Living Lovely With Family~ Vacations Part Two

Heidi's suggestion about coming up with

* out of the box ideas * for vacations got me thinking. It's good to change it up a bit from time to time. Yes we camped every year but we also went farther afield. Everyone has different opportunities they may take advantage of. Heather's family has been enjoying their time in the DC area with all that history to contemplate. We took a 7 week motor home trek across our great country when the girls were teenagers and if I started in on pictures of that ,this would be a very long post indeed! Well, marathon trips like those are usually not an option but think about the things in your part of the country that someone from out of town might want to see. It's amazing how often we ignore the interesting and beautiful nearest to us. Also, don't ignore the occasional traveling exhibit. Art or history sometimes comes to you.
Don't miss it

~

Replica of

~The Golden Hind~

Sir Francis Drake

~The Queen Mary~

Luxury liner also used to transport troops to Europe during WW2 ( notably my father, seen on the right)

Many wonderful day trips to the Oregon coast

And Picnics wherever we went

Occasionally we also visited our favorite exotic but accessible location

~Hearst Castle~

Living Lovely With Family ~ Vacations

Vacations for our family almost always involved camping at the most beautiful place on earth which happens to be only an hour and a half from home. Once we found this place we never looked back. We still love to go there, only now we watch the grand kids play in the river and climb to the waterfalls.

We went to a few other locations but they still involved tents, campfires, swimming, row boats, fishing, & games.

(and lots of work for Mom)

Boy what great memories it brought back working with these old Photos

It became a standing tradition to go with our friends the Toneys and sometimes our parents were able to join us too.

Those were good times!

You just can't beat camping for budget family fun

Chartreuse

One of my favorite hues~

Spring abounds with it

~Euphorbia~

Willow Waterfall



Pillows & Chairs





"If Spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change! But now the silent succession suggests nothing but necessity. To most men only the cessation of the miracle would be miraculous and the perpetual exercise of God's power seems less wonderful than its withdrawal would be."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Make a Joyful Noise

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make aloud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before

the LORD, the King."

Psalms 98:4-6

April

"This I saw on an April day:

Warm rain spilt from a sun-lined cloud,

A sky-flung wave of gold at evening,

And a cock pheasant treading a dusty path Shy and proud.

And this I found in an April field:

A new white calf in the sun at noon,

A flash of blue in a cool moss bank,

And tips of tulips promising flowers

To a blue-winged loon."

~ James Hearst~

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall."

~ Nadine Stair ~

Living Lovely With Family, Yearly Traditions

Work & Play

This is the real secret of life - to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now.And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

~ Alan Watts, Work as Play~

Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty.

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, Little Women

Re-creating the South American tradition of "asado" at the annual get- together with my husbands family on the river.

Just a few great oldies I came up with while thinking about yearly traditions in our family. Saving the actual vacations for next week.

April

"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year."

~ Mark Twain ~