People have different ideas about what vacations are all about. For some, it should be the beach. For others, it’s the mountains. For when our family comes to visit, Jamie and I like to call them “working vacations.”
This is an altruistic way of saying THEY WORK FOR US.
For my poor Dad, he got dragged to the pumpkin patch and navigated the forklift with Jamie as they put up the hail netting (better him than me).
Then last fall, a section of our fence blew down. We didn’t bother to repair it until the prospect of having a backyard party for Haddie’s baptism finally motivated me to action. Jamie determined we would finally put in a gate to the patch (a la Julianne Moore’s request when we appeared on the Marriage Ref).
We had to build two sections of fence and install the gate. Sound easy? IT WASN’T. If you’ve ever dug fence posts three feet into the ground, you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever tried to dig fence posts through several feet of concrete, now we’re talking. When the fence blew over, it was because the wood had rotted out, leaving behind the concrete from the original fence posts.
So, for two days Dad and I dug (he, with a 30-pound crowbar as I would dutifully shovel out the hunks of cement.) And then rebuilt.
I’ll never look at a fence again without the most utmost respect for those who built it.
Fast-forward a couple of days to when Linda (Jamie’s mom) and I tackled Hadley’s bedroom. She had volunteered to help make it over in honor or Haddie’s 8th birthday. One of my young women from church, Jessie, volunteered to help paint and so we recruited her for the cause while Hadley was in adventure camp.
After three days and A LOT OF work, Hadley has her very own tween bedroom, complete with her own crafting area, which she absolutely loves.
And now I need a vacation from their vacation.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 