Sweet Caroline. Over and Over Again.

When I was a kid, we drove to Cincinnati in a tiny little car and and we only had one tape. Maybe we had more that one but my dad played the same Neil Diamond tape over and over again. There were five of us in a tiny compact car including our luggage. We were packed in there like sardines. We were on our way to King's Island for our family vacation and we couldn't have been happier."Sweet Caroline" played every hour or so the whole way down and back.

I loved family vacations. In fact, my sisters and I got so excited that my dad usually didn't tell us when or where we were going on vacation. We must have driven him nearly crazy for him to keep such a secret.

Now that I have two little boys that can only talk about their upcoming vacation, I completely understand. We have a countdown on the calendar. We talk about swimming, the beach, what to bring and most importantly which putt putts we'll go to.

We will be heading to my husband's childhood vacation place, Myrtle Beach. We've done it before and we'll do it again with my in-laws. Mike's brother and his family are also going with us. At first I wasn't sure about going to the same place every couple of years. What if I wasn't exposing my children to enough places? Different cuisine? Different customs?

But, reality set in. Time is precious. There is nothing more important than my children spending time with their grandparents and family. There are stories to tell and retell about their daddy when he was little. There are memories to create. Pictures to take. Traditions to carry on. They will have years and years to travel. Hopefully someday I can travel to exotic places with them. But for now, we will pack our minivan and head on down to Myrtle Beach with the whole family. And for fun, I might just torture my children with a few "Sweet Carolines" just to help pass on that tradition.