Vacations are not really restful

One of my all-time favorite movies is Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), starring Jimmy Stewart. It's about a burned-out banker who is ready for nothing more than a relaxing and pleasant trip to the seashore with his family. Of course, that's usually too much to ask for, isn't it? After jumping hurdle after hurdle, they finally get a late start on the road to the beautiful beach house they're envisioning, only to find that it's actually a dilapitated dump with poor plumbing and noisy neighbors. It's all downhill from there, and the trip turns into a total disaster. That's definitely the complete opposite of what Mr. Hobbs envisioned during all those months he spent planning the trip.

Well, Mr. Hobbs, I can relate! The past year of my life has been so crazy that, at times, I have honestly found myself looking forward to Mondays instead of Fridays. You heard me correctly--my weekends have actually been busier than my workdays! Saturdays and Sundays have been packed with soccer tournaments and church events and social gatherings and family celebrations that are a lot like this run-on sentence and never seem to slow down. I gave up on using my weekends to get caught up on all that stuff I don't have time for during the week a long time ago. Now, I absolutely must squeeze every last little task in between the happenings of my regular routine, or they will not ever get done. Stressful much? You bet!

My schedule seems like a good recipe for a heart attack sometimes. Just a few short weeks into summer busyness, I was already running out of breath. So, naturally, I insisted that our family take a little vacation of our own this summer. Due to the demands of my husband's small business, it would only be an extended weekend sort of thing, but even that would be better than nothing. We decided on 4th of July weekend, and chose to spend it at my little sister's house in the Boise, Idaho area. As we worked out the details, I envisioned a relaxing rendezvous with friends and family and fireworks, just as Mr. Hobbs had done. So do you think that everything went according to plan? Absolutely not!


The night before we were supposed to leave, we were up way too late packing. This is not only due to the fact that we didn't have time to pre-pack earlier that week, but also because Jeff confessed (at the last minute) that he was worried about losing business on Friday. He never said it meant that he didn't want to go, but I took it that way. This, of course. led to a fight that slowed our packing progress even more, and was also a very sour note to begin our trip with. The next morning, we dragged our sleep-deprived butts out of bed and got a late start on the road. We stopped for an hour to have a delicious breakfast with a dear friend in beautiful Hood River, and things were looking up for a while...until my food poisoning kicked in, and we were forced to stop on several occasions.

We barely made it to the barbecue we planned with my college friends, and didn't even have time to freshen up first. It's been years since I've seen them, so not even my puffy eyes, messy "road hair," and still-queasy-tummy could stop me. After the barbecue, we rushed back to my sister's house, hoping for a good nap before the fireworks. That didn't happen! After we brought our luggage in and set up camp, we realized that if we didn't get to one of the fireworks stands ASAP, they would be sold out. So we returned with our share of fireworks just in time for dinner, and after dinner, it was already dark and the sky was booming and crackling with color.

The next day was a little better. We got to sleep in some before I attended my sister's ultrasound appointment with her, and then enjoyed a lovely lunch out together. I originally envisioned us spending a full day at the water park, splashing around in the sunshine, but that didn't happen, either... We only ended up there for a half day, and the sun started to set half-way through that time, which made the water slides a little chilly for us. But as my family and I lay shivering on our inner tubes, holding hands as we floated around the never-ending river, I still savored the sunset as I reflected on our journey. 

I may not have looked my most attractive at Barbecue #1, but at least I got to see my friends. We didn't have the coolest fireworks on the block after the stand was almost cleaned out, but we still got to make some good memories with family. Our visit to the water park may have been shorter than intended, but we still experienced a few good thrill rides together. And we shared that special family moment in the pool, which I knew we would never forget. It goes to show that, while things will never go according to plan, time still moves way too fast for us to waste it worrying about what should have happened, or what shouldn't have gone wrong. The truth is, the best memories usually aren't made during something that was planned. They usually appear after those moments that turned out wrong, when you finally chose to embrace them and find the beauty in those mishaps.