Traditions!

I have the best husband, I really really do.  I give him lots of grief but he's fantastic.  Let me back up though...

Matt and I booked our first family beach vacation yesterday and we could not be more thrilled.  It's actually kind of odd really it feels so grown up.  I was thinking about it all last night and came to realize that it's kind of like the holidays.  For years you spend holidays (specifically Christmas and Thanksgiving as the biggies) with family.  You find yourself getting older but still "going home" for these events.  Then on day you are driving down the interstate with your husband, baby and dog in tow on the way to Grandma's house and you think "wait a minute, I have a home and it's not on I-95".  HA!  Obviously I get it, it's great to spend the holidays together and frankly it's hard to get to that next level.  But one day you do realize that you have a family of your own and you need to start your own traditions so you have that sort of awkward conversation with everyone letting them know that this is the last year you're traveling on the holiday but they are welcome to come see you.  Thankfully for Matt and I our families totally got it.  Conveniently  we got a bigger place too that can hold guests :)

I've come to realize that family vacations are much the same way.  Don't get me wrong, it can be great.  In the past we've had the opportunity to stay with Matt's family at their condo and do things we wouldn't otherwise have done like going out on Papaws boat.  Plus it's great to see family and have everyone get to enjoy the grandkids and vice versa.  Here's the thing though...as awesome as that is, Matt and I realized we were really excited at the prospect of starting our own family vacation traditions.  We've been very blessed that both he and I have some seriously amazing memories of going to the beach as kids and we want to do the same with our little family.  That is one thing I adore about Matt--he loves the idea of creating our own family traditions.  The catch is of course that you need to let them happen naturally which means you need to be in a place where you can go with the flow.

This year we were supposed to go with my parents to my Uncle's place in OBX and then start the new tradition next summer.  When the plans for that trip fell through Matt and I decided to go forward with our own little vacation.  I'll be honest, I didn't really know if it would happen--I mean, so adult! :)  First we had to decide on where to go.  For me I love the idea of going to the outer banks and renting a beach out house on the beach.  Matt on the other hand spent his summers in Floribama (aka Gulf Shores) in a condo.  Both had their good and bad components, but Gulf Shores is way to far to drive which would mean flying and renting a car and that's too expensive.  Plus that is more Matt's history.  OBX would be great but I have my own ghosts there.....I don't think running into an ex boyfriend is exactly the kind of family vacation any of us wants.  I wanted beach front lazy days, Matt wanted a "little bit of redneck" (they don't call it the Redneck Rivera for nothing).  Given that I spent my formative beach years at the Jersey Shore I totally got that--stuff to do for the kids (and grown kids) and just a laid back atmosphere....minus the guidos.  :)  So we decided on Myrtle Beach, SC.

We'll be staying in a condo but that's ok b/c it's beach front and there are some great amenities like a pool (b/c let's face it I'm a liar if I think I'm gonna wade in that ocean all day).  Plus it has my ocean front balcony to enjoy dinners on.  It took a little more work making some phone calls to get the unit we wanted but when it was all said and done I was overcome with this sense of joy.  Our little family is going on our first family vacation together.  We'll get to start our own traditions in our own new space and it's all my husband's doing (well, his motivation anyway :))  He and I are both so jointly excited....I don't even care that I'll be a million months pregnant :)  Bring on the summer.