It’s Fabulous Friday and I have Summer Fever.
Although I haven’t quite faced putting my long sleeves and my greys and browns away, and I’m not entirely ready to impose my pasty legs on the world, a summer breeze keeps blowing in my office window and I’m itching to be outdoors in it.
I want to eat lunch al fresco, put my feet in the ocean, and wander the farmer’s market sniffing out the ripest, juiciest peaches. And I’m ready to travel.
(I’ll take a short second here to acknowledge that I won’t be spending my summer shuttling kids from one camp to another, nor will I be wrestling crabby toddlers and luggage for 14 through the airport. For this, I can find gratitude and even sympathy.)
My Mum celebrates her 80th birthday this summer, so Mr. Fab and I are planning a trip. And let me tell you, if it’s not pouring with rain, England in the summertime is glorious! I can hardly wait to be there, because there my pasty legs won’t stand out form the crowd, the ice cream is delicious, and with luck the barbecue in my brother’s backyard won’t get rained out this year. Ah, such bliss.
So, what about you? Do you have summer fever? Are you making plans? Are you itching to get out and frolic in the sunshine, too?
I live in NJ and we had a heat wave 2 weeks ago (which passed for a few days) but is back today. So it is officially summer, I put away all my long sleeves and grays, and have a base tan! My husband and I have rented a house for 1 week in Long Beach Island NJ in July (just the two of us) and we can’t wait. LBI is not the “jersey shore” you see on MTv — it’s quiet, our house is 1/2 block from the beach, and you can ride your bike everywhere. We have friends renting a house 4 miles away (with kids) so we can visit when we want and have our peace and quiet the rest of the time. Even if it rains, it’s still so nice to for me and my husband to both be off of work and together, lazing around and hanging out.
Happy birthday to your Mum! Hope you have a wonderful trip. Yes, England is glorious in the summer. Don’t forget the horseback riding that’s available, too, if you can manage the English saddle. I couldn’t, and ended up in hospital there! I can now say that I saw a part of England that most tourists don’t see.
I traveled to Rome and the Vatican this past February. Because I did not have to save money for kids’ school tuition, I enjoyed business class air travel: seats that lay flat, movies and books on demand, great food and first-class service. United and Lufthansa are the way to go when flying internationally!
While in Rome, I traveled with a small group to see various holy sites. We dined with a cardinal and several priests each night, received a private — after hours, just our group of 30– tour of the Vatican museums and Sistine chapel, and enjoyed an audience with the pope. The best part of the journey was the closeness and intimacy of our Lord Jesus as we toured and experienced his treasures.
After my fairy-tale experience in Europe, I look forward to seeing my sister and her family this summer. They live far enough away that my husband and I will travel by plane and stay in a cozy bed and breakfast during our visit.
Enjoy your vacation, Lisa, you deserve much love and a good rest!
Happy big birthday for your Mom (over here in Finland the decade birthday is considered big birthdays after you reach 30). 😀 And yeah, we’re really looking forward to spending a relaxing holiday together – abroad. 😀 And we wish for plenty of sunshine because it hasn’t been hot here yet and even two days ago in a place about 2 hours further north from here in Lapland, it snowed for a while!!!
Have a wonderful summer vacation – hopefully you will miss the Olympic crowd!
We have already started our summer with lots of three day get-a ways. Last weekend was Yosemite then the Russian River this weekend and water skiing next weekend. We will head down to Monterey/Carmel at the end of July – I also have family coming to visit in August. I then hope to rest a little bit before our big vacation to Spain in November. I am sure there will be other little trips in between.
All my friends with kids are ‘happily’ sending their kids off to camp for a week or so as they “need a break”. Then they are shuffling them from one day camp to the next – trying their best to keep them entertained. They aren’t taking any vacations as “it’s just too much work and no fun with the kids,” as one of my friends told me.
I can honestly say, that I do not envy any of them and I am truly grateful that we can get away at the drop of a hat.
We spent our summer honeymoon in the Cotswolds and it was absolutely lovely. We can’t wait to go back some day. Hope you have a lovely time. With temps this week over 100 I have often thought of that trip where my wardrobe consisted mostly of jeans and cardigans. No summer vacation for us ~ we’re building a new home in the country. We’ve counted our blessings many times that we’ve been free to just up and do this thing, not having to worry about the school system in a rural area or lack of kidlet socialization opportunities due being a bit far off the beaten path. Gardening has been my therapy through our IF journey, and I’m planning massive gardens galore. Of course they’ll be years in the making but planning is half the fun. So excited.
We just arrived from a 2 weeks vacation in Peru. We had a really good time visiting Cuzco and Macchu Pichu and hiking in the sacred valley. It was so good to be away from home and change the scenery. I wish you a good summer holiday.
I just got back from 2 1/2 week trip to Greece. My husband and I traveled over there and met up with my parents, who arrived a day earlier, and my sister, who was already there for business. We had an amazing time together. The islands were beautiful, the food was wonderful and fresh and the ouzo flowed freely! There is no way we could have done that trip with kids!!
Enjoy those summer breezes. Stay pale (it is much healthier) and interesting. have fun.
From a Stuck-in-the-middle-of-winter-hibernating Kiwi.
Yes! It’s been summer here in Texas for about six weeks now, and temps have been in the 100s this past week! We just got back from a long weekend of camping by a beautiful river in central Tx with a bunch of friends, and have been to the lakehouse several weekends already. I am pale and freckled, but right now as tan as I’ll ever be! Enjoy your weekend outdoors!
OH yeah… 🙂 There is a heat wave here right now, (99 and building right now- they said will be 104, with heat index of 115- wheeee!) So I’m staying in, painting labyrinths, writing and catching up on my reading (a pile of books awaiting to be read!) My dogs even have common sense…they rush out just to do their business and run in, no dallying!
At this time, there’s no vacation plans ’til this fall- after all, I didn’t want to bump into kids wherever in summer, so my vacation will be in September and October, traveling through Las Vegas (a lot of museums and quirky stuff to see!) and Denver/Rocky Mountains National Park.
Summer fever in full steam here – we’re planning a trip to Vancouver in mid-July. Have no idea what we’re going to do (hubby has 3 days of conferencing) – trying to decide – on the days he’s ‘working’ – if I should go zip-lining by myself – ladies – yes or no on that one?????
Also, for sure signing up for some sort of hot-spring spa experience, hopefully.
@Kellie – amen sista! Glad I don’t have to shuffle kids off to some sort of series of activities that they’ll most likely only have a vague memory of years down the line – just so I can ‘get a break’….
Counting my blessings this morning! : )
– Amy
Definitely do the zip lining!
Have a great time seeing your family! : ) I will be heading “home” in late August for two birthday parties — my parents’ neighbours’ granddaughter’s first, and my sister’s 50th (gotta be there to rub that one in, lol). BIL’s 50th birthday party is also coming up.