How I Spent My Christmas Vacation
Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Wednesday, January 05, 2011 7:11 PM
Do you know what? I don’t like keeping secrets from you guys.
When we decided to take a family trip to south Florida for Christmas break, I chose not to mention it online for security reasons. I still think that was a good idea, but I am a blogger, a Facebooker, and Tweeter. It was difficult to not share our road trip and various family adventures as they happened.
Driving over 3,000 miles there and back was the hard part, but we sure did enjoy our sunny holidays in beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (Did I mention beautiful?) Sanibel Island.
But I can share now, so I will tell you a few of the things I learned on this family trip:
1. We Beans take up two hotel rooms. When we book them on the road, at the last minute, we get a really good rate. In fact, by the time we’ve all taken hot showers and enjoyed the free breakfast, I think the rooms have paid for themselves in food and hot water.
2. If you go new places, you will see new things:
3. When ten of you are going to be living in a smallish beach cottage for many days, it might not be the best idea to give two of your boys Nerf N-Strikes on Christmas morning.
4. Even if the kitchen in your cottage lacks a mixer among other basic necessities, you can so make your French Canadian grandmother’s butter cake recipe for Christmas dessert and it will taste just like home and family and Christmas—even if you serve it after an evening stroll on the beach.
5. The kind of weather that Florida natives call “too cold for being outside” New Hampshire boys call “just right for boogie boards in the water.”
6. Even unfamiliar Christmas scenes bring joy with their simple natural beauty.
7. I do too many things. Too fast. Enforced slowing down and disconnecting is a very good “cure” for me.
8. God manifests His abundant beauty and generosity in limitless ways.
9. I love my home and my laundry machines and my coffee maker and my wood stove and (yes!) even my snow and cold.
10. We Beans love each other. Lots.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
