Summer time is quality family time

By Jim Bradford, Chapter Co-Chair at Mission Trail Middle School for Father’s Club

The minute school starts, kids check the district calendar to find out when school’s out. It’s second nature. It’s a kid thing.

And who are we kidding? Parents do it, too. We want to know when we can start planning vacations. When’s that first lake weekend? When can we plan that trip to the coast? Or Yosemite? The options are endless, but the timeframe is always the same, late May until early August.

When class is done and schedules open up, thoughts turn to road trips, airline flights and summer fun.

Sure, summer is full of travel for sports like baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer and so many more, but it’s about time to relax with the family, too.

Those summer teams can come with some built-in travel, but is that really a vacation? No, not really. You travel to Orlando, Omaha, Denver or Las Vegas for a reason. It’s not about kicking back and relaxing for five or six days. There’s a heck of a lot of work involved when it comes to travel sports and there is precious little downtown. There are plenty of memories to be made at those far-off tournaments, but those are different memories. Still great memories, but just a bit different.

When the whole family gets to take to the highway or the friendly skies, it hits differently. For some it’s an annual trip. Something the family has done for a generation or for a few years. It’s a lake house or a beach home. It might even be a trip to the Big Apple or our nation’s capital.

The best thing about every single trip you plan, the byproduct is memories.

You can’t go on a trip and not pack a suitcase of memories to bring back with you. It’s impossible.

This summer, it was a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks, for us. Great times, great conversations, great food and, of course, a spin around the lake on a tube – still a favorite for our three kiddos. We’ve been taking a trip to the Ozarks or Branson each of the past five or six summers. This year, we added a bit of history, though. We were sure to drive a few extra minutes and stop by the Willmore Lodge to learn about the history of the Lake of the Ozarks and harnessing the power of Bagnell Dam.

For some other Father’s Club dads, their family trips this summer saw then heading west to the coast or southeast to the Gulf Coast.

Kevin Kufeldt, co-chair of the Mission Trail Middle School Father’s Club, and his family, summer 2024 had an international feel. Literally. Between travel baseball tournaments, the Kufeldts took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to South America. They took a family cruise to Honduras, Belize and Cozumel and, despite the tropical storm, had an absolutely blast, even catching some great waves in the Gulf of Mexico.

For Brad Reynolds, co-chair of the Father’s Club at Chisholm Trail Middle School, it was all about keeping traditions going and starting new ones with his kids. A family vacation was delayed until August because of baseball and softball, but the summer started off with bang for him and his son and daughter. He was able to continue his dad-daughter tradition of going to the Women’s College Softball World Series in Oklahoma City in June and then started a new tradition by taking his up to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha. Brad was able to get some unmatched, quality, one-on-one time with each of his kiddos at the start of summer before their big family trip this month.

Whether it’s regional, international or just one-on-one time, summer vacations come in many shapes and sizes, but all are perfect ways to get away and make memories. That’s the important part!