Summer Vacation, Had Me a Bla-ast!
Jul 30th 2009
LoriHandelandLori Handeland & When Goddesses Fall To Earth
Can you hear Olivia Newton John singing my song? Yeah, I’ll be hearing it all day too. Sorry! But I’ve had the BEST summer. We’ve been to Maine. Which was absolutely gorgeous despite the 20 year flood. It rained every day but we managed to do a lot of stuff.
The best part was being up early every morning and sitting with my coffee and my sister in law chatting and watching the lake as we listened to the loons. Paradise.
Then I was off to Washington DC and the annual RWA conference. I’ve already discussed how and why I LOVE RWA. But I have an addition. The Goddess Party was a BLAST!! Hey, wine and tiaras, what’s not to love, right? (At least Claudia and I think so!)
Four days after returning home, I was off to visit a college campus with #2 son. And two days after that I was in Minnesota for the Handeland Reunion. It was a long trip as shown by photo of son and the Italian Viking (DH) in the back seat.
I AM tired, but I’m also thrilled that I got to do so much this summer. Usually I’m working. My kids are working. Viking man is REALLY working. We go nowhere.
How about you? Are summers for work? For play? Or a little bit of both? What did you do this summer?
38 Comments »
38 Responses to “Summer Vacation, Had Me a Bla-ast!”
nancyg on 30 Jul 2009 at 4:27 am #
Summers are definitely for play!!
I love to do things with my girls – lots of swimming, bowling, trips to the arcade, and movies. We like to go to “trade days” which is held once a month – basically it’s just a big flea market. I give the girls $5-10 and we see who can come up with the best buy & craziest item.
We have lots of get-togethers with friends around the pool; floating, grilling out, catching up, just trying to stay cool!
Trips are coming up starting Tuesday – Mr. G & I are heading to St. John for a week (YAY!), then I go to Buffalo & Connecticut the next 10 days. Probably taking the train into NYC one day for DD #3’s 1st trip to the Big Apple. Speaking of which, if any of you goddesses had ONE day in NYC, what would YOU do?? I’m trying to plan an itinerary – thinking the Natural History Museum (she’s 10).
Kathy on 30 Jul 2009 at 4:47 am #
play play play.
I’m getting together next weekend with old clubbing friends from 1988-1993.
I’ve been having fun making quirky magnets and a 2 cd mix of music we danced to back then.
We are all in our 40s, so getting silly should be so much fun.
Cail is arriving in Halifax tomorrow, and we are meeting up on Saturday.
cannot wait to meet her!
otherwise, my summer plans include visiting with my girls- 2 days ago ALL of them came down to hang out with me. 5 girls from 5 to 13. even my cat was exhausted when they left, having played with the youngest the whole time.
amy1242 on 30 Jul 2009 at 6:49 am #
Since my dh runs a golf course, our summer is a never ending work schedule. Well actually, his is. Since we had the kids, one of us has to be the family person, so I don’t work very often anymore. My job all summer long is to get the kids to their activities and be the parent. Much harder work when the kids were both in diapers at the same time. Now they are 11 & 13 and we have lots of fun all summer long. Our family vacation is always in February or March, when we take one. We try to get away for weekends during winter to do some snowmobiling with the kids on the years we don’t take family vacations.
Lori, sounds like you’ve been very busy this summer! I love to travel and plan to do more of it some day.
Cail & Kathy, have a great visit! I think that’s wonderful!
Karen Rose on 30 Jul 2009 at 6:58 am #
Lori, I’ve worked all summer. Haven’t seen the beach once
I loved seeing you all at RWA – it was my mini-vacation!
We did a road trip one summer a few years back – FL to VA to MD to PA to IL to OH to TN and back to FL. 3000 miles in 3 weeks in the family minivan. At the end I wanted my own bed so badly! The only one who really seemed to enjoy the road experience was Bella, our cat, LOL.
Maine sounds like a fabulous get away! We’ve always talked about going there. Maybe next summer…
You and Claudia look so CUTE in your tiaras!
dbrown3400 on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:01 am #
Most of my summertime is spent babysitting my 15mo granddaughter but occasionally I do get out to see a baseball game. We have a great independent team here coached by former Yankee pitcher Sparky Lyle and the games are fun. Our apartment complex has an outing planned to the 4-H Fair in August which I’ll attend if the temps aren’t in the 90s. Otherwise, it’s the Mets on TV plus other assorted favorite programs.
dbrown3400 on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:02 am #
Oh, and reading, of course!
Sabrina Jeffries on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:05 am #
Summer isn’t usually for play, but we have to play a little because our son has many more hours at home than usual and he gets really bored at home. So we generally schedule our vacation then. We’re going to New Orleans for a week in August. Squee! Can’t wait to see all my old haunts and my friends.
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:20 am #
I remember those days, Nancy. I ran my behind off in the summer. Baseball, swimming, camp, basketball, football, the zoo. Once they started driving, it got a lot easier, but now I don’t see them much.
Have fun on your vacations.
Let’s see, if I had one day in NY I’d definitely hit a museum. Haven’t done that yet myself!
Wow, a golf course, Amy. Do y’all gold a lot?
We usually take vacations in the winter too because IV doesn’t have as much work then.
I agree, K-Ro. RWA was a mini-vacation. Another reason I love it. But I do like my own bed. The one there was too soft for my old back.
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:23 am #
That sounds like a fun summer to me, Dee. When I was at the family reunion, I spent several house with one of IV’s cousin’s kids in my lap. I didn’t want to give her back.
Eeek, Sabrina. NO in August. You are brave, woman! But I miss it there. Haven’t been for a few years and REALLY need to get back for my NO fix.
Clubbing, huh Kathy? Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever been. My idea of a big night out is hitting the local bar/restaurant with 3 other moms. Woo, hoo!
Have fun with Cail!! How great you will get to have some time together!
Madeline Hunter on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:59 am #
Summers are major writing times for me. Nice big blocks of it, so I dare not waste any. Or much at least. This summer, though, I had a blast too. I told DH to book that vacation we took even though I knew I should not go, and I am so glad I did. I am paying now in crunch deadline mode, but I don’t care. Girls need to have fun too!
DH went to Maine to visit a frirend while I was at RWA. They were supposed to go sailing, but all that rain interfered. I gather clouds came in during June and just never left. He still liked having the guy time, tho.
Rachel Gibson on 30 Jul 2009 at 8:12 am #
I have been playing all summer. Just home a few days here and there. I am frantically getting in all my summer fun before I hear from my editor and it’s back to work.
rg
Julia London on 30 Jul 2009 at 8:13 am #
RWA was the highlight of the summer for me. We don’t have anything planned til the fall, when we make our annual trek to Taos for some R&R. But I, too, have some really tight deadlines and am swimming upstream against them. SIGH…the life of a paperback writer.
What happened to the days of Ernest Hemingway? How come I am not sitting outside a grass hut on a beach somewhere, contemplating my next few words? Why is everything so time driven? GAH.
LisaK on 30 Jul 2009 at 8:32 am #
That reminds me of the fact (as if I could ever forget that!) that tomorrow is my last school day, yippeeeh! What follows are six weeks of relaxing and than my last school year starts (damn, I’m old!).
For me, holidays are all about doing nothing. I’m a very busy person (although I’m not actually doing pretty much, I just always feel stressed) and so I’m always happy when I can relax and sleep half of the day. We’ve got a very nice lake here and if the weather is nice I’ll be there quite often.
I’ll also try to write. Feel kinda motivated since last week, don’t know why, I’m just really energized.
And I’ll have to work on that Arts project for school – finishing it would be even better.
Talking about that, Ka-Hawk, you asked me about some of my pictures. I’ve posted one of my sketches over at the Forum at “Off Mt Oly” and then “Sinful Books”, just if you’re interested.
LisaK on 30 Jul 2009 at 8:33 am #
Oh, oh, oh, I wrote “than” instead of “then”. How embarrassing! Sorry!
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 9:07 am #
I hear it’s still raining in Maine, Madeline. I feel for them. I’d go crazy without a little sun.
Go, Rachel! Have MORE fun. As much as you can cram in before your editor catches up.
Ah, Taos. Sounds like heaven to me. I want to move to NM but IV wants to move up north. Ack. Not sure how that will play out.
I think the same thing often–what would it be like to have a year to write a book. I wonder if I’d like it or if it would drive me batty.
Congrats, LisaK, on another summer session being complete and good luck in your last year!
Madeline Hunter on 30 Jul 2009 at 9:07 am #
Yeah, Julia. We should be at a cafe in Paris enjoying the scene, not stuck at our desks working. I was promised a cool life if I became a writer, not all these deadlines. . . . someone forgot to fill in the details
Madeline Hunter on 30 Jul 2009 at 9:09 am #
Lori, I hear that the rain has totally messed up their tourist season, which, considering the weather most of the year there, does not last long to begin with.
JudyPatooty on 30 Jul 2009 at 9:28 am #
You went to Maine? I went to Maine, too!
My sister and I went for the first-ever reunion of all of our first cousins on our mother’s side of the family. And we had a blast! We were lucky, too, because we had good weather for all but the very last day. We must have had excellent vacation karma going because even when we went out on a lobster boat, the seas were perfectly calm and the sun was shining. And we got 39 lobsters, which we ate the very next day!
Since I’m single and have no children, vacations can come any time of year for me. So summers are equal work and play, just as fall and winter and spring are!
Ellen on 30 Jul 2009 at 10:29 am #
I will be in Maine the first weekend of October. It will be my second visit to Peeks Island and I cannot wait. It just dawned on me that we have all been working so hard, that we haven’t taken a break. I must fix that immediately! Momma needs her R&R.
Ellen on 30 Jul 2009 at 10:31 am #
And Happy belated birthday, K-Rose!
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 10:33 am #
I’m sure the rain was horrible for tourism in Maine this year. Like you said, it isn’t like they have a very long summer in the first place. Major bummer.
Sounds like you had so much fun, Judy. You must have gotten there before the monsoons began.
Hope you have a lovely time, Ellen. It’s SO gorgeous there I’m sure you will. Though just getting away will be great.
Claudia Dain on 30 Jul 2009 at 11:13 am #
Summers are for play, except that I don’t actually play, and I can’t make myself work. Apparently for me, summers are for being lazy and doing a lot of nothing. I feel so guilty admitting that, but there doesn’t seem to be a thing I can do about it!
amy1242 on 30 Jul 2009 at 11:34 am #
Lori, I golf about once a year now. I used to be on a league and golf once a week. And I used to also be a weekend golfer. Since kids, I’m mostly just a mom. Tried to get the kids into golfing but they hated it. It takes too much concentration in the beginning. Especially when you’re still developing the whole hand eye coordination thing. They just like to drive the carts now. Next year our oldest gets to try out some of the easier to handle mowers. I’m hoping our golfers are ok with wavy lines early in the season.
colinfirthfan on 30 Jul 2009 at 11:57 am #
I wish summers were all play but it mostly depends on DH and my work schedule. Both of us are swamped at the moment. We go places on the weekends and they get to stay up an extra hr in summer. They have friends come over on the weekends that we are free.
They are at summer camp all summer having a blast.
Next summer we are planning on taking three weeks off to tour Eastern Europe. Suggestions anyone? We are planning on going to Prague, Vienna, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania all by train.
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 12:05 pm #
I consider doing nothing a form of play, Claudia.
I’ve never golfed in my life, Amy. My kids like to but they didn’t start until they were in high school since neither me or IV knew how.
Wow, Eastern Europe! How fun. I’ve never been anywhere near any part of Europe, so I’m no help. I do hope to go to Germany and Italy next summer when my oldest plays basketball in Germany. Would also like to get to England and Ireland this fall but not sure that’ll happen.
Janae on 30 Jul 2009 at 12:07 pm #
Well, every Friday is beach day here. We meet a bunch of friends at the beach, hang out for a few hours, etc. Tons of fun. We have regular playdates with friends on Tuesdays. Next week, is Spy Camp for my ds and Art Camp for my dd. We’ve spent lots of time playing the Wii, too. Friday nights are still movie nights. We’ve gone to some different movies. Just having fun, especially since summer school ended.
We just got back from a 3 day trip to San Diego. Sunday night, we had dinner with my brother, his wife, and her cousin; Monday was Sea World; Tuesday was the Da Vinci Exhibit at the Aerospace Museum (so not worth the price of admission) and a bit of shopping on Coronado Island; Wednesday was the Wild Animal Park. It was nice to animals outside of cages in a more natural habitat, but in 90+ degree temps, it wasn’t fun. I think my dd spent more time crying than anything else. We left after just a few hours there (most of which was spent in line, waiting to get on the Journey into Africa tram ride.). We were home, where it was a good 25 degrees cooler, by dinnertime.
colinfirthfan on 30 Jul 2009 at 12:32 pm #
Janae, We did San Diego (Sea World and Legoland) during spring break. I find it too hot in summer.
We had an early summer vacation the week before school closed we went on an Alaskan cruise. I suppose that counts.
Yes too we are watching a lot of movies. Have to go for G-Force this weekend. Watched Transformers2 (which was on top of the boys list), Ice Age 3. We just watched Lion King – my 5 yr old couldn’t remember it. Next up is Free Willy – which I Netflixed for them.
Suzanne Enoch on 30 Jul 2009 at 12:34 pm #
Ah, summer. More movies, more play days with my nephews, and more ice cream.
This summer I’ve spent most of my time finishing a book, but I envy everyone who’s been able to go out and enjoy themselves!
Claudia Dain on 30 Jul 2009 at 1:13 pm #
I don’t know. Seems like play should be more memorable than just doing nothing. I don’t like going on vacation in the summer because of the heat, and aren’t vacations the ultimate in play? I would LOVE to go to Maine one summer. That’s the perfect summer destination.
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 1:30 pm #
Ah, beach day. Sounds good to me. Unfortunately the closest beach here is Lake Michigan and not that appealing. Sounds like you had a great mini vacation, Janae.
I haven’t seen any of those movies, CFF. Well, except for LK and FW. #2 son really liked Transformers.
Suzi, are you giving us a movie report soon?
I want to go back to Maine, Claudia. My SIL goes every year and I’m trying to figure out a way to get invited back just as often.
Solveig on 30 Jul 2009 at 2:32 pm #
You all are having fun I see :Ö)
Lori :Ö) Good to hear you have fun in spite of rain. We do too, usually. I´m an archeologist so I work all summer. So far I´ve done some surveying in the southwest and taken part in one dig in the north where we found a robbed viking age burial, kuml. Only the horse was left but we know for sure that he is at least more than 700 years old since a volanic ash layers from 1477 and 1300 lay on top of the gravesite. ;Öþ Last summer we found a boat burial (+3 human skeletons), a horse burial and one empty human burial at the same site. I just love my job, even when it is raining and cold. Next week we will be excavating more burials. They all look to have been robbed a some point but usually there is always something interesting left behind along with the skeletons :Ö) I just can´t wait.
Keep having fun!
Warmest from the north of Iceland (in the chilly rainy weather ;Ö)
Judy F on 30 Jul 2009 at 3:25 pm #
Summers should be for fun… I remember my sisters youngest asking me why I didn’t get the summer off like she did from school. Good question Megan. I would love to have the summer off.
No real vacation plans for me. I only get two weeks vacation and I need to save some days for snow and if my mom/dad need me for doc appts (mom) or care/nursing home meetings (dad). So I take a few days in the summer and some turning the winter.
The ideal vacation day for me anymore is to sleep in. LOL
Jamie on 30 Jul 2009 at 4:04 pm #
Summers are for work and play. Work during the day and play during the night. I also get to see my Phillies play.
I like the warm weather and going to the Jersey shore. We just came back from a couple of days at Cape May.
Your trip sounds like a lot of fun. I can’t say if I like the mountains or the shore more. Luckily for me both are within 2 hours distance of my home.
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 4:24 pm #
Your job sounds amazing, Solveig. I always fantasized about being an archaeologist when I was young.
Wouldn’t it be great if we all got the summers off? I know our Italian relatives take off most of August for “holiday.”
The Phillies are kicking butt, Jamie. My Brewers not so much. But we watch every game! That’s another fun summer activity.
Sabrina Jeffries on 30 Jul 2009 at 5:16 pm #
There’s a peculiar sort of logic to our desire to go to New Orleans in August.
1) We always take a vacation during the week before school starts, when Nick’s caregivers, who all work in the school system, are spending most of their day at school, leaving him with little care. Unfortunately, that week is always in August. 2) Through the years, we have discovered that everywhere we could go in summer that is NOT the deep south, there is a serious lack of airconditioning. Yet the places are still quite hot. Hubby and I like it cold. We can handle the heat for the short periods of time we are darting in and out of hotels and friends’ houses and restaurants, but we can’t stand being in places where they just don’t use (or have) AC even though it’s 90 degrees outside. Hence the decision to go to New Orleans.
Plus, we really, really want to see our friends and play a little. Here’s hoping we spend most of our time inside, though! We may regret this decision. I will let you know. *G*
LoriHandeland on 30 Jul 2009 at 9:10 pm #
IMO, Sabrina, a sizzling hot day in NO is better than a sizzling hot day anywhere else!
nancyg on 30 Jul 2009 at 11:18 pm #
Is Maine as gorgeous as everyone says?
A golfing friend of ours owns a house up there – his wife goes for the whole summer. I got an invite for a day while DD #3 & I are in Connecticut. I’m only there for 5 1/2 days & already promised #3 a trip to NYC, so timing might be a little tight. Is it worth a few hours drive??
colinfirthfan:
We saw G-Force this past week – it was totally cute & you will get some of the references your kids won’t… “say hello to my little friend”, etc. have FUN!!!
LoriHandeland on 31 Jul 2009 at 5:46 am #
It is that gorgeous, Nancy. Definitely worth a few hours drive. However, if it causes problems with the NYC trip, I’d hit NYC.