Family Vacations

I guess I was lucky as a kid because my family always planned a week long vacation to somewhere every year. Sometimes it was just to the beach, sometimes it was to another state for sightseeing, and every once in a while it was to another country. With Monkey girl getting older and starting to be more aware of things, I want to make sure she has the same opportunities to explore, learn, and become a well rounded individual. Of course I feel the same for Bro Bro monkey, but he's not quite old enough to be attuned to this yet.

We're not able to do week long vacations yet, but we are trying to make sure we go somewhere every year if only for a few days. This year we'll be going to San Diego to visit my father-in-law. I'm really looking forward to the zoo and/or the wild animal park. I've been to San Diego a couple of times and somehow missed out on those spots. Monkey girl loves the zoo and last time grandpa came to visit we went to the zoo here and she remembers that. So when we told Monkey girl that we're going to see grandpa and go to the zoo, she was excited. She says, 'go see grandpa and zoo' and that's exactly what we'll do. Unfortunately grandpa seems to be mostly associated with zoos now though. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

In the spring, we have plans to visit my parents in Tampa (yes they did the common thing and moved to Florida after retiring). From almost everything I've heard, the kids are too young to enjoy Disney World, but there's still plenty for us to do there. Last time we went, we saw Winter. I'd like to go to St. Petersburg and maybe take a ride on Little Toot.

So for the next 2 years we have family vacations covered and it helps to have family living in prime vacation destinations. After that, who knows..., but Dadda monkey and I will try to make sure we go somewhere. I've had a goal to visit every state in the country and I'm missing about 10 still, which leaves plenty of locale choices just in the United States (not to mention favorite places I've already been to). My greatest wish is for my kids to have fond memories of their annual family vacations.