Looking back…looking forward

But the happy fact is that a little time away has completely energized me and left me with a long list of ideas that I’m just itching to bring to fruition. In fact, I’ve even got a theme for the remainder of the month of January – it’s the title of this blog post. And what better way to begin than by taking you on a tour if the places we’ve been since June, with links to some if my favorite posts.

The first big trip I wrote about on this blog was our journey to Paris during the first few weeks of July. I could not have foreseen how easily my children would adapt to la vie parisienne, but was of course delighted to find that we could easily move there tomorrow. Definite highlights were our trip to Monet’s house in Giverny and going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You can also visit Paris in its proper order if you’re interested in reading all of the posts I wrote about our trip there from start to finish.

When we came back from France, we weren’t home for two weeks before we packed up the car and made our annual three-week sojourn to Vermont. Different this year was the fact that it rained almost every day for three weeks straight. But we were creative and managed to get out every time the rain stopped (and many times when it didn’t). Tommy, for one, really enjoyed the mud puddles. And we all had a great time when Matt’s sister Becky and her husband Tim visited us, including standout visit to Shelburne Farms and a day in Saint Johnsbury that can only be called “interesting.”

The fall brought many daylong adventures, including a visit to Longwood Gardens and another to a ginormous corn maze. And then the week after the presidential election, the entire MOAT family packed up and headed for Washington DC, where we discovered that Tommy is still able to wake up a 4 a.m. like a newborn and that Mount Vernon is a great place to take young history buffs. We closed out the year with another trip to Vermont and then holidays in Wisconsin. Not a bad travel tally sheet for six month’s time!

If I had to nominate my favorite post from 2008, it would have to be my top five reasons for traveling with kids. Whenever I get scared about the economy or I think that we don’t have time for all this family travel stuff or should maybe think about using our extra funds to purchase a new couch, I re-read this post and remember why I do what I do.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this recap. In the weeks ahead, I’m planning to spend some more time looking back at other travel experiences with my children that I haven’t yet covered here (there are actually quite a few of them). I’m also planning some posts about trips I’ve taken with my parents to Italy, India and a variety of places in between.

So with all that time spent looking in the rearview mirror, what exactly lies ahead? For starters, of course, there is the inauguration, which Matt will be attending. And among the trips we have planned as a family are Phoenix in April and Chicago in June. I’d love to figure out a way to fit Ireland in somewhere before the end of 2009 (or at the beginning of 2010) especially since it will be much more affordable than it was when Matt and I went there in 2007, but that will depend on many other things. Wherever we do end up going, I’ll be sharing our plans and experiences here. And there are going to be lots of day trips.  And of course I’ll continue my series of Monday Dreaming posts, because I can think of no better way to start the week than thinking about the myriad places I’d love to visit. I’m also hoping a fresh new look for the blog isn’t too far off.

But I’d also love to hear from you, dear readers. What topics are you interested in? What changes would you like to see to The Mother of All Trips? Anything you can’t live without? I’d love to know.