a dream of ours...

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer"

I found this quote on pinterest months ago and i could not agree with it more!!  Jake has learned in our 7.5 year marriage is that i am not a possessions kinda girl, obviously i have to buy stuff to make our home a home, and i need clothes on my back (although 90% of mine are sissy-in-law hand me downs)...but i'm not into 'stuff'...so when it comes to gifts, Jake has learned that what i love is 'experiences'...tickets to a concert or theater production, a massage, a family trip to a museum, etc...aaaaaand we are just ITCHING to add traveling as an option someday!!!  Looking back on my childhood most all my most favorite memories were traveling with my family...my dad traveled with his job quite a bit...so my mom, brother and i would just tag along and do tons of sight seeing while he would be in meetings and then we would always stay a few days later so that he could join us.  I was SO blessed to basically travel all over the US with my family and because of those experiences i feel as though traveling needs to be placed high on the priority list!  Unfortunately we haven't gotten there yet:(  Jake and I got married young and poor;)  I was still in school and only working part time and jake was working as a land surveyor while searching for a ministry job. Then once i was done with school and working full time and finally making money, we put EVERYTHING into buying our first house, then we got this crazy idea to get completely out of debt, THEN we decided to have a baby and for me to stop working, THEN we decided to have a second baby and move to another town where the cost of living is cough just a little higher cough....so needless to say this dream to travel is still just that...a dream.  Thanks to my father-in-law we were at least able to go on a WONDERFUL honeymoon to Disney World, but that was the one and only 'real' vacation just jake and i have ever been on...I don't want to sound ungrateful...we have has some AMAZING vacations with our family's over the years (Vegas with my mom, Hawaii with jakes family, numerous lake trips with my family...and OF COURSE the YEARS jakes family has taken us to Destin, Fl!!) but jake and i a SO ready to be able to travel with our little family and be able to give our girls the experiences that it brings...and of course jake and i look forward to taking a trip again someday with out kiddos too;)  so here is our dream list...

Family Trips...

-Disney World (would love to be able to take the girls at different times in their lives too, like when they are little because its so magical, then when they are older and can ride everything, then maybe when they are teenagers and do more of Universal Studios)

-San Antonio (sea world, the Alamo, the riverwalk, etc)

-Washington DC/Colonial Williamsburg (the obvious sights... probably when they are pre-teens to teenagers)

-Boston (because i'm one of those nerdy moms who loves history;)

-San Francisco (would LOVE to go for the 4th of july, they have one of the BEST shows in the country and of course the trollies, golden gate bridge, Alcatraz and to teach them the history of 'full house' ;)

-Grand Canyon (and other Arizona sights)

-Branson (someplace that is near our family's that we both grew up going to...its kinda cheesy, but we like shows, silver dollar city, and good clean family fun;)

-K LOVE family cruise (yup i said it....but come on, think about it...you go on a CRUISE with concerts by your favorite christian artists all week!! yes please!)

-Seattle/Portland (i remember being on of my FAVORITE vacations as a kid!!!)

-Nashville (to go watch a live taping of the Dave Ramsey Show!, all the music museums, Graceland, National Civil Rights museum, etc)

-Family Camp (www.pinecove.com)

-Alaskan Cruise (i've just heard they are amazing and i think a good learning experience for the girls!)

and the big ones...

-London (never really thought i would care to go...but after this Olympic games and the fact that Pipers 2 favorite stories right now involve London (Peter Pan and Mary Poppins) I really want to take them!:)

-Australia (honesty jake and i really want to go to Hillsong Church...but im pretty sure there are one or two other things to do while we are there;)

-Holy Land (i've always seen this as a trip that i would want go on with my kids when they are like college age...it would be an AMAZING experience!)

Just for Jake and I...

-Vegas

-Caribbean type Cruise

-Los Angeles

-New York

-maybe a 2nd honeymoon to Disney ;)

Where do you dream to go!? or where do you remember going as a kid that was memorable to you?