A trip to the ol’ homestead was just what we needed to kick off our version of summer vacation. And the weather couldn’t have been more accommodating! Still mornings effortlessly eased into sunny, hot afternoons that paired perfectly with freezies and endless watermelon. Cooler, bug free evenings. A night around the campfire. And, of course, one rainy day to fully support boardgames and enough movies to last a month.

There’s an overblown idea of ‘doing nothing’ accompanying the word vacation. Nothing could be further from the truth on this end. One simply doesn’t haul one’s family to mom and dad’s where more siblings show up with more nieces and nephews and then ‘do nothing’. It’s a revolving door of coffee, chores, keeping close eyes on all the cousins, catching a couple moments of downtime, calming potential chaos….and a whole lot of people being funny.

And a whole lot of good food that doesn’t make itself!

We’re the family that grew up gathered in the kitchen. Where there were toe tapping tunes, many hands slicing and dicing and everyone else just not wanting to miss out. Not much has changed. And that is a heartwarmingly wonderful and fulfilling thing.

We were also the not-so-quiet family. Not much has changed in that regard either, for better or worse. A quiet corner? Pray tell, what even is that? You can try sneaking off to the front porch or hammock, but I’d advise you to fully enjoy that fleeting moment of aloneness because half the family is already heading your way with lots to say.

With all the words in the world you’d think one could adequately express anything and everything. As it turns out, most things simply can’t be confined to words. One of those things is returning to your childhood home with all the familiars, feeling like a kid again with your siblings while watching your children run around your childhood yard… and then feeling the burst of joy in your heart upon realizing that your children are getting to live actual bits and pieces of your childhood. They are not limited to merely listening to ‘Mom’s stories’. During these occasional trips to the ol’ homestead they are establishing wee roots that are just like mine. And those roots will last a lifetime.