I have a recurring dream . We are taking the children on a trip and I forget something important, we do not have time to get to the airport or I’m trying to pack and we have no clean laundry. Maybe this has its root in the truth.
Our family is notorious for spur of the moment vacations/outings.
We made the decision to head out on our last tent camping trip a mere 5 hours before we left the house. That’s packing clothes, food, bedding, dishes, tents, chairs, cleaning supplies, everything for 12 people into a 12 person van in just 5 hours. (Yes, I am still pretty impressed we pulled that one off.)
We did it again with this year’s vacation. At 3:30 on Friday afternoon we made the decision. By 7am on Saturday we were packed and in the van starting our 8 hour drive to the Carolina coast.
Two week old, Nathaniel was a champ on the drive down and we made it through with just a few nursing stops.
The children stretching their legs during one of our nursing stops
The other children made good use of the stops to use the bathroom and get some wiggles out.
One advantage of doing a last minute beach vacation is that you can get great deals on rental houses (which for our large family is much less expensive than trying to stay in a hotel). I call a rental company in the area we’re hoping to visit (we choose beaches with mostly private homes and few public beach access areas) and ask if there are any owners who are motivated to rent their house for the next week and are willing to be flexible with the price. We’ve done this twice now. One time we payed half of the off-season rate and this time they reduced the rate by a few hundred dollars.
Colby (6) and Nick (4) enjoying the view from our living room at Holden Beach
We ended up with a nice house right on the water. Each night we were able to open up the windows and enjoy the noise of the waves crashing on the beach, lovely.
We spent our time building sand castles,
Nicholas (4) and Colby (6)
swimming,
Savannah (7), Alyssa (12), Sadie (9) and Kaitlin (14)
catching waves,
Alyssa (12)
collecting shells,
Shell collecting
loving the baby,
Me wearing Nathaniel (2 weeks)
Nathaniel 2 1/2 weeks
Nathaniel (2 1/2 weeks) enjoying the sunrise
playing in the sand,
Colby (6)
celebrating a birthday,
Carter (10), Amber (16) and Nick (4)
eating,
Clockwise: Bella (2) Sadie (9) Carter (10) Amber (16) Nick (4) Mark Alyssa (12) Savannah (7) Colby (6) In back: Kaitlin (14) and Matthew (13)
touching Loggerhead turtle eggs (and watching 10 little Loggerhead hatchlings make their way to the ocean.),
The kids get to touch some Loggerhead Turtle eggs
napping,
Nathaniel catches a quick nap
did I mention loving the baby,
Nicholas (4) and Colby (6) admire Nathaniel (2 weeks) just before bedtime
Nathaniel (3 1/2 weeks)
Nathaniel (2 1/2 weeks)
So despite (or perhaps because of) our last minute tendencies, we had a relaxing, enjoyable, blessed time at the beach
The crew at Holden Beach
with our most favorite people in the whole world.
Are you a planner or spontaneous when it comes to vacations?
You may also be interested in:
I could pull off the packing aspect (clothes, beach toys, etc.) in that amt of time, but not the food. I try to take so much stuff prepared ahead of time so that the vacation is more of a “vacation.” Did you have stuff in the freezer you could take or did you just cook it all after you got there?
Still not believeing we were so close to you guys…yet so far away.
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:28 am
We cooked after we got there. Even so it was a stretch, I forgot how much time a newborn takes.
We’re so sorry that we missed seeing you all, that would’ve been fun!
[Reply]
HI,
I live about and 1 1/2 hours away from Holden beach. We went about two years ago. The children loved it. Did your family go there in 2010? I met a family who had a lot of children and they were dressed modestly and they were getting ice cream> I spoke briefly to them about their modest swimsuits and also telling them about our girls having the same swimsuits. I thought maybe it was your family.
I was just curious.
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:30 am
Hi Julie Marie,
I can’t remember the last time we were at Holden Beach. I think the last time we headed to the beach (in 2010) we stayed on Pawley’s Island.
[Reply]
OMG. When were you there? We just got back from HB as we celebrated the finalization of our adoption and a birthday there this past weekend. That would have been a real blast meeting up with you there!! As we are a semi large family to yours (9). Our children are tired of gng looks and people counting them. They would love to meet another large family and have something in common! i almost got whiplash to find out that you were at Holden Beach!! Let me know next time and I can plan all for you except the packing and driving. There is an aquariam a Ferry boat away that has wonderful touchy feely things and if you have a zoo member ship entrance is free. We just adopted a family of children of six and we still have one dd a home so our children are 14-5, 5yods, 7yods and the rest dd’s 14,13,12,11,6. We are truly blessed! Thanks for sharing!
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:33 am
Congrats on the adoption!
We were at Holden Beach September 8-15. We met another homeschool family there and they told us about the aquarium, but it was too late in the week for us to visit. Maybe that will work out if we head that way again, it sounds like a lot of fun and the kids would love the ferry.
[Reply]
We love Holden Beach, also. It is were we vacation every year. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a rental place that is as accommodating as what you’ve described…we’d love to know who you’ve contacted in the past if you don’t mind disclosing
Thanks so much for sharing your family photos. It always looks like you have such a sweet time together!
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:37 am
It’s really up to the home owners to decide whether or not to give a discount. We’ve called and worked with several different rental agencies. The one we worked with a couple years ago didn’t have any deals for us this year. So it’s more the owners than the rental company, just ask around.
This year we were very pleased to work with Hobbs Realty. The one we rented from a couple years ago was Pawley’s Island Realty (Pawley’s Island is generally our first choice for a beach vacation).
[Reply]
I really like spontaneous vacations too! I think they’re my favorite because you don’t have to stress out for weeks planning and pondering…you just GO! Glad you had fun. Your family is beautiful.
[Reply]
I’m wondering – what sort of rental company do you contact – vacation rentals? Also, maybe a silly question, but I see a lot of your swimming. How do you manage swim lessons? I’ve had such a difficulty finding a way to get my kids lessons, and get them all there between being pregnant, or just having had a baby, or littles that I need to keep track of during lessons….
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:47 am
Yes, vacation rental companies.
Our children haven’t had swim lessons. They’ve learned to swim on their own or with help from mom and dad. I think it’s part of our lifestyle homeschooling mentality, we don’t think we need to have lessons or professional teachers.
That’s not to say we would never do swim lessons, I think the kids would enjoy that, but as you mentioned it’s tough to do with being pregnant and having little babies.
[Reply]
Jul Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Wow. I wonder what I’m missing. We have much the same lifestyle as well – learning almost everything at home. But trips to pools were pretty much limited to rare hotel stays, and they just weren’t getting it. Not to mention pool adventures became fewer and fewer as with more children that don’t know how to swim made it even more daunting to watch them all. Maybe trying to do regular trips to a pool with just a couple at a time would do it. I remember teaching myself to swim too. If you’ve got any more tips, I’ll take ‘em …
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 2:11 pm
I don’t think you’re missing anything. Our children tend to learn to swim ‘later’ because of what you describe(they don’t get a lot of focused time in the water, some years it’s only once or twice). But we’re fine with our children learning how to swim as they have the opportunity and inclination.
Since we’ve always had several/lots of non-swimmers, we have them wear life jackets whenever we’re around water, even if they’re playing nearby where the big ones are swimming. We do encourage them to explore without the life jacket one at a time.
For the last two years, one of our neighbors has given us full access to their pool, this has given our kids a lot more exposure to the water, but we still have a 6 year old who is unable to swim. My guess is that he’ll get it quickly next year.
Hope that helps.
[Reply]
Looks like so much fun!
[Reply]
We went on a week-long tent camping trip when our baby was 3 weeks old! It was planned, though, because my husband has to get time off work a month ahead. My mom went along, and did the cooking while my husband and the children set up and broke camp. Great memories!
[Reply]
So far we are big planners when it comes to holidays, just wondering were you this spontaneous when your children were 5 and under or is this something that has developed as you have got older?
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
October 2nd, 2012 at 7:49 am
Hi Catherine,
Yes, we’ve always been this spontaneous. However, when our children were all little Mark didn’t have this type of vacation time and our budget didn’t allow for trips like this, so our spontaneous outings were generally shorter and closer to home.
[Reply]
Ac Reply:
October 23rd, 2012 at 9:52 pm
I’m curious what your husband does that he is able to take time off without notice? We have to plans months in advance for anything more than a few days. That’s great that you can do it, though!
[Reply]
Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
November 1st, 2012 at 10:00 am
My husband is in technical sales. He sets his own schedule and as long as he has no appointments with customers or vendors (or can change those appointments) his hours are extremely flexible.
[Reply]
Love the picture of the kids playing while you nurse the baby! Reminds me of our family! Now I don’t feel so odd having our kids play in the grassy area where we stop to take care of the baby…others do it, too!
I’m not much of a spontaneous person, but my husband can be. His parents live about 6 hours from us and one year, on his birthday, he decided at lunchtime he wanted to watch the college football bowl game with his dad either that night or the following morning, I can’t remember. I do remember working my tail off so we were all packed up by 2:30 or so and on our way! We made it and they watched the game together, just like old times!
[Reply]
We do this every year as well – always last minute since an owner of a beach house will let us know that he has a week open. Looks like we are close to you as well. It has been such a blessing since it is something we wouldn’t be able to afford as it is a super nice house right on the beach and with a pool. We have always had spontaneous 2 or 3 day camping trips though and they are lots of fun! Our family is only 7 but I keep a printable ‘beach’ menu and packing list that I can just print out last minute. This helps ease the meal planning for me and makes getting groceries once we get there much easier as well. I do bring some food but we are at max capacity in our van so not much room for a week of food! One other thing I do ahead of time to make last minute trips easier – I keep a box in our closet of new to us puzzles and games I find at kid’s sales. I brought 2 puzzles and 2 games this trip (I’m on it now YEAH!!!) and it is cold and rainy today so they are having a great time. Not to mention I get to catch up on your blog. Did an early morning beach walk for shells and now relaxing watching the waves.
One more idea for the adventurous – we just started renting our own house as well. No beach house but we live in a college town and while we are gone we rent it out. Did take us a few hours longer to leave since we had to put clean sheets on all the beds and have the place spotless. However it is becoming income that helps out greatly!
[Reply]