My Family Vacation 2020 // Wednesday Whatevers

Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a lovely morning/afternoon/evening! Last September, my family and I went on our first family vacation in sixteen years. To give you some perspective, we last went on vacation when I was a baby/toddler… It was A TON of fun, and in this post, I wanted to give a little recap of all that happened as well as share a few of my favorite pictures from our family vacation.

Friday (Day 0): We left for the resort on September 4th, 2020, and we drove down in a big, fifteen-passenger van. My family was supposed to get a twelve-passenger, but it was in the shop. Turns out, we really did need a fifteen-passenger; the van was LOADED. My sisters and I sat in the way back in individual seats, so we were pretty spread out. It was a funny sight. We made our first stop, only a minute or so away from our house, to get some ice from a gas station. As soon as we arrived, my little brother said, “Guys, we’re here!”

On the way to the resort, I ate some trail mix during the first hour or so, then took a nap, ate some chips, all while listening to some music. We eventually passed through a little bit of Maryland, then into West Virginia. I soon had to use the restroom while my parents were trying to find a drive-thru to get some food. We found a Dairy Queen, and while we were waiting in line, my younger sister, Briana, stood up (yes, the van was that tall) and started dancing. The people behind us gave some odd looks. We waited in line for about five to ten minutes, and during that time, I was able to hop out and use the bathroom inside the restaurant.

We arrived at the cabin at the resort at around 11:30 at night. It was AMAZING! The whole resort gave some rustic yet also modern vibes, and I was loving it. It was a three-bedroom cabin, so my sisters and I shared a room with two full beds. I had to share a bed with Briana while my older sister, Emma, shared a bed with my youngest sister.

Saturday (Day 1): The next morning, I woke up around 8:00 am. Emma was the last awake out of the girls (that’s pretty typical). For breakfast that morning, I ate a hearty, healthy meal of chips since we hadn’t bought many groceries. I later tried teaching my two youngest siblings how to play Scrabble, but they were barely able to read, so it was very difficult. Briana ended up taking the four youngest on a walk while Emma and I hung out at the cabin. I drew while she played guitar. I eventually got bored of drawing and explored the back deck to talk with my parents. Through them, I learned the Wi-Fi password and connected my laptop, tablet, and phone to Wi-Fi, allowing myself to do some schoolwork while away. Spoiler alert: I didn’t end up doing any homework, but I did begin downloading a Barbie movie on Netflix to watch.

Around 12:30, most of us left to go swim at the pool! I swam for about an hour, then sunbathed for the next hour. I got kinda tan, but I don’t think I’ll ever do that again; I doubt it’s very good for my skin… While most of us kids were at the pool, my mom had gone shopping and bought groceries for our week at the resort. Woohoo! When we got back from swimming, we chilled at the cabin for a bit until my dad took the four youngest fishing while Emma, Briana, and I stayed with my mom.

Emma and I watched Barbie: Princess Charm School, each on our own devices, and later learned that my mom was watching A Bugs’ Life in the family room. Odd choice. When we finished Barbie, we turned on American Ninja Warrior on TV in our room but got bored of it and began watching a dog rescue show on Animal Planet. When that show ended, my sisters and I somehow found ourselves watching a Hallmark movie, The Perfect Catch. Briana and I were snacking on chips throughout all of this, and I almost wasn’t hungry for the burgers my dad grilled. Almost. When dinner was finished, we chilled a bit more, watched SpiderMan: Far From Home in the resort’s amphitheater, and then went to bed.

Sunday (Day 2): I woke up around 8:00 again, and I had made the mistake of not washing my hair yesterday after the pool; it was yucky. For breakfast, I ate a bagel with strawberry cream cheese, then worked on my book. As a family, we gathered in the family room and watched a live stream of our church’s service. My two youngest siblings took turns sitting in my lap where I sat, nearly falling asleep. For lunch, I ate another bagel, some cereal, and a sandwich. We left soon after that to visit a cousin of my father who lived around the area.

The visit was pretty boring, to be honest. I was socially drained and very bored and even texted my mom that I was exhausted. Eventually, however, we did leave, and my mom, sisters, and I stopped at Walmart on our way back to the resort. I ended up spending about $40.00 there and getting way too many things. Even better, I didn’t bring my card, and the cash registers didn’t accept Samsung Pay (I had to use my mom’s, then pay her back when we got back to the cabin). And, as if it can’t get any better, the cashier was slow, and we ended up waiting in line for about five to ten minutes. That doesn’t sound like long, but try setting a timer on your phone for five minutes and just stand there… it’s not fun, especially when the other half of your family is waiting in the car for you.

By the time we arrived back at the cabin, it was around dinner, so my mom ordered some Italian food and left to pick it up. While we waited, I ate a cookies ‘n’ cream bar that I had bought and had to fight the urge to eat the rest of my snacks. From the Italian place, I had picked a cheesesteak hoagie and mozzarella sticks. IT WAS SO GOOD. I would do nearly anything to eat Italian food. However, this hoagie was huge, and I could only eat about 1/3 of it. After dinner, we planned on going to another spot of the resort to watch some fireworks, but they started early, and we only saw a few remains of them from where our cabin was. I decided to take that now-empty time to take a shower, but when I got out, the rest of my family was watching the live-action remake of The Jungle Book. I only missed the first five minutes and quickly joined in. It was a really good movie, but the giant monkey part really scared me; I ate oversized animals. And monkeys. It was spooky.

>> PICTURE TIME <<

I took a ton of pictures while on vacation, but here are a few of my favorites (that I’m able to share online) about all the various stuff we did.

Monday (Day 3): I woke up at 8:45, and we all got a late start to the day due to last night’s movie. I ended up going to bed at midnight last night. I ate breakfast and was super excited about it because Emma and I bought almond milk to use in our cereal! After breakfast, we didn’t have much planned except for horseback riding in the afternoon. THAT had me SUPER excited. Emma was still asleep by the time I finished, so Briana, my younger sister, and I chilled in our bedroom quietly. I just watched a bunch of TikToks and played a game on my tablet. Eventually, at 12:32, my family and I had lunch where I decided to finish my hoagie from last night’s dinner.

We went horseback riding in the afternoon, and I LOVED IT. My horse was named Fetch, and he was a dark chocolate brown color. I was able to control him pretty well, but a few times, he would trot while going downhill. At one point, he got scared by something in the brush beside the path, and he reared a bit and began running. I was able to pull back on him and slow him down, but it was honestly pretty thrilling to be on the back of a running horse. I don’t know what it was, but it was just really cool. After our horse ride, we all went to the pool to cool off a bit, and Emma got some funny videos of us messing around in the water.

Back at the cabin, we chilled a bit, then had dinner. I ate mozzarella sticks and then made a strawberry banana milkshake (because we finally had almond milk!) Earlier, at Walmart, Emma and I bought caramel apples for like, $0.90, and while I was eating mine that night, I choked on it, and legit couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. I couldn’t even cough. However, Emma’s face was turned away when I started choking, and she thought I was being stupid or something… that happens every time I happen to choke on anything. We watched the live-action remake of Dumbo as a family, and I ate way too many almonds… oopsie. I went to bed right after the movie, probably around midnight again.

Tuesday (Day 4): I woke up super late, around 10:00 am or so. I had a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese, a banana, and some cereal for breakfast that morning and chilled in bed afterward. There was nothing on the agenda except for swimming in the afternoon and yet another family movie night. I chilled for the rest of the morning until lunch where I ate a banana. After lunch, we went mini-golfing then swimming. During the last half hour of our time at the pool, I ended up just tanning. Again, probably not the best for my skin now that I think about it. We went back to the cabin to change into casual clothes, then left to go eat at a Mexican restaurant.

The restaurant was called El Vaquero’s, and there I ate cheese nachos, a chef salad, apple juice, and a dish called xangos. The dish was pretty much fried cheesecake with ice cream topped with some chocolate drizzle. It. Was. So. Good. On our way out of the restaurant, one of the staff members gave us lollipops and candy out of a jar they had on the desk. It was pretty neat if you ask me. When we got back to our cabin, we watched another family movie. I didn’t write down what it was in my journal, but two of my little brothers fell asleep during the movie, so I guess it wasn’t very significant in their minds either. After the movie, my one younger brother, who managed to stay awake, struggled to lift the youngest and carry him to bed. Said brother is also a stick-thin, just-skin-and-bones type of kid; I thought I should mention that.

Wednesday (Day 5): I woke up around 8:30 am that morning, and it was our last day of vacation. I messed up the timing and accidentally said I was available that day to work. Turns out I wasn’t available, but I was scheduled anyway. I tried to call into work to tell them I was out of town, but no one picked up—that stank. I wasn’t very hungry that morning, so I decided to chill and pack up a bit while waiting for lunch. At 10:46, our family was almost all packed up, and my dad took three of my younger siblings to go fishing while my youngest brother listened to some music through my speaker. He has his own special playlist and everything.

On our way back home, we stopped at the Monticello for a tour. However, on our way to the Monticello, I spilled a bit of the chocolate pretzels that my sisters and I bought, but we just laughed over it. We were probably too tired from the week to even care or comprehend anything. We stayed at the museum for about three hours to visit the home and the property surrounding it. It was honestly amazing. Thomas Jefferson was a genius when it came to inventing, and there were so many unique, interesting inventions and contraptions all throughout his house. At the gift shop, I bought a t-shirt, a mug for my teacher, a little toy for some of my siblings, and something else, I think. I paid in cash and was ripped off like $30 or so because the cashier rang in an item incorrectly. I was upset about it at first, but then I remembered that money is just a material thing and temporary anyway. If I really need something or a certain amount of money, God will provide it if I really need it. When we got back home, I finished up my journal writing and the account of our vacation.

It was really fun, and I had an amazing time spending a week with my family and bonding with my sisters, especially. I made a ton of fond memories that I know I won’t forget, and I hope that we can have another family vacation sometime.

That concludes the recap of my family vacation! I hope you all enjoyed reading about it, and if you have any fond memories of your own past vacations, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! As always, keep on inspiring others and loving yourself!