Summer of the Stay-cation

A memorable vacation is not measured by where you go, but by who you are with.  Back in January and February when we normally would have been renting a house for summer vacation, our children's schedules were tentative.  As a consequence, we planned a home-bound holiday.

To insure the days together would be fun, we researched age-appropriate activities--catering to the  one-year-old, two-year-old, and three-year-old.

It all began by renting a van to pick up our daughter in Bethesda (Her husband joined us later.) and our other daughter's family who flew in from the midwest to the Baltimore-Washington Airport. We ate lunch at our favorite haunt on Federal Hill.

Regi's American Bistro, 1002 Light Street, Baltimore, MD

Then, the men took Will to the National Aquarium located on the Baltimore harbor.

http://www.jtwebs.net

Meanwhile, the ladies toured Patrick Sutton's interior design studio which is just a stone's throw from the aquarium.

http://patricksutton.com

Later that evening, our son and family arrived from Virginia.

The next day, although temperatures topped 100 degrees, the preschoolers' excitement for Dutch Wonderland wasn't dampened.

The plume ride provided a bit of relief from the sun.

Two honeys in a honey bee.

Three-year-olds like driving heavy equipment.

Two-year-olds do too.

One-year-olds, the same.

After that sauna the next day, we purchased seats in the Strasburg Railroad pullman car which is air conditioned!

We made time for a visit with the great grandparents.

Of course, Gigi had a present-a-day for each child to open.

"Boys may like balls, but girls like Madeline," Caroline said as she opened her present.  :)

To minimize the number of times I had to set the table for eleven people, we had a meal prepared by a Haitian lady with whom Bill works.  Another day, we ordered sandwiches-to-go from Isaacs just down the road from the railroad. And, on Sunday, we ate brunch at the Cork and Cap Restaurant.

My conclusion after the stay-cation experiment:  A trip to a far-away place is exciting, but a few days at home with the family is priceless.