As we say good bye to 2009 and give a warm welcome to 2010, I can’t help but look back at our family adventures that we have done through out the year.
I have to warn you that it will be a long post so why don’t you go grab a cup of coffee, get yourself comfortable and come back to join me as we walk down the memory lane together.
March – Gatlinburg, TN
We start the first quarter with our last minute trip that we planned with a group of friends. That was the first time we ever vacationed together but it won’t be the last for sure. 5 Families, 10 adults and 11 kids in one house for 2 days was a great fun. The only thing I wished we could change is to stay a bit longer. Kids had fun Snow Tubing down the Ober Gatlinburg and we had a nice and a bit scary scenic drive along the Great Smoky Mountains.
April – Washington DC
During Spring break, we went on a road trip to Washington DC. A full week in our capital city allowed us to enjoy introducing the kids to great history. We hit the ground running the first night checking out the Cherry Blossom along the Tidal Basin at night. The next day, we covered 2 museums in one day!!! The Natural Museum of American History was a big hit even though we only spent a couple of hours in there.
Yes, there are more things to do and see in DC BUT I couldn’t help planning a day trip to Baltimore. The Port Discovery Children’s Museum was a perfect escape from all the museums. It let them loose and be kids once again.
Back to DC, we had a little mishap to visit Capitol Hill so we just took it in stride and enjoyed our DC by Foot tour. By far, it was one of the highlight for me. A visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Lincoln Memorial gave me the sense of deep appreciation for this country.
Another break from our museum visit was called for the next day. So we hopped on the Metro and checked out many little (or not so little) furry friends at the National Zoo.
The last day was not at all the least memorable. We spent time checking out the Air and Space Museum.
May – Disney World, Orlando, FL
At the beginning of Summer, we headed down to the land of Mouse to celebrate Mr. Rojo’s Birthday. There was no other places he would rather be than Disney World.
We had a great time in Disney’s Animal Kingdom even with a rain storm at the end of the day. Our friends came up to celebrate with us and we enjoyed our hot Florida day at Disney’s Water Park.
Orlando is not all about theme parks so we spent a leisure day wandering and shopping at the Downtown Disney.
July – Outdoor Adventures
We stayed close to home in the midst of Summer. But we did challenge ourselves to new adventures. We started off slow by hiking closer to home.. really close to home. Then we took another step out of our comfort zone to plan a camping trip. Camping in the backyard was another baby step before the real off-site camping. We did it and it was a blast. We also learned a few tips for our first endeavor.
September – Camping by the Lake
We did our first off-site camping at the campground by the lake nearby our house. Kids were a trooper in helping out in the camp and they enjoyed fun activities. Mr. Rojo got over (just a tad) his camping phobia.
September – Asheville, NC
What a month of stepping out of my comfort zone! After a camping trip, we headed North to Asheville for me to attend my FIRST Blogging conference. I was nervous! Asheville was such a beautiful town to visit. Good food.. no.. GREAT food!!
We continued our outdoor adventure by hiking up the Chimney Rocks. Then a quick visit to Biltmore Estate confirmed that I want to go back there again.
I enjoyed learning from and meeting new bloggers. And oh.. yeah.. we took the kids with us. So I learned a few things along the way to have a great business/family trip combo.
November – San Diego and Los Angeles, CA
We ended our 2009 adventures with the most memorable trip for the whole family to the West Coast. It was our first flying trip in a couple years. With all the changes in TSA that going on daily, I was very nervous.. Alas, we made it without lost child.
Mr. Z couldn’t stop talking about his visit to Legoland. I still have several posts I will do for our visit.. We didn’t even scratch the surface yet.
Whew, still with me? What a year we had!!!
As I look forward to the New Year, I don’t know if we will be blessed to be able to afford that many trips again. We already know we will go back to Thailand next year. I still would love to add a couple trips within the US if we could manage. Who know?
Hope you guys will stick around to see what adventures we will get ourselves into. :)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow Amy, quite a year! My hat’s off to you for all the planning and adventuring you guys were able to do. I admit, you’ve already hooked me; I’m really looking forward to hearing more about Thailand. Look forward to the stories to come!
That is so odd…I thought I commented on this post already…either my computer is doing some funky things or I’m drinking too much Kool-Aid….LOL. I’m having baby no.2 in March, so not much travel going on here until baby is big and strong enough. In the meantime, I will look to your blog for more family trip tips!
My goodness you all did some traveling in 2009!
I forgot you went to Gatlinburg. My family and I went there when I was very young.
I can’t wait to see what adventures you and your family will embark on in 2010!
Wow, and I got through all of your adventures without my cup of coffee. I’m going to have to refer to your D.C. adventures as we embark on our first trip there this year.
DC is such an underrated east coast destination. Looks like you really dove right in though which is great. So many people seem to miss all the neat (and often free) things to do there.
Looks like you enjoyed some great adventures in 2009. I look forward to seeing where life takes you and your family in 2010!