What I did on my summer vacation…

Do they still have the kids write a story about their summer vacations at school?  I’ll have to ask my step-kids when I see them this week!

My husband and I had a ‘relationship-filled’ summer this year… not with each other, either!  It really does seem that no matter what I do, my life revolves around family – of all kinds!

July was Chris’ turn to spend a couple of weeks with the kids and many members of his family – an ‘all-inclusive’ week at a cottage with the kids, his parents, and his niece and nephew. The kids had a blast tubing and swimming and fishing; they raved about the food, which was provided by the camp.  I was able to get away on my own for a few relaxing days with a girlfriend – aaaahhhhh.

When Chris and the kids returned from the cottage, they had several more days with Chris’ aunt and his niece, visiting Wonderland, shopping, swimming, golfing – basic summer fun!  Throughout that time, we had several houseguests, staying for varied periods of time, sometimes overlapping so some had to sleep on the floor.

While the boys went off for 2 weeks at Camp Muskoka, Chris, my step-daughter and I spent a weekend with MY family at a cousins’ cottage weekend in Muskoka. One of our favourite parts of the weekend was dressing up for dinner – all of us picking our favourite decade and dressing the part.

The month of July felt really busy with not much of a break from a lot of activity. But we both love spending time with family, so wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

Two weeks later at the beginning of August, I started my vacation.  Five of us traveled to New York and Pennsylvania for an annual family reunion; the kids always love this weekend because they enjoy the pool at the hotel so much! This year, the reunion was held at Midway State Park, where the kids spent a great deal of time in an arcade!

Once we returned home, Chris and I prepared for our big adventure to the Canadian North. My daughter, Sarah, lives with her partner (also Chris) in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. For those of you who don’t know where that is, its fairly far north – the territory is north of Alberta – and Yellowknife is only about 300 miles south of the Artic Circle.

Chris and I decided to travel via Ottawa to Iqaluit (capital city of Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut) and Rankin Inlet to Yellowknife. When we arrived in Iqaluit, it was only 6 degrees (which is only a bit above freezing), but it was clear and sunny.  Sea ice had blown into the bay during a storm a month earlier, but no storm had come through to blow it out again and Frobisher Bay is cold enough to keep the ice frozen.

When we arrived in Yellowknife later that same evening, it was about 25 degrees, and that weekend, Yellowknife was the warmest location in the country – 30 plus degrees!! Pretty extraordinary weather for that part of the country.

We had a great visit with Sarah and Chris (cherished time, since we only see them about 4 times a year) and met their two puppies.  We spent time boating, swimming, checking out the city (another territory capital – but small by ‘big city’ standards – only 20,000 people), sleeping in, watching the Olympics, and eating different foods (buffalo, caribou, artic char).  One of my favourites days was spent traveling a bit north of the city to Cameron Falls, which is a 20 minute trek up rocks to a lovely waterfall between Upper and Lower Cameron River.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and we were out in nature – perfect!

All in all, Chris and I traveled through 6 airports on that trip.  I had arranged a family brunch in Ottawa for the last day of our holiday. It was great to see more family that we hadn’t seen for quite a while (its been over a year since I’d seen most of them), as well as Sarah’s Chris’ parents.  (Sarah & Chris have been together long enough for his parents to be considered her in-laws.  Its a bit complicated, but we visited with my first husband’s family, Sarah’s in-laws, and my husband’s sister’s family… don’t try to figure it out!)

So, a successful and satisfying summer (not to mention busy!). The family theme continues even now – Chris is in Vancouver with his dad visiting aunts & an uncle, Sarah will be here for visit in 4 weeks, and then it will be Thanksgiving, which always means figuring out which family dinner is on which day!

Love it, and wouldn’t change a thing!!

Visiting with Sarah in Yellowknife, NWT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Coaching Moment:

• What do you cherish about your family?

• What one step could you take this week to re-connect with someone you haven’t seen or spoken with for a while?

• Are there holiday plans you want to start making now?

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If you are curious about what Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching can do for you and your family, partner(s) or team, feel free to send me an email at trilogy@pathcom.com to request a free sample session.

Warmly,
Jennifer