Well, today was the last full day of our California vacation - tomorrow we head back to LA and, from there, home (where I hear it's quite cold!).
My sister and her family opted to spend today at Sea World. I'd assumed that we'd also go to Sea World before our vacation ended. But yesterday, we got to thinking about how we really wanted to spend out last day on vacation. Matthew, to be honest, was ambivalent. He's been to Sea World once before and remembers it well (and enjoyed it). He also just went to the Long Beach Aquarium last week (also terrific, despite no dolphin or whale shows). The biggest consideration for me, though, was that Sea World was not of interest to my three older nephews - not surprising, as Sea World caters more to younger kids. We don't get to see the boys very often and we've had such a good time being with them this week that, ultimately, we all three decided that we'd rather hang out around the house than brave the new year's day crowds at Sea World. So, we spent the day in the pool and hanging out with my brother and his boys.
Every morning this week, someone has picked (and we've all eaten, or juiced) fresh oranges from the backyard of the house. This morning, Matthew and I picked a pile of blood oranges...well, I picked most of them after Matthew freaked out seeing a bee hovering around. Here's the pile we picked - and the cut ones he and I inhaled over the course of minutes!
I'm sure that, like Matthew, my mouth was pretty orange-stained by the time we'd sucked those oranges dry!
It feels a bit weird to say that we went to California for two weeks and didn't go to Sea World or to the Disney Amusement Park. It probably is a bit strange!! But when I think about our trip as a whole, I honestly have no regrets about those choices. In fact, for our family, I think it was wise to challenge the assumptions about what we should do while we're in the area, and come up with a plan that worked better for us. Don't get me wrong - next time we go (if there is a next time!), we may be the family wanting to spend a week at Disney and/or Sea World...I'm not in any way trying to project that we're more virtuous or something just because we didn't go to these places this time round. I guess I just feel a bit proud of ourselves for really thinking through what we wanted these weeks, rather than relying on the assumptions that we'd go to the usual amusements. If that makes me/us strange, I guess I'm ok being that for now!
My sister and her family opted to spend today at Sea World. I'd assumed that we'd also go to Sea World before our vacation ended. But yesterday, we got to thinking about how we really wanted to spend out last day on vacation. Matthew, to be honest, was ambivalent. He's been to Sea World once before and remembers it well (and enjoyed it). He also just went to the Long Beach Aquarium last week (also terrific, despite no dolphin or whale shows). The biggest consideration for me, though, was that Sea World was not of interest to my three older nephews - not surprising, as Sea World caters more to younger kids. We don't get to see the boys very often and we've had such a good time being with them this week that, ultimately, we all three decided that we'd rather hang out around the house than brave the new year's day crowds at Sea World. So, we spent the day in the pool and hanging out with my brother and his boys.
Every morning this week, someone has picked (and we've all eaten, or juiced) fresh oranges from the backyard of the house. This morning, Matthew and I picked a pile of blood oranges...well, I picked most of them after Matthew freaked out seeing a bee hovering around. Here's the pile we picked - and the cut ones he and I inhaled over the course of minutes!
I'm sure that, like Matthew, my mouth was pretty orange-stained by the time we'd sucked those oranges dry!
It feels a bit weird to say that we went to California for two weeks and didn't go to Sea World or to the Disney Amusement Park. It probably is a bit strange!! But when I think about our trip as a whole, I honestly have no regrets about those choices. In fact, for our family, I think it was wise to challenge the assumptions about what we should do while we're in the area, and come up with a plan that worked better for us. Don't get me wrong - next time we go (if there is a next time!), we may be the family wanting to spend a week at Disney and/or Sea World...I'm not in any way trying to project that we're more virtuous or something just because we didn't go to these places this time round. I guess I just feel a bit proud of ourselves for really thinking through what we wanted these weeks, rather than relying on the assumptions that we'd go to the usual amusements. If that makes me/us strange, I guess I'm ok being that for now!
1. found your blog, yeah!
ReplyDelete2. went to florida last yr but NOT disney. no regrets
3. miss you!!
sk