It’s almost time for Summer Vacation and the famous question asked by all is “So, what are we gonna do today Ferb?” Well, unlike Phineas and Ferb who supposedly have 104 days of Summer Vacation we have roughly 68 days and they go by fast. It is hard to find the perfect balance of busy and lazy so that you feel your vacation was relaxing and yet creative and productive.
I have tried many strategies to attempt to keep us busy with something to do and every year when it is time to go back to school it seems as though we barely had time to do the things we really wanted to. I even have trouble comprising the list because I can’t decide how to prioritize the things I want to do. Does sleeping in trump getting up early to go the flea market, or playing with sidewalk chalk and the backyard hose beat out going to the movies and wearing 3D glasses? Daytrips vs. parks and play dates which one comes first? How can I have a perfect Summer Vacation when I can’t even come up with a plan?
Here are some of the places I would love to go for day trips this Summer:
1. The San Francisco Ferry Building: I have been wanting to go here for the past few years. Every school vacation I say to myself wouldn't it be great to take the BART and go and check this place out yet, it never seems to happen. One of the things that makes this trip so appealing to me is the ease in actually getting there. This is an easy two block walk from the Embarcadero BART Station. It is one of those hop on hop off kind of gems on the BART route. There aren’t enough of those. I think the experience of walking through the farmers market would be as close as I may ever come to walking through a farmers market in Southern France or some other exotic European Location. I do remember walking through the farmers market in Germany with Mirja (my dear foreign exchange student sister) and her mom when I was 18 and boy do I wish I paid much more attention to what I was experiencing than I actually did.
2. The California State Railroad Museum via Amtrak: This is a daytrip dreamt up by a mom with a little boy who loves Thomas The Tank Engine. Of course my little boy is now nearly 12 and has pretty much out grown Thomas, but do you ever really out grow trains? I still think we would all love this. I have heard that you can take the train from Modesto and get off in Sacramento close to the train museum. I’m not sure of all of the details but want to find out about how much this would cost and if it really is feasible.
3. Lavender Hollow Farm: Here is another really simple and easy trip to fit in. It really doesn’t even have to take a day since we are under 30 minutes from this place. However, if you don’t act quickly you will loose your opportunity since it closes by the 4th of July. I missed my opportunity last year. I really want to take my new camera here and have fun just clicking away. It might even be a better trip without the kids. They used to serve a delicious lunch with every item featuring a lavender twist they no longer serve lunch but I hear you can still get their famous Lavender Lemonade. A trip here was a birthday gift from Sister-in-law one year and I have always wanted to make it an annual trip.
4. San Francisco's Exploratorium, Presidio, and Fort Point: Steve of all people who only a few years ago told me he never wanted to go back to SF has expressed his desire to go back and explore these areas more. Of course I am all for anything that let’s me explore and get to know SF a little bit more. All of these places are in the same general vicinity and might make a great weekend trip too. They are also a good fit for the age range of our kids right now. A little bit of history, science, and beauty all wrapped up into one fabulous trip.
Those are on the top of my day trip list. Maybe we will actually hit one or two of those. The other things on my list include spending time with friends, camping in our trailer if possible, swimming in either my brother’s pool, bother-in-law’s pool, friend’s pool, community pool! Since we don’t have a pool we gotta take our opportunities when it comes to swimming too. Play dates with some of my kids good friends would also be nice. I need to encourage the friendships my kids are developing. Finally, I do want to relax and have days filled with sewing, planting, and enjoying hanging out at home but the house needs to be clean first or maybe just maybe almost clean would be close enough, otherwise I might never enjoy those things.
What is on your Summer Vacation list?
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