Family Vacation

Sunset over the Xingu River

Our family had the privileged to take several days off.  We managed to have a good time and kept the sun burn to a minimum.  It was fun to go in the mission boat out along the river for several days, being away from other commitments.  There were a few storms, with the boat bouncing around on the ways.  The kids seem to take it all in stride. 

There are many reasons why it is difficult to take family vacations.  Let me share a few thoughts about the upside of a family vacation.

1) The family builds a memory bank of shared experiences.  There will be good memories made on a family vacation - things that happen when the clan is all together that would not otherwise happen.  And, those are great moments that can be recalled, talked about, and laughed about together.  One thing on this trip was that Daniel learned how to drive a speedboat.  That made quite an impression on him and on the rest of the family.  He was excited by his new learned ability. 

2) The family can be involved in activity and not being entertained.  Having everyone out doing something is much better than sitting watching something.  Hardly anyone talks about the movie they watched together but they will talk about the shared experiences.  By getting out and doing things together as a family, there is a wonderful time to bond and strengthen relationships.

3) It doesn't have to be expensive.  Unfortunately, we often associate more expensive with higher quality.  In the family vacation category, this simply is not true.  It is possible to do things that are not expensive and have a great time together.  This was one of the reasons that we opted for a week on the river instead of going some where else.  It was close by, inexpensive, and accessible.  It made it easy to spend time together and still get away. 

We had a good time together and everyone was thankful for the chance to get away.  You can look at a few photos over in the Photo Album.

Samuel, our perpetual motion machine, stopped long enough for this photo by the pilot house of the boat

Comments

[Lilly]

Nice to hear about your family and wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing them. I'm glad you took time to be together to make those shared memories. God bless you! Lilly Shurance