Sunday, July 10, 2011

Where Does the Time Go?

Can't believe that my last post was at the end of the summer of 2010. Here I am feeling like the summer of 2011 is whizzing by now.

The Boy and I spent just over two weeks in Michigan. Whenever I would tell people where I was going on vacation, I would usually hear something along the lines of, "Visiting family? That's not a vacation. That's an errand. You're taking a long errand."

A lot of families can feel like a checkmark. Not mine. I count myself fortunate that I wouldn't pass up time with my parents or my sister for just about anything. I don't dread holidays with them. I don't tense up when faced with a long car ride with them. I look forward to those things.

I truly love San Diego, but I'm not sure I'll ever feel like it's home for me. My son can't run
down the street to visit friends because none of his buddies live in our neighborhood. We may not have mosquitoes, but we also don't have room to run. When I sneeze, it's often my neighbor who God-blesses-me.


My parents and sister humor my excitement at going back home to Michigan. They look for touristy things for us to go do, and we either all pile into a car to go see something, or Mom & Dad graciously entertain the kids for a day or two while we head out.

This year's My Michigan was simply beautiful. We went to the BalloonFest in Howell, an art fair in Northville and drove along the Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City to check out wineries and take photos of the quilt barns. But that was just the on-the-road stuff.


Back in Davison, I tried to maximize my son's Michigan summer. We caught lightning bugs, had a backyard camp fire, visited Sabo's ice cream shop and set up backyard soccer and baseball games. We kept watch over a nest of Robin's eggs in my parents' front yard, from which emerged the fuzziest littlest birds I've seen in a while. My mom even set up an all-nighter with the kids ... she fed them crazy amounts of sugar and yummy treats, arranged for bowling, movies and ice cream-making. Jacob had non-stop doses Vitamin D, and he didn't care how hot it got.

San Diego summers are different. We walk over to the park for concerts. We plan week after week of summer camps at the Y where he will get to skateboard, play soccer and even iceskate. At night we sit outside and listen to the crickets, bundled up because it gets pretty chilly when the sun goes down. It's not quite the same to me without the lightning bugs, though.

I often wonder if I'm as sentimental about my Michigan summers simply because that's how I grew up, or because they truly are better than our SoCal experiences. I guess Jacob will have to tell me when he's 40, and bringing his kids over to Grandma's house for their own summer vacations.