Promoting Family Unity: A Weekend at the Beach!
The plan materialized late one night over sweating glasses of White Merlot when Jen and I did the budget and weighed out our options.Camping was up there on the list, and fared well with regards to the budget; but even at night up in the south Texas hill country, it's STILL too hot to sleep comfortably outdoors, so we opted to postpone camping until late fall. Neither she nor her children had ever been to Mustang Island, Corpus Christi is only two hours down the road from San Antonio, the state Aquarium is there, and the budget allowed it, so we decided we'd host one last summer fling for the kids at the coast.
When I was a kid and my mom planned a vacation of any sort for my brothers and I, we really never had any say or part in it. I do believe that a chld will get more out of a trip like this, however,when they actually play a part in the decisions that will affect them,and and so Jen and I were careful to include the kids in as much of the actual logistics as possible.
First we informed them all individually (as opportunity presented itself) of our intentions to go to the beach as a family. Their enthusiastically positive responses were quite refreshing, as I had braced myself for at least one or two mutterings that never came. With everybody's buy-in, Jen and I invoked the aid of "The Negotiator"(Priceline) and booked two hotel rooms for the weekend. The plan was to have a girls' room and a boy's room since each gender was fairly evenly represented, yet another recommendation that was embraced by our youngsters.
As our weekend of sunshine and sand approached, Jen had already gathered her brood and employed their input to put together a grocery list of things we would need to stock the coolers. The house had been cleaned, laundry done, groceries procured, and some bags packed.Earlier that day I had gotten the Jeep outfitted with a trailer hitch so we could use our cargo carrier for the coolers and such, then headed over to pick my babies up. Two of my kids had birthdays this same month, so I made a pit stop at the mall to get each of them the 'cool shoes' they wanted. By 3 o'clock on Friday we had the kiddos all collected and present at our house, and so all gathered together in the living room for a briefing and then a question and answer session.
First, we gave them an overview of what our itinerary would be while in Corpus. I'm not too anal about having a plan (in my opinion; others may disagree
), but I do think it's important to have at least a general idea of how we were going to spend our time to ensure that we made the most ofit. We would leave the house at 4 pm, arriving in Corpus around 6 or7. After checking in, we would chillax and have dinner out of the coolers. Saturday we'd get up early, partake of the hotel's continental breakfast, then head to the beach. We told the kids we'd stay at the beach until they didn't want to be there anymore, so Saturday was allotted to nothing but that. After the beach, we'd drive up the Island to Port Aransas so they could experience the ferry. Then we'd head to the hotel, clean up, and go out for a fancy dinner somewhere. Sunday the plan was that we'd again have our continental breakfast, then spend the bulk of the day at the State Aquarium. After that, we'd get a snack, get home in time for an early dinner, and spend our $25 Papa John's Pizza gift certificate to feed everyone.That was the plan, and it was immediately ratified by the congregation.
Next we shared a short checklist of things that everybody had to have packed. Toothbrush, two changes of clothes, three pairs of underwear,and some kind of footwear to use at the beach. Anything else was optional, but, everything they were taking with them had to be packed up and sitting by the front door in thirty minutes.
The last thing we did in our family meeting was to have a lottery to see who would ride in which vehicle. The lottery was our attempt to thwart any kind of polarization and natural segregation by making the seating arrangement random. The lottery results, however, didn't do a very good job at this, and most of her kids ended up riding with her except for her thirteen year old daughter. On a side note, as the weekend progressed and we let the kids choose what vehicle they wanted to ride in, it turns out that the polarization I feared was due more so to the quality of the Explorer's radio compared to the Jeep's than any family ties. Fancy that!
We adjourned the meeting, having given the children a time limit in which to have their luggage deposited by the door. In the meantime, the boys and I put the luggage carrier on top of the Explorer and the cargo carrier on the Jeep and began loading them. I was careful to make sure that everybody had a role to play, even Joshy (my oldest who is autistic). It was quite like watching a colony of ants work, with kids marching in and out of the house carrying items, others of us congregated at the vehicles practicing our puzzle-solving skills by making everything fit into a finite amount of space. At last we were all loaded and ready to go. By this time I was soaked in sweat (remember, we're in south Texas!), so the kids watched the Disney channel while I took a cool shower. Only a single hour later than planned we all loaded up according to our lottery and hit the road.
Not one minute after pulling out of the driveway, the wide Texas skies let loose the residue of the latest Gulf hurricane. Through the deluge we made our way to Sams' Club to gas up the vehicles. Since we had left an hour late, it was now straight up five o'clock on a Friday...rush hour, and we had to traverse the entire breadth of the city in order to reach our destination. Since it had been a few hours since anybody had eaten (and I had forgotten to feed my kids lunch...bad daddy! bad!), we decided to make our way to Jack in the Box and have a bite while letting the traffic die down and hopefully the rain subside. It wasn't in our budget, but we ate off the dollar menu, drank our own bottled water, and ended up only spending $24 to feed all eleven of us. Not bad. While we ate, the rain did subside and the traffic did die down, so it turned out to be a good choice after all.
Bellies full and kiddos happy, we loaded up again and hit the road.With only one emergency pit stop to drain a bursting bladder between San Antonio and Corpus, we checked into our rooms at seven thirty Friday evening. After jumping on the beds for a few minutes in the typical celebratory fashion of youth (mine included), we all donned our swimsuits and went down to the pool. Nothing beats the relaxation of laying beside a south Texas pool under a palm tree in the balmy breeze of evening, sipping Coke Zero, eating Cheezits, holding hands with your sweety, and watching your kids do cannonballs. I think I even fell asleep for a few minutes, it was so relaxing. At eleven o'clock we ushered all the kids back to the rooms (though some of the girls had opted to stay in the room and watch the Disney channel from bed rather than swim) to put on their pajamas and hang their wet items from the railing to dry. I don't know what exactly went on in the girls' room, but we boys laid in bed till 2 am telling dirty jokes(the kind dad's let kids tell, like the one about the doctor and the tapeworm) and exchanging funny stories. It was a blast.
Bright and early 10 am the next morning we rolled out of bed and headed to Mustang Island. We backed the Jeep and Explorer up as close to the water as we dared, and before we could get the hatches open, the kids were headed to the surf. We intercepted them long enough to cover them in SP 40 and to give them a briefing on jellyfish and syringes (the syringes part was just to scare them), then we let them go. Jen and I went last, meandering our way hand in hand down to the water's edge to do the romantic thing...you know, take a walk together with the waves lapping at our feet. For the next FOUR HOURS everybody played in the waves and the sand and the sun. Lesson learned here: take the time to reapply waterproof sunscreen every half hour or so...briny waves tend to wash it off as we discovered that evening as we carted several tender young lobsters back to the hotel. I also was given a harsh reminder of the aging process when I discovered much to my dismay that I had BURNED MY LOVE HANDLES! Not only that, but I also found that I had received a sunburn right smack on top of my head in the area where my cowlick has grown somewhat sparse. Eegad, man.
We left the beach and stopped in at a Valero station for some much needed gatorade, then went over to the ferry at Port Aransas. The wait in line for the ferry lasted three times longer than the actual ferry ride itself, but I was glad to have given them all the experience. We got out while the barge was crossing in hopes of spying some of the dolphins that frequent the area, but didn't see any. After reaching the opposite shore, we drove back to the hotel and just laid in our dimly lit, very cool rooms for an hour while mustering the strength to get dressed for dinner and reminiscing about our day. It's interesting how it is that individual waves can be so unique, because the kids must have discussed at least two dozen different specific individual waves and how they had hit them a certain way, or dragged them enough to fill their pants with sand. Every word was spoken through the exact same joyful smiles they had worn all day long, and it made me very satisfied as a provider to see them so happy.
Jen and I were completely whipped, but we managed to find enough strength and zeal to load everyone up and take them the the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Yes, as you may be thinking, it was expensive. But as I told the kids after one of them snatched the bill from me and read the total aloud, they were well worth it. Jen and I had mandated that everybody drink bottomless water with lemon; that didn't go over too well, but it was the right decision since they were all sun-baked and several of them were harboring headaches from it. They all ordered whatever they wanted, and afterward we split a single "Chocolate Tower" dessert between us. Four of the kids couldn't finish their food so we bagged that up and took it home...though I accidentally backed right over it with the Jeep the next morning. Full tummies and tired, red faces found us at the end of our wonderful Saturday at the beach. We went back to the room and slept like rock (lobsters).
Sunday! Today was our visit to the State Aquarium. I woke up, saw that the clock said 9:30 and immediately called the girls' room to wake them up only to be informed that my clock was wrong and it was really just a little before 8. Oops! Oh well, nothing wrong with getting up early, so we all got up, packed up our stuff and checked out. The kids were absolutely wonderful about helping out with things, and were even proactive enough to act without being asked. By the time it was REALLY 9:30 we were checked out and headed down the road to find a place to grab some breakfast. Whataburger satisfied that need and kept us content for the next FOUR HOURS while we wandered around the aquarium and saw the sights. I think I absolutely made their weekend when, after we had paid the entrance fee, I told them that they didn't have to stay with us if they wanted to go off in groups. Scarcely had I finished uttering the words before the girls had gone one way and the older boys the other. So, Jen, Joshy, Amber, Jeremy, and I took our own sweet time checking out the sights and making sure not to miss any details. We had given every child their own disposable camera for this trip, so everyone was busy finishing up what they had left over from the day before, including Amber and Jeremy who really warmed my heart by asking to take pictures of their family in front of various tanks of fish.
A dolphin show and visit to the gift shop later and we were all gathered at the exit ready to hit the road for San Antonio. Nobody complained, and in all my life I've never gotten SO many unsolicited "thank you"s and "I'm having so much fun!"s. Jen, we did good, babe, and I do believe that we managed to give our kids and ourselves some memories that will affect us all in a positive way for the rest of our lives. We may have also promoted a little bit of that family unity we were shooting for, too. And, in the words of the kiddos, "we gotta do this again next year!"
When I was a kid and my mom planned a vacation of any sort for my brothers and I, we really never had any say or part in it. I do believe that a chld will get more out of a trip like this, however,when they actually play a part in the decisions that will affect them,and and so Jen and I were careful to include the kids in as much of the actual logistics as possible.
First we informed them all individually (as opportunity presented itself) of our intentions to go to the beach as a family. Their enthusiastically positive responses were quite refreshing, as I had braced myself for at least one or two mutterings that never came. With everybody's buy-in, Jen and I invoked the aid of "The Negotiator"(Priceline) and booked two hotel rooms for the weekend. The plan was to have a girls' room and a boy's room since each gender was fairly evenly represented, yet another recommendation that was embraced by our youngsters.
As our weekend of sunshine and sand approached, Jen had already gathered her brood and employed their input to put together a grocery list of things we would need to stock the coolers. The house had been cleaned, laundry done, groceries procured, and some bags packed.Earlier that day I had gotten the Jeep outfitted with a trailer hitch so we could use our cargo carrier for the coolers and such, then headed over to pick my babies up. Two of my kids had birthdays this same month, so I made a pit stop at the mall to get each of them the 'cool shoes' they wanted. By 3 o'clock on Friday we had the kiddos all collected and present at our house, and so all gathered together in the living room for a briefing and then a question and answer session.
First, we gave them an overview of what our itinerary would be while in Corpus. I'm not too anal about having a plan (in my opinion; others may disagree
), but I do think it's important to have at least a general idea of how we were going to spend our time to ensure that we made the most ofit. We would leave the house at 4 pm, arriving in Corpus around 6 or7. After checking in, we would chillax and have dinner out of the coolers. Saturday we'd get up early, partake of the hotel's continental breakfast, then head to the beach. We told the kids we'd stay at the beach until they didn't want to be there anymore, so Saturday was allotted to nothing but that. After the beach, we'd drive up the Island to Port Aransas so they could experience the ferry. Then we'd head to the hotel, clean up, and go out for a fancy dinner somewhere. Sunday the plan was that we'd again have our continental breakfast, then spend the bulk of the day at the State Aquarium. After that, we'd get a snack, get home in time for an early dinner, and spend our $25 Papa John's Pizza gift certificate to feed everyone.That was the plan, and it was immediately ratified by the congregation.Next we shared a short checklist of things that everybody had to have packed. Toothbrush, two changes of clothes, three pairs of underwear,and some kind of footwear to use at the beach. Anything else was optional, but, everything they were taking with them had to be packed up and sitting by the front door in thirty minutes.
The last thing we did in our family meeting was to have a lottery to see who would ride in which vehicle. The lottery was our attempt to thwart any kind of polarization and natural segregation by making the seating arrangement random. The lottery results, however, didn't do a very good job at this, and most of her kids ended up riding with her except for her thirteen year old daughter. On a side note, as the weekend progressed and we let the kids choose what vehicle they wanted to ride in, it turns out that the polarization I feared was due more so to the quality of the Explorer's radio compared to the Jeep's than any family ties. Fancy that!
We adjourned the meeting, having given the children a time limit in which to have their luggage deposited by the door. In the meantime, the boys and I put the luggage carrier on top of the Explorer and the cargo carrier on the Jeep and began loading them. I was careful to make sure that everybody had a role to play, even Joshy (my oldest who is autistic). It was quite like watching a colony of ants work, with kids marching in and out of the house carrying items, others of us congregated at the vehicles practicing our puzzle-solving skills by making everything fit into a finite amount of space. At last we were all loaded and ready to go. By this time I was soaked in sweat (remember, we're in south Texas!), so the kids watched the Disney channel while I took a cool shower. Only a single hour later than planned we all loaded up according to our lottery and hit the road.
Not one minute after pulling out of the driveway, the wide Texas skies let loose the residue of the latest Gulf hurricane. Through the deluge we made our way to Sams' Club to gas up the vehicles. Since we had left an hour late, it was now straight up five o'clock on a Friday...rush hour, and we had to traverse the entire breadth of the city in order to reach our destination. Since it had been a few hours since anybody had eaten (and I had forgotten to feed my kids lunch...bad daddy! bad!), we decided to make our way to Jack in the Box and have a bite while letting the traffic die down and hopefully the rain subside. It wasn't in our budget, but we ate off the dollar menu, drank our own bottled water, and ended up only spending $24 to feed all eleven of us. Not bad. While we ate, the rain did subside and the traffic did die down, so it turned out to be a good choice after all.
Bellies full and kiddos happy, we loaded up again and hit the road.With only one emergency pit stop to drain a bursting bladder between San Antonio and Corpus, we checked into our rooms at seven thirty Friday evening. After jumping on the beds for a few minutes in the typical celebratory fashion of youth (mine included), we all donned our swimsuits and went down to the pool. Nothing beats the relaxation of laying beside a south Texas pool under a palm tree in the balmy breeze of evening, sipping Coke Zero, eating Cheezits, holding hands with your sweety, and watching your kids do cannonballs. I think I even fell asleep for a few minutes, it was so relaxing. At eleven o'clock we ushered all the kids back to the rooms (though some of the girls had opted to stay in the room and watch the Disney channel from bed rather than swim) to put on their pajamas and hang their wet items from the railing to dry. I don't know what exactly went on in the girls' room, but we boys laid in bed till 2 am telling dirty jokes(the kind dad's let kids tell, like the one about the doctor and the tapeworm) and exchanging funny stories. It was a blast.
Bright and early 10 am the next morning we rolled out of bed and headed to Mustang Island. We backed the Jeep and Explorer up as close to the water as we dared, and before we could get the hatches open, the kids were headed to the surf. We intercepted them long enough to cover them in SP 40 and to give them a briefing on jellyfish and syringes (the syringes part was just to scare them), then we let them go. Jen and I went last, meandering our way hand in hand down to the water's edge to do the romantic thing...you know, take a walk together with the waves lapping at our feet. For the next FOUR HOURS everybody played in the waves and the sand and the sun. Lesson learned here: take the time to reapply waterproof sunscreen every half hour or so...briny waves tend to wash it off as we discovered that evening as we carted several tender young lobsters back to the hotel. I also was given a harsh reminder of the aging process when I discovered much to my dismay that I had BURNED MY LOVE HANDLES! Not only that, but I also found that I had received a sunburn right smack on top of my head in the area where my cowlick has grown somewhat sparse. Eegad, man.
We left the beach and stopped in at a Valero station for some much needed gatorade, then went over to the ferry at Port Aransas. The wait in line for the ferry lasted three times longer than the actual ferry ride itself, but I was glad to have given them all the experience. We got out while the barge was crossing in hopes of spying some of the dolphins that frequent the area, but didn't see any. After reaching the opposite shore, we drove back to the hotel and just laid in our dimly lit, very cool rooms for an hour while mustering the strength to get dressed for dinner and reminiscing about our day. It's interesting how it is that individual waves can be so unique, because the kids must have discussed at least two dozen different specific individual waves and how they had hit them a certain way, or dragged them enough to fill their pants with sand. Every word was spoken through the exact same joyful smiles they had worn all day long, and it made me very satisfied as a provider to see them so happy.
Jen and I were completely whipped, but we managed to find enough strength and zeal to load everyone up and take them the the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Yes, as you may be thinking, it was expensive. But as I told the kids after one of them snatched the bill from me and read the total aloud, they were well worth it. Jen and I had mandated that everybody drink bottomless water with lemon; that didn't go over too well, but it was the right decision since they were all sun-baked and several of them were harboring headaches from it. They all ordered whatever they wanted, and afterward we split a single "Chocolate Tower" dessert between us. Four of the kids couldn't finish their food so we bagged that up and took it home...though I accidentally backed right over it with the Jeep the next morning. Full tummies and tired, red faces found us at the end of our wonderful Saturday at the beach. We went back to the room and slept like rock (lobsters).
Sunday! Today was our visit to the State Aquarium. I woke up, saw that the clock said 9:30 and immediately called the girls' room to wake them up only to be informed that my clock was wrong and it was really just a little before 8. Oops! Oh well, nothing wrong with getting up early, so we all got up, packed up our stuff and checked out. The kids were absolutely wonderful about helping out with things, and were even proactive enough to act without being asked. By the time it was REALLY 9:30 we were checked out and headed down the road to find a place to grab some breakfast. Whataburger satisfied that need and kept us content for the next FOUR HOURS while we wandered around the aquarium and saw the sights. I think I absolutely made their weekend when, after we had paid the entrance fee, I told them that they didn't have to stay with us if they wanted to go off in groups. Scarcely had I finished uttering the words before the girls had gone one way and the older boys the other. So, Jen, Joshy, Amber, Jeremy, and I took our own sweet time checking out the sights and making sure not to miss any details. We had given every child their own disposable camera for this trip, so everyone was busy finishing up what they had left over from the day before, including Amber and Jeremy who really warmed my heart by asking to take pictures of their family in front of various tanks of fish.
A dolphin show and visit to the gift shop later and we were all gathered at the exit ready to hit the road for San Antonio. Nobody complained, and in all my life I've never gotten SO many unsolicited "thank you"s and "I'm having so much fun!"s. Jen, we did good, babe, and I do believe that we managed to give our kids and ourselves some memories that will affect us all in a positive way for the rest of our lives. We may have also promoted a little bit of that family unity we were shooting for, too. And, in the words of the kiddos, "we gotta do this again next year!"
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Re: Promoting Family Unity: A Weekend at the Beach!
How awesome!! Memories made that will last. Keep up the good work.
Posted by pearlaking on August 28, 2007 at 10:47 PM