Summer Vacation. With two kids and a car.
Long awaited, our three days of summer vacation arrived last Thursday. We had decided on the same place as last year, a nice resort/hotel in Westerly, RI. People might think this is boring idea, but those with kids will understand that once you find a place that offers so many benefits (pool and playground on hotel grounds, a short walk to the beach, yet very quiet and almost traffic-less setting) you just won't see the point of going somewhere else. Residual memory from my childless days still steers my brain into the anticipation of relaxation when thinking of a few days off. This is unfortunate as vacationing with children somehow doesn't include an "off" option. Also, it's not a coincidence we only went for three nights. As much fun as we had, it was still exhausting.
The three days were a long string of happy, sunny and sandy faces, ice cream-smeared mouths, wet sticky hair, sunscreen everywhere... all the stuff the classic summer vacation is made of. The kids were a sight to behold with their silky skin and the summer breeze in their hair running back and forth. A little bit like paradise. Only then. Our car broke down. No, not close to the hotel, not on a weekday. It broke in Newport, over an hour drive away, on a Saturday afternoon, when mechanics are resting and car rental offices are closed. It took four hours - four hours we meant to spend enjoying Newport, RI - to go from worried to alarmed to frantic back to exhausted, trying to have the car towed, finding someone to take pity and promise to look at it on Sunday and getting a rental car (a miracle!). 8 pm found us tired and starving (the kids ate a whole hamburger!) at a town beach park in Newport... watching the most incredible sunset. It was a strange day. A lot of really nice things in the midst of a totally shaky situation. I do not wish to repeat it, but can't say it was really a disaster. Obviously, that's how I feel NOW. Good for you that you didn't see me on Saturday afternoon.
The point of all this, the photos. I think we did a great job this time around (Lincoln mostly). It helps to have the perfect backdrop and the cutest subjects. (I recommend using the slideshow format.)
Posted at 09:25 AM on July 27, 2007
I love your pictures! That looks like a beautiful place to visit.
I am every day watching the first-class new snapshot "kids" and family Souzek, with excellent comments. It is like at the times when as youngster I was attached to search the comic-strips "Mickey Mouse". I am pleasd by the message of humanity in this pictures. As a priest I would like to find also a sign of a living christianity. "Anima humana natauraliter christiana".