Takeaways from Real World Cape Cod
Apologies for the radio silence yesterday, but my brain was still set on vacation mode. This meant a lot of staring at objects trying to figure out how they worked. Like the day job's phone and the internet*.
Last week I was in Cape Cod with my in laws. Not the most glamorous of vacations, but it was free and I was guaranteed a lot of reading and writing time. We did have some organizational snafus**, not to mention one bathroom for ten people***, but overall it was a good vacation. This was our third year down with Hub's family and certain things are a given like mini golf, too much ice cream, and family outings.
The best part of the vacation (aside from being away from the day job) was all the live research Writer Alicia got to do. We all know that writing is primarily a solitary affair where we spend a good amount of time chumming around with the people in our head, so it was awesome to watch this group interact.
Family dynamics. As an only child, I have tons of experience on how to write characters that are more dependent on themselves in a family environment, but I have crap knowledge when it comes to sibling dynamics****. So I spent a lot of time watching how SIL the Younger and SIL the Elder***** were with each other, Hubs, and their parents. To say that a family of five is different than a family of three is an understatement.
Boys. There were ten of us for most of the week, and, as you can see from the above photo, an even split of the sexes. As a girl, I know how we work in a group mentality, but it was something to watch a couple of the guys scramble to be the alpha male of the house. It was like some strange passive aggressive game of King of the Castle. Of course, to balance out the testosterone charged atmosphere, they then spent almost an entire night chasing bugs with an electric fly swatter.
Being camera ready at all times. This is something yours truly isn't, nor have I ever been. In the course of a week I watched SIL the Younger spend 20 minutes on her hair to get in a ponytail. SIL the Younger's college roommate expertly slapped on eyeliner to go deep sea fishing. There was hair product for the girls on a couple of instances. I think this might be an appropriate time to remind you that Real World Cape Cod takes place five minutes from the beach.
These are just a few of my takeaways from Real World Cape Cod. Season 4 has been green lighted so far and unless funding is cut short, we will do this again.
Lurkdom, tell me: what do you notice on family vacations?
* Am not kidding on that. Truly.
** For instance: never mention "bike rack" to Hubby or SIL the Younger unless you want to watch a seizure.
*** We did have an outside shower, which was a bonus. Otherwise, it would have taken all day just for people to leave the house especially since I was the only non-girly girl.
**** Unless you count the multitudes from the Gregoire Clan, which I don't as I've never spent an entire week with any of them aside from my parents.
***** Elder as in just older than SIL the Younger. Hubs is actually the eldest of all.
_____
Last.fm hit of the day: Hard to Be Vain by Vains of Jenna
Last week I was in Cape Cod with my in laws. Not the most glamorous of vacations, but it was free and I was guaranteed a lot of reading and writing time. We did have some organizational snafus**, not to mention one bathroom for ten people***, but overall it was a good vacation. This was our third year down with Hub's family and certain things are a given like mini golf, too much ice cream, and family outings.
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| The 2011 Real World Cape Cod crew, courtesy of SIL the Younger. |
The best part of the vacation (aside from being away from the day job) was all the live research Writer Alicia got to do. We all know that writing is primarily a solitary affair where we spend a good amount of time chumming around with the people in our head, so it was awesome to watch this group interact.
Family dynamics. As an only child, I have tons of experience on how to write characters that are more dependent on themselves in a family environment, but I have crap knowledge when it comes to sibling dynamics****. So I spent a lot of time watching how SIL the Younger and SIL the Elder***** were with each other, Hubs, and their parents. To say that a family of five is different than a family of three is an understatement.
Boys. There were ten of us for most of the week, and, as you can see from the above photo, an even split of the sexes. As a girl, I know how we work in a group mentality, but it was something to watch a couple of the guys scramble to be the alpha male of the house. It was like some strange passive aggressive game of King of the Castle. Of course, to balance out the testosterone charged atmosphere, they then spent almost an entire night chasing bugs with an electric fly swatter.
Being camera ready at all times. This is something yours truly isn't, nor have I ever been. In the course of a week I watched SIL the Younger spend 20 minutes on her hair to get in a ponytail. SIL the Younger's college roommate expertly slapped on eyeliner to go deep sea fishing. There was hair product for the girls on a couple of instances. I think this might be an appropriate time to remind you that Real World Cape Cod takes place five minutes from the beach.
These are just a few of my takeaways from Real World Cape Cod. Season 4 has been green lighted so far and unless funding is cut short, we will do this again.
Lurkdom, tell me: what do you notice on family vacations?
* Am not kidding on that. Truly.
** For instance: never mention "bike rack" to Hubby or SIL the Younger unless you want to watch a seizure.
*** We did have an outside shower, which was a bonus. Otherwise, it would have taken all day just for people to leave the house especially since I was the only non-girly girl.
**** Unless you count the multitudes from the Gregoire Clan, which I don't as I've never spent an entire week with any of them aside from my parents.
***** Elder as in just older than SIL the Younger. Hubs is actually the eldest of all.
_____
Last.fm hit of the day: Hard to Be Vain by Vains of Jenna