why to take a vacation with your kids

We had never taken a family vacation with all three kids before this summer. A vacation with just our family of five. Not to visit family or friends. Not for a wedding. Not for a baptism. Just away. Just us. And clearly now I know what we were missing. We spent almost five days at our place in Wisconsin and could have stayed a million years. My mom has outfitted it with all the books and games of our childhood, and even though we go almost weekly for a day trip, this was our first time simply immersing ourselves in its over 100 acres of beauty with all three kids. No agenda. No schedules. No obligations. Just us. We picked apples from an ancient apple tree and made a crisp. We hiked on the trails and waded in the creek. We scouted on the location of a future tree house//fort. RIGHT UP THERE. What a tree! The beach in front of the tree doesn’t look too shabby, either. Lots of rocks to splunk. We read so many books. So so so many and many more. Everyday had a cadence of reading, playing cards, playing outside, snacks, meals, naps, AA going for his marathon training run, and me sewing. Everyday had its fair share of screaming and fighting but with no agenda and a relaxed day, that was much less than I had anticipated. When you two oldest can play UNO together: sudden and constant entertainment. One morning it was chilly…