happy anniversary, on the time-share dime

We had such a great family weekend at the time-share community.

We didn’t really know what to expect, aside from some sort of cheesy, high-pressure sales pitch (and boy, we were not disappointed), but the place was beautiful, we had family-style activities galore to choose from, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting away as a family. The experience has shown us something that Matt and I have been realizing for some time – we don’t do enough as a family. Aside from commuting, it goes without saying. Usually, I spend my vacation time flying West to visit my brother and his family, or my parents. Worthy uses of my time, but Matt often doesn’t come with us (for reasons of expense and the fact that he has fewer vacation days). And we really miss each other when we’re away. Perhaps that shouldn’t be such a revelation. Lizzy has known this all along, I think. She tries to tell us, but we, out of senses of guilt, obligation and resignation, don't listen.

Lizzy was such a grown-up little girl. She LOVED being on vacation! Our hotel room had a fabulous view of the valley ‘bowl’ that constituted much of the time-share acreage. We could see the ski slopes off to our right, a giant (but closed, alas) outdoor pool immediately below us, some time-share units perched along the hill near the ski slopes, and the nearest town and highway a ways off into the distance. And trees, trees, trees. That place is going to be a swirling canvas of reds, oranges, yellows and browns in about three weeks. Just beautiful.

So we endured our four-hour tour – originally billed as a 90-minute tour – by an earnest 19-year-old named Derek, whom we were sad to disappoint with our refusal to buy. We should’ve tipped the kid, or something. He was sweet. His sales pitch was slightly wobbly, but he did pretty well. Probably told us some stuff he wasn’t supposed to. He had to call in the manager eventually, of course, and Matt could barely keep a straight face, that guy was so obvious. He pulled out all the slick sales tricks. I was completely hooked by the time the final offer rolled ‘round, but the saner head prevailed (Matt’s), and we escaped without being caught. We were both almost wishing we had been, though. We could see spending at least a week up (altitude-wise), or downish/over (geographically), there a year. I'm especially intrigued by the ski slopes that it obviously wasn't possible to sample on this trip.

We played tennis twice with some spiffy new recently purchased racquets (birthday money from parents, plus great cheap racquet connection through a friend), and Lizzy’s a little natural! She loved it. She got the forehand down pretty well; the backhand will take a little work. Best, though, her attitude was great about it. We hit that sweet spot where Matt and I were loving teaching her, and she was loving the attention and the feel of improving with each swing of her kid-sized racquet. She’s now convinced she’s a terrific tennis player. We didn’t bother to correct her, much.

We also did some swimming, including an evening at the STUNNING water park. An amazing place! Expensive, too, so we were a bit cross when all Lizzy wanted to do was paddle around in the one small still pool, or play in the toddler area. She’s still freaked out by water splashing on her, or spraying in her face. Heck – this time last year, she didn’t want to get into a pool at all. So I suppose we’re making progress.

And we played Ping-Pong – it’s been awhile, since Matt’s dad’s been in the basement and our Ping-Pong table's been in the garage – and some arcade games such as Skee-ball, a cool little mini-bowling lane, air hockey and more.

We mini-golfed – Lizzy wasn’t quite as pleased with the learning curve on that one, and there were admittedly some tears – and took a few rounds on the Go-Kart track. We ate a bunch of food, of course, and Lizzy grew very fond of our daily morning waitress, Jenna. Almost best of all – we (Lizzy) watched almost NO television. Now, that’s what vacation should be about!