Below you will find a question!
And the last of the Wisconsin trip pictures! (I promise I’ll be done after this post!)
And also a video! (Is it just me, or do I seem to be in an Exclamatory Sort Of Mood today?)
First the question:
Since we just got home from a vacation that we will remember for a long time, I got to wondering if there is a particular vacation you took that you will always remember. Whether it was one you went on as a child or whether it was a more recent one, please share with us what you did, and/or what made it memorable. I’m looking forward to hearing some of your stories. (You guys tell the best stories!)
And now the pictures!
I especially love this picture of Nathan which joyfully juxtapositions his barefoot, basketball shorts-clad self with his Aunt Ruth’s eclecticly elegant décor. 
And this one makes me smile because Nathan and Meagan look like two old married folk, sitting in their assigned recliners and perusing the day’s reading material. (Which in this case happened to be some of the stuff that Ruth has written; I asked her to show it to them so that they can discover for themselves what an amazing writer she is.)
Speaking of something being smile-producing, Hannah’s classic MGB convertible did the trick . . .
. . . for a certain husband of mine.
He took me on an exuberant jaunt through the Wisconsin country side, a ride which inexplicably caused him to trade in his Parson Persona for a Petty Persona instead. (As in, Richard. Petty.)
Just look at that maniacal grin!
And of course, my photographer’s heart was filled to the brim with the joy of the half billion (or so) picture-taking opportunities that happily arrayed themselves in Ruth’s yard.
And finally, the video!
On the one Sunday that we were in Wisconsin, we went to the church my brother-in-law, Randy, pastors. Usually, when Steve and I get anywhere near Randy and Debbie, we try to sing something together since we spent seven years on the road singing about 200 times a year. This time, however, with all the busyness of the family reunion, we didn’t have a chance to go through any of our old songs.
However, midway through the morning service, Randy suddenly decided it would be nice to have us sing after all—no rehearsal notwithstanding. So we got up and did a song which we hadn’t performed together in a very long time.
However, I guess the song was emblazoned on our collective brains because we were able to get through it with a minimum of terrible and/or awful flubs.
Nothing like getting to sing harmony with family members—such a joy and such a privilege. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-E5La92Vjs
Just got back to work after several days off with my Grandson, absolute Heaven! So, the vacation I will always remember – Charleston, SC with four friends. We stayed in a wonderful condo on the beach, near my beloved sea. Had many great dinners and beach walks and heartfelt talks and laughter and even a ghost tour of “haunted” houses in Charleston. So fake but funny.
We were to fly home at 11:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001. We didn’t. We drove home in a rental car and prayed and cried and clung together as we frantically tried to get home to our families and as we looked at the silent blue skies all the way home to St. Louis, we knew our world and the world of our children had changed. I am so glad I had that group of friends during all the days of that trip. We have a bond that no one will understand as we experienced something that will never be forgotten or understood.
Mary, that’s a truly amazing vacation story. Wow, wow, wow! I know you and your sweet friends had so much to be thankful for on that horrible, horrible day.
That song was beautifully done! One of my favorites. Thanks for sharing your vacation with all of us.
One of my favorite vacations was when I took my two teenagers to Disney World when my daughter was a senior in high school. (Hubby had to stay home to work.) My daughter has always been a HUGE fan of the Disney princesses, and the look on her face when she saw Cinderella’s castle for the first time was worth the entire trip! It was a magical vacation. 🙂
Gayle,
So glad you enjoyed the song; it’s one of my favorites, too.
I can only imagine what your daughter’s face looked like when she saw that castle for the first time. It is truly an amazing experience and what a joy for you to get to share it with her and make all those precious memories.
Oh, I forgot to comment on the ‘vacation’. I haven’t had many vacations in my life, but I do remember one when I was 10, that left an impact. I was a very sick child at that time and i was given a medication that they had never given a child before. My father was a doctor and he needed to oversee my well being 24/7, so the family went to Miami in 1969 for 2 weeks for a vacation. Thus, he could check my pupils as much as he needed to.
Well, I loved it there. I was a quiet, obedient, sensitive girl and something about Miami brought out a more carefree side to my anxious little self. There was the salt water pool, parrot jungle, our rented convertible, sunburns, the ocean, wandering among the docked sailboats, the cute deckhand, the warm evenings, and a lady who had the cutest tiny little dog named Pedito.
I remember crying when the plane landed back in Washington DC.
lesley
Lesley, I really loved the description of your vacation; you didn’t just describe what you did or where you went, but you also shared how it made you feel, how it affected you emotionally. Sweet, sweet story.
Becky, I love the video. It brought tears to my eyes, for some reason. Beautiful!
lesley
Lesley, that is truly a beautiful song–can certainly understand why it brought tears.
Your photos are always so beautiful! Thank you for posting them.
I have a vacation story for you. 🙂 When I was a baby, I visited
Rome. My mother worked in southern Italy, so I was born there. When we
moved to the States, we had to fly out of Italy via Rome. My mother
decided to make a vacation out of it, and we went up to Rome a few days
before our flight.
Apparently my mother used the time wisely, too. We really did cover
Rome. We went to the Colosseum and the Forum, the Vatican Museum, the
Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and on and on and
on. We had an audience with the Pope. Of course, I didn’t remember any
of it. I was a baby. Until I had the chance to return to Italy when I was 17, it was
so frustrating to know that I’d been to all of these glorious places
and seen works of art by Michelangelo…and didn’t remember them!
The funniest thing, though, was an incident at the Trevi Fountain. Mum
had decided that it would be fun to get me to drop a coin into the
fountain, keeping with the local custom. However, since I was a wee
thing, I didn’t want to let go of the money. It took her a long time to
coax me into tossing the coin into the water.
While my Mum was talking me into dropping my coin, my godmother and
godfather were taking photos, and one turned out to be extremely
amusing. In the picture, I’m on my Mum’s lap. She’s very securely
holding me on her lap with one hand–there was no chance I was going to
fall–and with the other, she’s holding my arm over the water to show me
where to drop the coin. Next to her–and unnoticed by anyone until the
photo was developed—is a man who is staring at us and watching the
entire scene with a totally horrified expression. My Mum’s theory is
that he thought that she was about to drop ME in the water! Haha! We never
had the photo cropped because it is hilarious.
Denise,
So glad to know you weren’t dropped into the fountain! That is so funny that you didn’t want to let go of the coin–I think I would probably have done the same thing.
I’m glad you got to make a return trip to Italy at an age when you could actually remember stuff; that is one of the countries I would LOVE to visit on a photo taking jaunt. So very beautiful!
Loved the song – that’s one of my favorite hymns. As for my most memorable vacation, the top one is probably from 8 years ago when I took my parents to Hawaii for their 55th anniversary, they celebrated 63 years last month. We visited Oahu and Maui. Being able to take my parents to Pearl Harbor was something I will always remember. A close second is the trip I took with my cousin last October, flew into San Francisco and took Highway 1 all the way to San Diego – gorgeous scenery!
Phyllis, I can only imagine how special it was to get to take your parents to Hawaii. Life time memories made, for sure. We visited Pearl Harbor as well back in 2006. And I have ALWAYS wanted to do drive on Hwy. 1 with my camera in tow. I’m jealous!
Oh, does that MG bring back memories! A friend and I drove from CT to mid-New Hampshire to see another friend whose family moved there 1 year before graduation. Boy did we think we were cool (we were)! However, it couldn’t make the drive up Mt. Washington with 3 adults (I use that term loosely) in it!
What song did you sing? I miss Heartsong’s travels to New England!
Just this past Monday, I took a day-cation with my cousin to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Found the beach of my dreams, laughed till our sides hurt and had to prop eyes open while driving, ate lobster and…Ben & Jerry’s 7 layer Coconut Ice Cream, finally bought myself a Fisherman’s Bracelet that I’ve wanted since grade school, took pics galore with a borrowed 35mm DSLR (Nikon)…left work behind…left projects waiting…breathed deeply of the salt air while beachcombing the bayside beach at low tide…scaled a deserted lifeguard chair on the cleanest beach I’ve ever seen on the Atlantic side and while the sea breezes cooled us down, I thought, this is almost heaven…then realized I’d have to leave it behind and return to…life. THought you’d like to know the windsocks migrated and brought friends!
Guerrina, love the windsock photos! How cool is that!
So glad to you got to take a day off and that it was the next thing to perfect.
And I had to laugh about the fact that your little car couldn’t get 3 adults up the mountain on that earlier trip!
Provincetown is heaven on earth 🙂 to me
Lesley
Love the B – we have three of them. 🙂 Is Hannah a member of the NAMGBR? 🙂
Great photos!
And I’m so GLAD beyond words that Snowy is OK. 🙂
Woot! Had no idea I could add pics. The last photo shows Fiona (the pink/white GT) in her previous “Oldsmobile maroon” paint. 🙂
Hmm. They’ve reordered themselves. D’oh!
Stefanie, yes, isn’t it great that photos can be added? Love the pink car, especially. It has a lot of panache.
I have no idea if Hannah is a member of that organization; I just know she loves her little car, I’m sure just the way you love your fab collection! 🙂
Better warn her that they multiply! LOL – the yellow one was mine when I was 18. Got it back about 8 years ago (yes – the SAME car). It was white, we painted it yellow (in our garage) and put a V8 in it. 🙂 It flies. 🙂
A car that small with a V8? Wow–I bet it DOES fly!!
Becky I loved hearing all of you sing. Thanks for thed treat.
Margie, we loved singing; glad you loved hearing us.