Our Smith Mountain Lake Family Vacation
The last time I went on vacation was a trip to Cleveland, and while there are some good memories and pictures, it was mostly very stressful to travel with a 2-year-old…and in hindsight it probably wasn’t the best idea in the first place. I also haven’t vacationed with my family in a long time, so when my Mom brought up the idea of a summer lake trip with everyone who could make it, I was all in.
A little over a week ago, I loaded up two cars (Nathan and Oscar only stayed for a few days) and headed out to Smith Mountain Lake, a place I spent so many summer Sundays with friends after church playing on zip lines, jet skis, and taking boat rides out for ice cream. Since I moved around so much as a kid there aren’t a lot of places in Virginia that are nostalgic for me, but this one is at the top of the list.
As any parent knows, vacation with kids looks pretty different than adult-only trips, and we had eight ages 8 and under in the same house. I anticipated a decent amount of stress, but truly it could hardly have gone better. Sure, there was some fighting, and some early mornings, and some very tired kids after a long day on the beach, but Willow is finally at the age when she can (generally) go and play with her cousins, and that’s exactly what she did. There were some low parenting points (like that one time I thought it would be just fine to skip her nap - ha!), but mostly I got to see my little extroverted 4-year-old flourish while being around some of her favorite people in the world.
Most days we visited the Smith Mountain Lake State Park Beach, and even though I’m really not much of a beach person, the kids had a blast, which made it worth all the hassle of sunscreen, heavy things on the sand, and scorching heat. We also visited Bridgewater Plaza and had a day full of mini golf, feeding fish and ducks, and of course eating ice cream - which pretty much happened every day, to be honest. Another highlight was visiting Homestead Creamery’s Farm Market for lunch…and ice cream of course!
By the time I headed back on Friday, I was happy, tired, ready to be home, and incredibly thankful for the memories - not just for me, but for Willow more than anything. I love being with my siblings, parents, nieces, and nephews. They are truly some of my favorite people in the whole world, even when things aren’t going perfectly.
The break was wonderful. I barely checked email, had planned ahead well work-wise, and stayed off social media…plus I got to watch the Olympics and cheer on team USA! While it feels nice to be back into my normal weekly rhythms, I’m already hoping for another vacation next year…
