Father’s Day Contest
How to Enter
We love a good family vacation story and we’re giving you a chance to win a great Father’s Day gift for Dad by sharing yours!
In 200 words or less, tell us about your favorite vacation memory with Dad.
Send in your entry to contest@glenivy.com or leave a comment below by Tuesday, June 19. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 20 right here on the Glen Ivy blog.
Prize
The winner will receive (2) $50 Glen Ivy gift cards and (2) Taking the Waters Admission Passes.
I remember my dad taking me to one of the most amazing beaches when my siblings and i were kids. This beach is in arcos del espino in el salvador. I remember the water being really warm and clear. After that very first trip he decided he wanted to live there so he bought some land and built the house were i grew up. Now that i have my own children i take them every few years to visit him and to also show them were my roots are.
I have traveled to many places with my father but the best time I remember is when I was 12. I had finished middle school and was out for summer break. I decided to go home to Indonesia. I met my father there as he works overseas. It was the first real trip I remember being with him. From Indonesia we traveled to Thailand and Hong Kong. It was the best time I had ever had. We traveled to Thailand to see elephants and crocodile, we ate native foods on the sides of streets and in restaurants, and we saw beautiful sights golden Buddha’s and royal palaces. It was an eye opening experience I was happy to share with my father. As we moved on to Hong Kong I experience bright lights and different fashion. Hong Kong was the first big city that I had fell in love with and it was all thanks to my father who supported me. Lastly, as we headed back home to Indonesia we stopped at his home town of Manado. There I learned of his past and our family origins. This trip with my father taught me so much in my life and was a turning point of who I am today. Without the opportunities given to me by my father I would not be the woman I am today. This maybe one trip with my dad but any time I spend with him is always a trip of joy and happiness.
We try to go to Yosemite every year and our favorite part is the bear sightings. Well this one year there were no bear sightings so my dad thought it would be a good idea to bait the bears to come….and boy did they! The next morning we woke up to a huge bear …the things my dad will do to make us happy.
favorite part is the bear sightings. Well this one year there were no bear sightings so my dad thought it would be a good idea to bait the bears to come….and boy did they! The next morning we woke up to a huge bear …the things my dad will do to make us happy.
During one vacation that we had, I woke up early each morning to walk with my dad. He always woke up before the rest of the family. I made sure to wake up early to have alone time with him. We would walk along the tide pools looking for treasures and watching the waves crash along the shore. Now that he’s passed away, I remember those precious moments we had together. Some days I wake up early and think about him.
The BEST and life changing vacation with my Husband and our oldest Daughter was when we visited Portland, OR last 4th of July. We fell in love with Oregon and our time together as a family of three was amazing. Little did my Husband know I was pregnant with our second Daughter. I told him while we were checking out Multnomah Waterfalls. He was THRILLED! My Husband is the best Father to our girls. He was totally meant to have Daughter. Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Fathers & Grandfathers out there!
I am 31 now but my best memory of a family vacation with my dad was when I was 10 years old. My brothers used to go to Lake Henshaw every year with my dad and I always had to stay home with my mom. Finally it was my turn, I fished, I swam in the lake, I did everything twice as hard as my brothers just to get the chance to return the next year. My dad was so excited and proud his face lit up every time I conquered a new adventure!! When we returned home my dad told me he knew I was gonna upstage my brothers because I begged and pleaded to go with him since the age of 5.
Every June my dad takes his 5 daughters, their spouses, and his 7 grandkids to a high country lake called Mammoth Pools. We boat in to one of the rugged campsites right on the water edge. It’s a beautiful place but when I say rugged I mean rugged. A picnic table, a small dutch oven thinly and one outhouse up on the hill above the campsites. The outhouse is just an open air, baking in the sun, wooden structure with 4 walls sitting oahold hole in the ground. Instead of subjecting his family to the torture of that fly infested, hot, stinking mess that the National Forest Service calls a bathroom, my dad rigs his own out door toilet. It’s truly a labor of love when he arrives, grabs his shovel and proceeds to dig our own private hole. He then plunks his RV toilet attached to a plywood base over the hole. Unlike the community cesspool up the hill our toilet has a lid, nice blue tarp walls, a bucket of water to wash and a magazine holder! Plus we can see green pine tree branches swaying in the wind overhead. Love my dad for remembering that his girls need a nice place to go even in the middle of nowhere!
My dad decided to be the cool dad and take my sister and I to Magic Mountain. We were soooo excited that we got up super early, piled in the car and got on the road. Everything was great until we got SOOOOOOO lost! Of course, being the cool guy, my dad was too proud to stop for directions and figured if we keep driving we would get there eventually right? Wrong! It wasn’t until we were halfway to Vegas that he decided to turn around! What should have taken us 2.5 hours to get there took us 6.5 hours, but to this day it is one of the most memorable roadtrips and most fun 1/2 day at Magic Mountain a girl could have asked for!
During my childhood, my family only took 1 vacation!My parents & two sisters drove from CA to WI to pick me up from a dance camp.We then hit the road to head back to CA.Lots of memorable adventures along the way.I still remember to this day standing on the open plain at Wounded Knee National Historical Landmark,SD & my dad saying if we listened closely, we could hear the voices of the ghosts from the past!This started my love for all things travel & an intrest in American history!
Well when I was growing up…my family didn’t have much money…so my dad started a tradition. My family would all head to Imperial Beach (which was 15 minutes away) and rent the mats that you ride the waves with…then ended the day at the drive-ins…we had a station wagon, so my brother and I would make the back of the car all cozy with pillows and blankets and my dad would pop popcorn in a big pan and we would have a BIG bowl of popcorn for the drive ins…To this day when I smell popcorn it reminds me of relaxing vacations with my dad and family
I remember one Christmas awhile back we took a family trip up to the mountains for the week. Since we lived in San Diego we never had snow on Christmas, so that was our way to experience ‘White Christmas’. Well I remember the night before we were supposed to leave it snowed so much my dad spent the entire next morning and afternoon digging a path out the front door. The look on his face when we woke up and opened the door to find we were snowed in was priceless! We still bring it up to him every now and then to get a good laugh.
My family use to go to the lake when I young every summer and I still have vivid memories laying out with my Mom, Dad and brother and sister- catching some little fish and camping- My Mom passed away when I was 10 but now my husband and I have 2 little ones and never let a summer go by even as I was prego camping with them- they love it and I am happy to carry on what my Mom and Dad started many years ago
Our vacations are small and cheap due to income situations but he said some way or another will get thru it and will will be at the river in notime!! (Smiling always) My father is the most selfless human being!! He will go out of his way to help other people and is a great example to us.I will never forget 2 years ago when my father gave himself to the LORD!! That made him even more humble and amaizing<3
When we were kids my Dad would take my 2 brothers and I camping in the middle of the desert; Barstow, Ca. Long before it was a town people lived in. My Dad would drive our truck and camper a few miles off the road and just STOP and set up camp. It was ALL dirt with a few cactus and transparent bushes. But boy did we have fun. No showers or washing of hands. Burnt steaks and hot dogs.The best part was Rock Hounding. My Dad taught us how to identify all kinds of rocks. From jasper to agate and even arrowheads. My least favorite was a leavarite. We took any rock we found to my Dad and asked, “Is this one any good?” or “What’s this one Dad?” If it was good we’d put in a bucket to take home and polish or cut in half to reveal it’s inner beauty. But if he said it was a leavarite, we knew he meant it was a “Leave a right there!” and we’d toss it back to Mother Nature. My Dad starts Chemo soon, so I gave my parents $1,000 to take a little vacation just for them before his battle begins. Thanx Dad
A former Marine, my Dad was a true outdoorsmen from a motorcycle adventurist to a rugged alligator wrestler and snake handler; he both horrified and thrilled us. His quirky yoga poses juxt a posed his power-lifting and jump-roping, left me spellbound, mimicking every pose. Powerful and motivated Enthusiast, he made me feel I could touch the sky when he hoisted me upon his broad, firm shoulders for walks through the wide street canals along the Houston suburbs on hot, humid, summer days while actively engaged in spotting lightening quick geckos and slow moving turtles, rendering me as tall as the long legged Giraffes eating the leafy canopies lining the winding enclosures of the Houston City Zoo. My first memories were powerfully connected with the man I called Dad. I suppose that why my mother said I cried myself to sleep at night, every night, for years after they divorced when we moved away, far away. He was my Daddy, and I, his little girl. My favorite vacation with him was the first time I got to see him again. In matching hawaiian dresses, my younger sister and I boarded our first airplane together, alone, from Baltimore, MD on the East Coast all the way to San Diego, CA on the West Coast. We received pilot wings from the Captain and an endless supply of honey roasted peanuts and sprite! That summer, Dad took us on long, daily walks in the cool of the day, and rides on the back of his Harley along the Pacific Coastal winding cliffs. At night, he’d lay with us on our make-shift palette beds, and read Pinocchio, the unabridged version. For those two, short but special weeks, I relished the sound of my Daddy’s voice; He was everything I remembered and loved. When he called my name, I felt connected to all I believed in me. Still, his connection to life draws me closer to my own. And that vacation is a purposeful reminder of my daily intentional parenting I seek to instill into the lives of my own children: connectedness to our bodies and our surroundings, togetherness and enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life, and reading aloud the written word. Though more than time separates us now, he remains an ever present part of me and my life. If I listen closely, I can still hear him call my name.
When our oldest daughter turned seven and our son was one, my husband planned a vacation to Hawaii! Our hotel reservations were made, along with all the other pre-paid, non-refundable reservations for special dinners, boat excursions, and Luaus. After driving through the night from Salt Lake City, across Lake Tahoe, we finally arrived in San Fransisco area, at Travis AFB, where we awaited a military HOP for several days. Finally, we made the painful decision to abandon our Hawaiian plans and tour the Golden State of California. From the Fisherman’s Wharf of the seal cloistered Bay to the aromatic wine tasting country of Sonoma, we experienced more beauty and firsts than we had originally planned. My husband chose to settle for a couple of days in a small town in Northernish California, Lemon Cove; where we swam under warm sun the same day we walked through snow covered ground in the Giant ancient forest of the Sequoias, and ate dinner al fresco beside a waterfall and black bears. The aromatic breezes of orange and lemon blossoms filled the air with the most memorable fresh, sweet, heavenly, and tantalizing smells that beckoned our stay in this quaint village. Venturing further south, we drove through L.A., San Diego, and into Tejuana for authentic Mexican flair and coconut drinks. We ended our 2 week tour in Los Vegas, specifically the M&M Factory and the Water Show. It wasn’t Hawaii, but it turned into our mysteriously adventurous play by play vacation. Upon home, no regrets were ever mentioned of our previous destiination.
My favorite vacation was with my grandfather to Mexico. We would go every summer and each one better then the last. Every morning I would wake up early and follow him around asking endless questions. He taught me so much…..how to cut a watermelon, how to make a cup of coffee, flip a pancake, plant a vegetable garden, how to fish and perfectly grill my catch.
Unfortunately we lost my grandfather 7 years ago but I still remember everything as if were yesterday. Great memories with the best grandfather!
My Dad used to take us camping to the Kern River. He taught my sister and I how to bait a fishing pole, fish and once we caught a fish how to clean them. Sounds kinda gross but it was bonding time with our
Dad and we loved it. There was a tire swing that someone had made that swung out over the river where the water was calmer, which was extremely fun. I will never forget the time when I was sitting in a chair watching my Dad fish and I was swishing away what I thought was a fly but turned out to be a bee and got stung in the thigh. I couldn’t walk so my Dad carried me all the way back to camp. I will never forget that, I love you Dad.
I just turned the big 50, and my birthday wish was to go on a short cruise, I invited all who wanted to go, and the only people who showed were my eldest daughter her husband, and my parents. Oh and my self with my husband. my dad, daughter and son-in-law, and husband had never been on a cruise. My dad was a little reluctant as he is such an outdoors man that he was sure it wouldn’t be any fun, or he would not have enough to do. turns out he wore him self out doing stuff he had to rest. I feel so blessed to still have both of my parents with me to do these things. at 50 many people aren’t so fortunate. My Father was diagnosed with cancer this year, and starts kemo next month. I have many memorable vacations with my dad, but this one really stands because of our ages we have so much more in common now, and can share and remissness about past times together. He can’t do so much these days but he enjoys watching every one else have fun, I some times just watch him watching others and enjoy seeing the joy, and love in his eyes. I love you dad. Thanks for being you.
We didn’t really go on vacations when I was young but when we went on long road trips singing was what I remember most. My Dad grew up with a family of singers. He would sing with my grandfather and uncles at family get-togethers. They would harmonize and sing barbershop quartette. On road trips he’d sing songs from his youth, which my sister and I loved, it turned the long trips into fun. Lots of them were published songs but several had been handed down from generation to generation. We learned every word to these songs, from another time. He only sang for his own enjoyment, and maybe, unknown to him, our enjoyment too. This heritage of music and singing, has been a joy in my life that I cherish to this day. So when we go on road trips we still continue this practice and share the joy with our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. . Thank you Dad for sharing your music with me. My Dad is gone but the songs continue.
My favorite vacation with my dad was actually for my moms 50 th birthday. (and my grandpa). 3 generations of couples all went on a cruise. The best part was it was the first time in at least 5 years that my dad was able to take time from work and relax and actually enjoy himself. My husband and myself helped in giving that much needed time off. It was so good to see him not worry about anyone or anything but himself for a few days. He works so hard and doesn’t have a lot to show for it except the family that loves him for it. And since this cruise with my family we have found out that my grandpa has Colin cancer. The fact that I could spend a few days and some previous time with him before he had to go through surgery, chemo and recovery meant the world to me. I am sure he will make it through with flying colors. But I am so thankful to have had such a wonderful time with him. So the 3 generation cruise I got to go on with both my dad and my grandpa was the most memorable, wonderfully amazing vacation EVER! It was a time where 2 of the most important guys in my life (#3 would be my hubby) were turkey able to enjoy life. And I got to be part of it.
My favorite family vacation memory with my dad was camping. My parents and siblings and I did a lot of camping. My dad would take us fishing at the nearest lake. While we waited ever so quietly for a fish to bite, my dad taught us to whittle little faces on sticks we found, and even to find the perfect stick to hold our fishing poles while we waited. After fishing we would find rocks to paint on with water colors and decorate our campsite with. On one of our trips a couple of deer were roaming pretty close to our campsite, we were so quiet and walked so slowly to the deer, we were close enough to touch the deer and they didnt even run off. It was amazing. Now my dad takes my kids on these camping trips and they love it as much as i did. I love you dad, your the best!
That last line was supposed to say truly not turkey
My favorite memory was when I went hiking with my father in the vicinity of Mt Williamson. We had a pleasant drive up into the mountains and it was fun being away from people and just spending time with him alone. He told me stories I didn’t know before and we spent the night inside a small tent, just the two of us.