J is for Jet-Setters

On Day 10 of the A-Z Challenge, J is for Jet-Setters

My sons will pick up and go at the drop of a hat.  Amazing when you think of it, especially in Michael's case where he is routine driven and can get extremely distressed when his routine is broken.  


Our first family vacation was a week in Vermont.  A friend of my husband had a time share at Smugglers' Notch in Jeffersonville, Vermont.  While he loved it while his kids were small, they were all grown and he didn't use it.  He offered to rent his week to my husband.  I was concerned that once we got there, Michael would flip out being in a totally unfamiliar environment.  David was almost 7 and Michael was only 5 1/2.  We rented a minivan, I packed two huge coolers with food, clothes for the week and off we went.  My husband was totally prepared to leave the condo immediately if we had to. 

I shouldn't have been concerned.  David and Michael loved being away and we were out every day having a blast.  We explored covered bridges, took a boat tour on Lake Champlain, visited a small museum in Montpelier, and spent a day in Montreal. 

At Lake Champlain before the boat tour.

On a horse and buggy tour of Montreal.

We haven't flown anywhere with the kids yet, but we've taken long weekends to New York City, upstate New York, Philadelphia, southern Vermont, and Boston as well as our yearly week in northern Vermont.  I also rent a house at the beach for a month in the summer.

Michael and David love going away and if I said lets go somewhere right now, they'd be ready.  


We spent two weekends in New York City in 2013.  The first was Thanksgiving where we fulfilled one of my bucket list items: seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It was something I thought would be great but was even more awesome than I expected.  The boys were troopers while we waited in the cold and we all had the most wonderful time.  We got right in front and Michael was high-fiving the clowns as they passed.  Halfway through the parade I started getting texts and a couple of people posted on Facebook that they saw us on TV!  By the second day of the weekend, Michael had the New York subway system down pat.  We stayed at a hotel in Brooklyn that basically had efficiency units (kitchens) and Michael knew which subways to take to get not only into Manhattan, but all over Manhattan.  And they wanted to stay up late in the city that never sleeps.  They took photos with Batman in Times Square at 1am one night!  The following weekend we were back in New York to see Christmas in New York and celebrate Michael's birthday.  It was also the weekend they ate with us at Gemma Restaurant in NoHo.  And we had tea at the Plaza Hotel.  

I always say that if I had money, I'd be dangerous!  We all love to travel and if we could afford it, we'd be away every week!  David and Michael wouldn't mind that at all!