I am going to continue reflecting on our family vacation by using the questions posed by my friend.
3. How did you try to blend family, friends, fun, education, and shepherding?
Perhaps some people sit down and think out strategies for this but I work rather intuitively in such matters (for good or for ill). I probably think more along the lines of “how can we best use our time,” and that leads to a variety that addresses our needs. On a trip like this, the places rather dictate whether it’s a “fun” day or an educational one. Usually, however, we would avoid places that were devoid of “fun,” and there are plenty of options that make it easy to construct an itinerary that is both educational and enjoyable. Perhaps a helpful example would be our two days in Virginia. On the first day we split the afternoon between two sites that were much more “academic” in nature. But even at Jamestown, we spent most of our time listening to “John Rolfe” talk about his experiences and we fairly breezed through the on-site museum. At Yorktown we watched the introduction video and then worked on piecing together the battle narrative in the field. But we were conscious of the kids ‘ interest levels and kept the depth appropriate to that. The next day at Williamsburg we went to a courtroom reenactment that the kids didn’t understand, but they watched a swordfight, visited a silversmith, and completed a “kids ‘ quest” for a prize. When George Washington’s talk turned out to be about colonial economics, we left early.
We also were interested in using our time in the car. Kelli had the kids choose (non-library) books early in the summer that she then put away so they would have fresh reading material. I selected a number of audio books suitable for the whole family from the church library (including: For God and Country—Adventures in Odyssey, Bull Run, and Dr. Doolittle). When we weren’t able to finish the “Liberty’s Kids” video series before we left, we brought that along and these 22-minute episodes were nice “treats” for the kids to watch along the way. (And it was nice to see an episode about Boston the day after we had visited.) Perhaps a note about video-watching in the car: some families depend on it to get anywhere. Though we have the capability, I hate the idea of the kids not enjoying the scenery of the states we ‘re driving through, so we used it selectively and especially at the end of a long day when it was getting dark and as a treat for their hard work.
In previous years, we ‘ve brought along the Bible on CD and listened to a few chapters each morning from select biblical books. We didn’t do that this time, but we did work daily on memorizing Romans 12. This worked quite well and so I will give a tad more detail. In the five weeks before we left, we worked together on memorizing the first 8 verses. These are more general in nature, giving basic principles. When we began the trip, we started memorizing verse 9 in which Paul gives a series of commands. We decided to take one command a day (regardless of whether it was a complete verse or not). That then became the “verse of the day” and we would usually begin our drive reciting it and I would give a detailed exegesis from the Greek by memory. (Ha, that’s a lie! But I did try to explain it.) If you look over the chapter, you will see how very wonderful these verses are for a family vacation. For instance:
- Be devoted to one another in brother love.
- Be patient in affliction. (We had some a good laugh when a couple of the kids were exhorting the baby with this verse when his dinner was delayed.)
- Bless those who persecute you.
- Live in harmony with one another.
Throughout the day (some days better than others) we would try to reinforce the verse. Over the course of the trip we worked on reviewing various parts of the chapter.
One other thought about blending these elements comes from my experience in leading trips in Israel. I believe it is best to “front-load” the trip. Go harder and longer at the beginning and slow down and relax more towards the end. Hit the more academic sites when everyone is fresh and visit the more fun sites when everyone is tired. Sometimes there are limitations in this regard, but I found that this trip easily fit that model. On the “way up” we had longer days and visited the most important historic sites. Our trip was half over when we left Boston and the rest was mostly fun (friends, beaches, canyons, and caves).
My inability to keep my answers short leads me to believe that I need to turn this “interview” into a three-parter. Tomorrow I ‘ll wrap up with two more questions.
4. What would you do the same / differently?
5. How can fathers prepare for family vacations?
Kelli’s perspective of kid photos