Musings by Melissa

It’s getting to be that time of year again.  The time of year when the Eefsting family ventures south to visit my parents who have rented a nice three-bedroom condo on the Gulf of Mexico and who are willing to have our family fill two of the bedrooms.  What could be finer?!?

Normally, we couple this vacation with an excursion to Texas or Florida.  But this year we’re just going to the Gulf and back.  (And spending some time combing the beaches for shells and swimming in the pool, of course!)

Instead of visiting Florida or Texas, we’re going to take the kids to the UP (that’s Michigan’s upper penninsula, for those of you out-of-staters) this fall.  It’s been about seven years since we’ve been there, and we’re way past due for another visit.  And seven years ago we had one in diapers, so hiking to various waterfalls wasn’t really something we could partake in easily.

But in the meantime, I’m planning our trip to the Gulf.  I’ve researched geocaches to do along the way.  I’ve made a list of things to bring in the van to keep the kids busy while we drive.  Carl’s loaded our new books on CD into our MP3 players so we have lots of stories to listen to.  I think we’re all set.  Since we’re not going to Texas this year, I won’t need any referrals for a Plano cosmetic dentist, but Wayne did mention that he wants to get in to the dentist before we leave.

And so, sunny south, get ready!  We’re almost on our way!