Summer of Love

[Lake View Too]

I decided that I'm going to remember this as the Summer of Love, because I think we have had more people come visit us than were at Woodstock. We had almost forty come during Memorial Day, some stragglers for the other weeks, then another nineteen or so for the 4th of July. The grandkids move so fast, sometimes you think there are three of them per person, which kinda triples the effect. The moms are so laid back on margaritas, that the grandmas have to hover twice as fast, watching for snakes, or trying to keep the kids from tumbling down the stairs, or whatever. Then the constant food preparation, trips to Publix for more diapers, and the general clean-up. But it's all mixed with a lot of love and good times. We have about a dozen more en route as we speak, so I believe I might take a short nap, and dream about a one room cabin in Montana...

 

[DD]

Did I forget to tell you I'm coming in October?
I don't need diapers-yet.

 

[Teresa]

We have a few weeks of relatives in and out as well. You are So SoWal if you have relatives and friends camping out at your place during July every year! And spring break! And memorial day! And labor day! And you finally tell them that you have to work so they are on their on. And they are completely fine with it. But they don't get why we only like The beach at night.

 

[Lake View Too]

We had about 38 relatives and friends descend on us for Memorial Day week. Only about eight under our roof. The rest rented houses in our neighborhood. Then we had to drive up to Mississippi to a wedding on the weekend, so there we were, leaving, and everybody else was standing in our driveway wishing us goodbye! Very odd indeed.

 

[Beach Runner]

We're building a new home in South Walton that we will not rent (we rented our previous home). I hope I'll be a good host, yet not be taken advantage of. How do you keep your home from being everyone's free vacation spot? When someone asks if they can stay at your home, you can't say, "Oh, it's rented. Sorry." When you have houseguests, do you split up the cost and labor of preparing food and cleaning up? Just curious.

With the other house, I had a policy that friends and family who did their part got invited back, so the keyword with these guests is "love". Those who didn't do their part (or didn't reciprocate) weren't invited back.

 

[DD]

BR, I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv you.

 

[Teresa]

We're building a new home in South Walton that we will not rent (we rented our previous home). I hope I'll be a good host, yet not be taken advantage of. How do you keep your home from being everyone's free vacation spot? When someone asks if they can stay at your home, you can't say, "Oh, it's rented. Sorry." When you have houseguests, do you split up the cost and labor of preparing food and cleaning up? Just curious.

With the other house, I had a policy that friends and family who did their part got invited back, so the keyword with these guests is "love". Those who didn't do their part (or didn't reciprocate) weren't invited back.

Everyone seems to do their share of shopping, cooking etc. but it's still lots of work. AND we have to go to work so we can't just play and party and go to the beach. We have had to learn to say no when it isn't a good time for us to have guests. We enjoy hosting but not continuously - and it was continuous there for a while with family and friends. After a time, many have found their own places near or on the beach they like staying and that works out very well.

 

[Beach Runner]

Everyone seems to do their share of shopping, cooking etc. but it's still lots of work. AND we have to go to work so we can't just play and party and go to the beach. We have had to learn to say no when it isn't a good time for us to have guests. We enjoy hosting but not continuously - and it was continuous there for a while with family and friends. After a time, many have found their own places near or on the beach they like staying and that works out very well.

Yes, I suppose that even if every one goes their part, you still have the responsibility of being the host. We've had a place at the beach for 10 years, so we won't get the deluge that you experienced.