2023 Year in Review
Positive Outlook for 2024
Ellie, Kevin, Sophie, Rachel, and Colleen at Universal Studios in Orlando
As you may have heard us say before, our family motto is “Everything Always Works Out.” Our 2023 has involved taking a time-out allowing us to address a family member’s health. As a result, our travel has been limited but we have still enjoyed some wonderful trips and have savored our family time even as healthcare was our number one priority for the year. While 2023 has given us some challenges, this motto has been our constant reminder that our attitudes go a long way in helping us overcome adversity.
Limited Travel in 2023
In spite of needing to carefully schedule our time this year, we still enjoyed some wonderful trips. In May, we drove to Orlando, Florida with an overnight stay in Hilton Head, SC breaking up our drive each direction. Our time in Florida gave us an opportunity to unplug from work and school (usually our Florida trips include school work), a chance to spend some quality time with my parents, and our first trip to Universal Studios.
In July, we headed to two of our favorite destinations. We spent a couple of days in Williamsburg, VA where we enjoyed some time at Busch Gardens. Sophie was thrilled to learn that she was FINALLY tall enough to enjoy every ride in the park. From Williamsburg, we headed farther north to Ocean City, Maryland. This has been our family’s favorite beach destination for decades. This time, we tried out a couple of new hotels during our stay and were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked changing up our routine. We spent time on the boardwalk and visited all of our favorite restaurants. We even found a couple of new favorites and enjoyed exploring a different section of the beach.
In August, we returned to Williamsburg, VA for a weekend. This time, we took Rachel’s bestie along to enjoy the rides at Busch Gardens. With four girls all able to ride the attractions on their own, Kevin and I were able to relax and find shady spots to sit and enjoy quality time together.
In our determination to always look for the silver lining, we started a weekly “Family Activity Jar” that took us on some new adventures as a family. Kevin and Sophie spent an afternoon brainstorming activities and adding them to our jar. After dinner each Wednesday, one of the girls draws one out and we have until the following Wednesday evening to complete the activity. Thanks to this new tradition, we’ve completed an Escape Room together, dressed and dined as Pirates for a theme night, played board games, made more time for movies together, created some fantastic meals, spent time outdoors, had an indoor campout, and created works of art. It has become one of our most favorite ideas we’ve ever implemented.
Our Wins for 2023
This year gave us a number of wins. Ellie completed a full year of work, saving lots of money for future travel. Rachel and Sophie each completed a week of golf camp, learning a completely new skill and making new friends. We celebrated a medical milestone that we will share in the near future. Colleen and Ellie got into a rhythm creating and editing content for the blog and learning new social media tricks of the trade. The girls started their THIRD year of homeschooling! Rachel is now in 10th grade and Sophie is in 6th. They are learning so much and challenging themselves everyday in pursuit of their personal passions. We are proud of what our family has accomplished and can’t wait to see what lies ahead.
Looking Forward to New Adventures
We are still outlining our strategy for 2024 but we have some great things planned. First and foremost, we will be packing up our rental, putting everything in storage, and embarking upon our Uncommon Family Adventures full-time. We anticipate getting back to San Diego Comic Con in July. Other than that, our itinerary is wide open. We know we would like to show the girls a white Christmas next year so we’re developing some ideas about where our best options might be. We anticipate spending some time in Europe and would like to make it to both South America and Asia.
As a family of 5, we’ve learned that traveling abroad can be challenging and requires some out of the box planning. We hope to show all of you that it’s possible to see the world in a way that is both educational and exciting while also economical. What are your favorite places around the world? Where would you like to see us go?
Recap of Our Favorite 2023 Posts
Some of you have joined us recently and might not have seen some of our most popular posts of the year. Below is our Top 10 List with direct links.
THANK YOU!
We are so thankful to you, our readers & subscribers, for visiting our website, reading our content, and providing feedback to improve our blog. We are wishing you all a Happy New Year and lots of Uncommon Family Adventures in 2024!