with lots of family members on both sides and partook in all our favorite Spring Lake activities: swimming, fishing, hiking, picking blueberries, gathering wild mushrooms, working jigsaw puzzles, eating good meals, and relaxing.