every family has traditions. they may be holiday traditions, vacation traditions, or whatever the hell it is they want to turn into a tradition. our family has moved around so much in the past 8 years, that we haven’t had much of the stability that is needed to create a tradition, so the few we have are precious to us- and also very new.
Pancake Sunday. it’s our newest thing. every sunday, we break out the box of bisquick, and make a huge stack of pancakes together. we eat, and freeze the rest so the kids can have pancakes for breakfast the rest of the week if they want. if Dada’s not home on Sunday, then we wait until the morning closest to Sunday in which he is home. it’s been a lot of fun so far- we turn on the radio, and we all sit in the kitchen and talk and consume massive amounts of sugar and carbs. it’s our tradition, and i love it.
Vacations. vacation traditions are really special, because each vacation tradition is as unique as the family taking it. i’ve known people who would go to the same beach or Disney World or visit a relative at the same time every year. sometimes they do something different every year, but they still take that wonderful family vacation. because of our constant moving around (my son has lived in 6 different places since he was born, poor kid) we haven’t taken any family vacations yet. all of our energy has always gone towards the business (ANR) or whatever situation just happened to come up. this year, we’re going to change it up. we’re going to try and start a family vacation tradition.
i’ve always loved camping. so has my husband. in fact, when we met we began planning a hiking trip up the East Coast that summer. well… ten weeks into our relationship we discovered that i was 8 weeks pregnant, so all the money we had been saving up for camping equipment soon went into baby equipment instead. our camping trip never happened, but the dream has always been there. this year, we’re going to take our first family camping trip. we aren’t going far… in fact, we’ll be within a short driving distance of home. i think it’s the smart way to take it… the kids have never been camping, and it’s been years for the grown ups. we’ve started scouring the web for great deals on camping equipment that will last us the years (although we haven’t bought any yet) and my husband has begun dusting off all the equipment we managed to buy before we had to cancel our big trek down the eastern seaboard. it’s nice to finally be able to plan something fun for a change, you know? thus begins our family vacation tradition. next year we’re hoping to have some $$$ saved up, and camp in the Rocky Mountain National Park for a week or two. i can already smell the crisp mountain air, and taste the marshmallows. because EVERYBODY knows that toasted marshmallows are the ONLY reason ANYBODY goes camping. 
Holiday Traditions. some people go to parades, or a certain relatives house, or eat a certain meal every holiday. our family has approximately ZERO holiday traditions right now. not to say that it was always that way… i remember having belgian waffles, topped with fruit, whipped cream, and maple syrup every holiday as i was growing up. my husband had family traditions too, but as he and i got together and drew apart from our childhood families, so our traditions stayed with our families. now that we’re finally settling down, i’m hoping to begin some Holiday traditions of our own.
i think part of the fun of being in a family is growing together. traditions are a major part of that growth, and help give each family an identity of their own. even if it’s just you and your child, or you and your husband, or if it’s you and your husband and 9 children, each family is beautiful in it’s own way, with it’s own traditions. my little family has a long way to go towards creating our own identity, but we’re getting there… and enjoying the ride on the way. 
do you have any interesting traditions that are unique to your family? i’d LOVE to hear about them in a comment, e-mail, or your own blog! (link in the comments section if you do, please!)
