Results tagged “vacation” from Momtourage: Blogger Knows Best

  With the economy being so...for lack of a better word....slow....and airfares being at an all time low, I packed up our daughter and took her to England for a real summer vacation.  Well, it wasn't actually what we'd define as 'summer' over there but at least school was out of session.  We did some sightseeing in London and then headed southwest to spend time with family in Cornwall.  Cornwall is farm country and Lily, being born and raised in Brooklyn, was thrilled to see sheep, cows and horses on a regular basis.  When I informed her that her cousin owned ponies she replied, "Real ones?!"  Here are some photos from our trip.  By the way, those other blonde children in the photo with the lambs are her cousins.  I know, it was like the aryan children ver playing dahlink (imagine bad German accent).  And don't worry, that cow in this photo was a fake.  They only teach milking on fake cows as the real ones are waaaay too dangerous....and stinky.

When I was young, my favorite season was summer: school was out, the weather was hot, and we could just play all day. Living in southern California meant easy bus journeys to the beach with friends from school and lots of lazing 'round and reading. 

by Kris

Because it is my best friend's 40th birthday and because there is a winter special on (buy 3 nights, get 2 free) I have arranged to spend five nights with her at a yoga retreat in the Berkshires. If you had asked me last week how I felt about it I would have said, "Excited!" But as the day of departure draws near, my forebodings increase. It's not the expense or the thought of treacherous winter travel that bothers me. And I always have a great time when my friend and I are together. In fact it's one of those rare relationships where we can be out of touch for months, even years and just pick up as if we had lunch on the previous day. The problem is that I have never been away from my two sons (ages 4 and 5) for that long before. Frankly, I'm scared.

We are just winding down a (for the most part) highly successful family vacation out on the West Coast. I say successful because if there ever was a situation that was ripe for disaster this was it: a shared household of 12 family members, complete with a nightly dinner rotation and an informal chore sharing structure. Oh, and 5 of those people are children ranging in age from 16 months to 16 years. And oh yeah, my two boys (aged 4 and 5) are "rambunctious." I guess that's the kind way to describe it.

I'm including the latest photo of my healing second degree burns not to shock (nor disgust) you but to serve as a warning to all you moms out there:  beware of citric acid!  We went on holiday last week to Mexico.  We were all having a fabulous time and being very fair, I was very vigilant about sunscreen.  I'm a redhead and my daughter is blonde so as a rule, we wear SPF 50 and higher on a daily basis in the summer....but no one warned me about the limes.  I was prepared for the water, heck I was looking forward to losing another three to four pounds but the limes are another story indeed.

"When we were kids we couldn't afford vacations but my mother's Jewish so we went on guilt trips instead...they last so much longer too."
 -- SherryDavey

Two weeks ago I did a gig at a beach club on Fire Island.  It didn't pay that well in dollars but what it did pay well in was free hotel rooms....a currency I'm all for.  So, we left Lily on the main land with our in-laws and headed off with some friends for a night of laughing, dancing and recharging (left to right:  moi; Dan; and fellow comedian Vicky Kuperman). 

Above right was our view on the ferry over to Fire Island.  We kicked back with some diet cokes (we're all on Weight Watchers so we chose to save our points for something much more satisfying than beer....chocolate) and just stared off into the distance for a dose of late day vitamin D.  With the economy and our savings accounts all being in the state they're in, this was the perfect alternative to the stay-cation.  Getting away with friends or just that one special friend (let's hope it's your husband or wife) even for one night is just what the doctor ordered for parents.  Believe it or not, the kids could probably use a break from us too.

Where have you been this summer?  Got any stories of the perfect staycation or daycations to share? 

Okay, so it's been a while since we traversed to Central Park for a zoo visit.  We just did the Bronx Zoo but why not subject ourselves to more torture seeing as we're WCS members it's free right?!  Wrong.  What you don't pay cash for you pay in blood (literally, Lily fell down some steps), sweat and tears.  Free don't come cheap baby.

Why not go to the Central Park Zoo when it's 95 degrees out??!!....forget the humidity.  The millions of tourists were a blast too.  There's nothing like being surrounded by a swarm of confuzzled looking, non-English speaking, panic stricken people loaded down with bags from "The M&M Shop Times Square" who back up right in front of you while trying to get 20 of their friends and family in one single photo completely crushing your toes at the same time.  And yet, even after they tap dance on my twinkies they still manage to get me to take the photo for them - and with them in it this time of course. 

It's summer and schools out!  Time for the annual flood of friends and family from all over the world to visit NYC....and stay with us.  People in our family jokingly refer to our home as the Brooklyn B&B....only we serve dinner and lunch too thank you very much. 

It's only July 9th and we've already had 2 sets of visitors.  Last week, we had the more enjoyable visitor - our friend's eleven year old son Jonathon.  Lily just adores him and they had a fabulous time together.  We did: the beach several times; the Bronx Zoo;  Statue of Liberty (Statued of Liverty as Lily calls it); Chinatown; Little Italy; parks; and the grand finale....the latest Disney Pixar release Wall-E.  Thank god my husband stepped in and let me sit that one out.  I'm fried on children's television and films.  I don't care how cute the trailor is there's not enough alcohol in the world to get me through another kids summer blockbuster release.

P.S. - I bribed Lily with candy to look directly at the camera for this shot!

Just when you think you've got the perfect shot of your child it happens.  You check in 'review' and see that your little darling's eyes were focused somewhere other than the camera.  Darn it!  Thank god for digital cameras.

This is a regular occurrence around here.  The only time Lily ever looks directly at the camera is if it's a professional photo session or by accident or if I'm waving chocolate.  Here's a shot of Lily emerging from a fake log at the Bronx Zoo....and looking somewhere else.  Yes, thanks to global warming the even logs are fake now.

The only thing better than a summer home is a friend with a summer home.  This is the place our little Brooklyn family hopes to be visiting every weekend this summer.  Yes, we have a pool in our backyard but nothing beats the heat of a summer in the city like a weekend in the country.

Long Island Railroad here we come.

Do you have any plans to get away this summer?

An 80 year old man decides to take a vacation in Miami to visit his friends.  Whilst on holiday, the old man dies.  They ship his body back to New York for a funeral.  At his funeral, there's an open coffin.  His fellow friends from Queens attend the service.  Afterwards, one was overheard saying, "Didn't he look wonderful?!"  To which another friend said, "Yes, those two weeks in Florida did him a world of good."

We had a great time in Florida.....despite the millions of cranky, old people.  How can one live in such paradise, not work, get all sorts of crazy discounts on food and movies and still be so bloody miserable?!  And they have Viagra!  What else do these people need?

Here we are pursuing Lily's first love:  Lighthouses.  Now we can mark off the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne from our To Do List.

We needed a break from the north east winter so we headed south.  It's 85 degrees and sunny here in South Florida.  I'll post more very soon....until then...stay warm.

cheers,

your Funny Mom,

Sherry Davey

Thanks to global warming we don't really get much snow any more in Brooklyn....which makes me want to run out and purchase a few more cans of hairspray because I find snow to be a major inconvenience in daily city living.  However, we do enjoy our winter sports as a family.  Here's a few pics of how we kept Lily busy over the winter break from school:

Sure, we love the family vacation. And in recent years, babymoons have become de rigueur. But familymoons? Conceptionmoons? Procreation vacations? Yep -- they're all there for the taking!
When you're trying to conceive, you can de-stress with a conceptionmoon. Before you give birth, enjoy those last few quiet weeks together on a babymoon. Whether you're learning to breastfeed, or adjusting to your newborn or even your newly-blended family (that's the familymoon), there's a getaway package to get things going. I'm all about daily indulgences, but when I read this piece about the many pampering possibilities out there, I couldn't decide which ones had the most appeal. 

Which getaway would you choose?

• I need a conceptionmoon.
• I'd love a babymoon.
• I'll take a familymoon.