Every year since I was young, our family has traveled to the Texas coast for July 4th. We celebrated with the same friends and went to the same place to watch fireworks every year. This is a tradition that we have continued into our adulthood and are now sharing with a new generation of children! What a joy it has been to watch our children run along the same stretch of beach we grew up on and to see this special place through their eyes!

As always, we made the trip with my parents, but we were so sad that my newlywed sister and her husband could not make it this year. The kids had a blast swimming and playing at the pool and beach. We went to our traditional restaurant for dinner and to watch the sun set over the bay before making our way to “our spot” for fireworks. My husband bought the kids glowsticks and glow-necklaces for that evening, so they were having lots of fun with those before the fireworks began.

I’m not sure I actually saw any of the fireworks myself. I was too busy watching Anna Kate and Connor to see their reactions to them. I could see the glow of the lights in their eyes and how their sweet faces lit up with excitement. That’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it!

Now that I have children, I appreciate even more the country we live in and the sacrifices that so many have made and continue to make so that my family and I can enjoy the freedom to come and go as we please and to continue these types of traditions. I can’t help but feel very blessed!

Summer 2010 is here and the plans are well underway for exciting things to do involving grandchildren.  It’s a good thing my husband and I took our spring trip so we can be free to do whatever we are called upon to do. . .that’s what grandparents do you know!!

The “Big Kids” started asking last January where our “Nana Trip” would be this year.  This “Nana Trip” thing started about 4 years ago because we took a “girl’s trip”.  We went to Birmingham, AL, for a weekend of shopping.  I thought it would be fun to treat the girls to a suite at the hotel adjoining the Galleria, order room service and have lots of girl fun.  I was right, we had a great time but did I ever start something!

The boys were a little jealous so the next year we took a boys trip to Chattanooga, TN. We stayed in an authentic railroad car at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a hotel complex in a train station commemorating the history of railroads. We visited the Tennessee Aquarium, ate pizza and just had fun hanging out! The boys enjoyed playing cards in the “room” as much as anything.  They really liked staying in the refurbished rail car. . .and it was neat!!!

Last year I surprised them all with a week in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I bravely took off to Alabama with the 3 Kentucky teenagers, a tank full of gas and most importantly, Pops credit card. The 4^th teenage grandchild flew in from California and met us in Gulf Shores.  We had a great time, Kayci and I had our own rooms and the boys had bunks. . . everyone had their own TV so after a busy day on the beach and a great dinner out, there was no fussing over who was watching what! It was a wonderful trip and the kids couldn’t have been better!  Other than the fact it takes several hours to drive from Paducah to Gulf Shores, there were no complaints!  

This year it has already been difficult to fit things in to the children’s hectic schedule. . . .2 KY grandsons  will continue the family tradition of going to Philmont, New Mexico, with their father for 2 weeks of backpacking at the Boy Scout Ranch.  If it wasn’t busy enough, two sons and their families will be moving this summer!  This wasn’t a planned thing . . . it just happened!  Jobs take people all over the world and we are lucky that 3 sons will now have their families in Tennessee . . .  closer to each other and not too far from us!  It will now be easier for us to stop in the Strasburg store in Nashville’s Cool Spring Galleria!

With all that going on, I think the perfect “Nana Trip” will be just a couple days this year. . . don’t tell them, but I think we will go to St. Louis, MO, for a visit to the zoo , a little shopping for Kayci and try to catch a St. Louis Cardinal ballgame to satisfy the boys!  

As the “Big Kids” grow up and “Nana Trips” become harder to fit into their schedules . . . it’s comforting to know we have two new babies – ages 1 and 8 months who will soon start asking what the plans are for this summer’s   “Nana Trip”??? We will  keep making plans but most  important of all we will be making  memories!

Ah….Maui…wish we were still there instead of doing mountains of laundry after getting back!

One of my closest friends and I both turned 40 this past year, so our husbands decided we would all take a fabulous trip to Maui together.  Now, our friends have one beautiful 6 year-old daughter and we have 4 amazing kiddos, so we were certainly quite a crew traveling all that way together. 

Beach Baby!

But for all my apprehension about the flight, the kids did great!  We have a 7 year-old daughter, a 6 year-old son, a 4 year-old son and a 16 month-old baby girl.  I was most concerned about the baby, and she couldn’t have been any better. Thank goodness!
(And I’m sure everyone else on the flight was saying thank goodness as well!).  The kids adapted pretty well to the time difference and were ready to go first thing the next morning.  This vacation was everything I had hoped it would be. Quality family time that we had all been in desperate need of.

Say Cheese!

We had such an amazing time!  Let me just tell you, Maui is absolutely beautiful.  The water is so blue, everything is so green and the flowers…oh, the flowers are just amazing.  We had our pictures taken on the beach and my girls wore dresses from Strasburg that were just perfect for beach pictures.  All the kids loved the beach. We were there for several hours a day until the kids were just completely exhausted from the water and the sun.  One night we went to an authentic Hawaiian luau that was incredible! The dancing was so pretty. Everyone had a great time.

The best part of the trip was being there with our friends.  We had never travelled with anyone that wasn’t related to us before, and it really was a fantastic experience.  I hope they feel that way, too.  (Even though our four kids were a lot more high maintenance than their daughter).   Anyway, we definitely did not want to come home. The kids all cried and begged to stay “just one more day”.  Fortunately, we have tons of gorgeous pictures and beautiful memories that will keep Maui close to our hearts forever!

- Jennifer Z.