Prepping for Vacation

Next week we are traveling to Michigan for a week at a lake that we have (as a family) been going to for three years. My wife has been going off and on to the same place for the last 20+ years, so this type of tradition is near and dear to her.

The only problem with this? Well, besides the gas prices, I am not what you would call exactly the outdoorsman type.

The thing with this trip is that we spend most of our time on the water, either with a waverunner, on a friend’s boat in the smaller lake or on Lake Michigan, or in a cove where we all swim and relax. So, as you can see, that means outside—a lot. Now, I am not exactly bronzed; in fact, I resemble Powder more than I do George Hamilton. And as far as a physique, I don’t go shirtless out in public. Heck, I have trouble taking off my shirt to take a shower. I also have this penchant for drawing every mosquito within a 10 mile vicinity to my creamy white skin and having them line up like they are at a Golden Corral buffet for the chance to take a bite outta me.

As far as the outdoor sports, I can handle tubing like a pro. I mean, come on, all you have to do is sit and hold on. Yes, you can fall off, but that’s usually something that is an afterthought. With water skiing, I have never been able to get up successfully, and am surprised that I haven’t seen myself on America’s Funniest Home Videos doing a faceplant with my skis up in the air. With the Waverunner, I finally feel pretty comfortable on that on my own, but get me and my wife on there together and it turns into a screamfest which usually ends up with us both getting wet and blaming the other for not balancing correctly.

Bottom line: This vacation is not as relaxing as one normally would care to have.

But—it is something that the boys love to do. Caleb actually perfected his swimming there a couple of years ago, and Jonathan absolutely loves to fly on the Waverunner whenever he has a chance. They’ve both learned to fish there from their grandfather (I fish, but I really don’t FISH, if you catch my drift), and it continues to be a tradition that my wife holds dearly. I know that I would much rather be in Vegas at the slot machines with a cool temp of about 65 from casino to casino, but that’s not going to happen. But that’s ok—I am sure we’ll have great memories coming back from this and hopefully I will come back without any broken bones.

TAGS: Being A Dad, Being A Husband, Dads, Family Moments, Family Time, Family Vacations, Fatherhood, Michigan, Outdoors Vacations, Parenthood, Parenting, Summer Vacations, Vacation, Vacation Humor
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