Any Vacation Plans coming up??

Last year my then 15 year old daughter made a wonderful powerpoint presentation explaining how a sweet 16 bday party is nice and all but a trip to Italy would even be better. I thought about and said what the heck!! We are off to Italy in a couple of months, she is bringing three friends and I get to see Italy for the first time.

I am going on a cruise in 71 days. The cruise is going to Nassau, Bahamas, Half Moon Cay and Grank Turk. I so can't wait. I will exercise every day and I will do my best to eat healthy. However, I've been living my healthy life style for 16 months already so I am not going to torment myself by denying myself. When I come home I will hop right back into my healthy ways!!!

We're roadtripping to Wallyworld.

We call it Harry Potter World. Our goal this summer? To have one last family vacation in a car with all six of us as passengers for thousands of miles before the children are all grown up and skatter to their own lifelong "road trip." Sounds great, yes? Ponder the facts:

Me (Dad) and 5 women, ages 50 to 15. We will leave from Houston and drive to destinations in Lafayette, New Orleans, Orlando, and Naples - In late July. I can hear the cicadas and mosquitoes already. I can feel the oppressive humidity and mostly I can hear my daughters moaning and griping about it.

I absolutely fear the amount of luggage 5 women will drag along with themselves for this trip. Will we need two cars? A trailer? Probably a trailer for the tampons alone....or put me in the trailer and only let me out when I behave or have to pay a bill.

I know why my wife chose these destinations - her heritage, her interests, and a family interest in Harry Potter World. I know she is desparate to have one more family road trip before the nest begins to truly empty out. Our oldest is already 22 and in her own apartment. I understand my wife's need to relive our only other family road vacation that was in 2003. That was a spectacular tour of the west including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Black Hills, Moab, Jackson Hole, and all in 17 days and 4,350 miles in the Ford Expedition. Now we're older, taller, larger, and I wonder about our ability to co-exist for 600 miles in a day.

But I also know that there will be moments of transcendant epiphany and eye-opening experiences that make it all worth while. Imagine watching your parents get wasted to the point of heaving and showing bewbies in the French Quarter! Kidding. Still I think the music and food, and witnessing other people get wasted will be worth the price of admission. Naples is lovely and should afford us a quiet moment of rest and relaxation on a beach...inundated with mosquitoes, most likely, but we'll be acclimated by then. We'll do a swamp tour and see three different plantations along the Mississippi.

And then the coup de grace, the holy grail of family vacations - Harry Potter World. I'll bring my wand and embarrass the kids one more time. We'll eat overpriced Hogsmead treats and realize how much better J. K. Rowling's stories were in our imaginations as we read them (Now THERE is a VACATION!). This is the sort of lesson that family vacations are best at teaching. The large print giveth and the actual reality of the experience taketh away. And the best lesson of all?

How good your own bed feels when you get home.

Who has any exciting vacation plans coming up? And how are you going to incorporate your MFP/Weight goals into it?

I'm going to Ireland on Sunday for 4 days of music, hiking and drinking! Then Manchester, England for an international rugby tournament I'm competing in. I won't be keeping up with my calories as much just because I know I'll be getting adequate amount of exercise everyday and I have so many places I want to try.


Share yours!!

Well... I'm going to Ireland with you, of course!
I wish.

We're taking the kids up to the TN valley railroads and going on a small ride, then hitting up the aquarium and other small places. Nothing too exciting, but the kids will love it!

My reward for hitting my ultimate goal (in 82 more pounds) is to backpack through Europe. My husband is sticking all his money in a savings from his USAF Reserve job so we can go

Orlando, FL. in October. I have to get my coaster fix for 2012. Planning to hit Disney, Universal, and Bush Gardens.

Still plan to eat right. But eating at theme parks does have its challenges. Hopefully all the walking will counter mistakes.

Going on long weekend to Florence, Italy next month and I'll be honest, I will be eating whatever I want and drinking lots of wine. Then back to the grind when I get home.

Camping trip in northern Michigan (about an hour south of Traverse City) with my boyfriend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary!
So excited! =]
Not really going to worry about counting calories other than stop eating when I'm full and make healthier choices. We do loads of hiking and other out door activities.

Big Bear campground?

We are taking a caribbean family vacation in Aug/Sept to celebrate my step daughters 16th birthday. I can't wait, I need to stay on my goals so I can look good in a swimming suit!

i am going to Paris. i am so happy to be the one to initiate my kids to their first european travel. Planning on trying the red wine!

I'm going to a cottage the first week of July, no internet access. I'll be walking every morning before everyone wakes up. I'm also hiking, swimming and kayaking. I won't be able to log anything for a week which will suck, but I'm going to keep eating healthy.I'm hoping not to gain any weight that week.

You can always write it all down!