The Laurens. The Hamptons.

As the first official day of summer fast approaches and kids are out of school, families everywhere are preparing for summer vacations. Whether you’re off to a cozy cabin in the mountains or a quaint cottage at the beach, you’re not only embarking on a great vacation but creating a tradition with your family.

I was so thrilled when I caught the tail end of an interview with Ricky Lauren, wife of the fashion-fabulous Ralph Lauren, who has just come out with a special new book – The Hamptons: Food, Family, and History. There are few brands as all-American as the iconic Ralph Lauren, and this book exudes the same tradition and classic influence.

During the interview, Ricky talked about how special their Hampton’s home has been to their family, as a gathering place for them, their friends and their children’s friends. It has been a place that has kept them close, with food and special memories at the heart of it all.

The book takes a look into the kitchen, a collection of family photos and stories and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!

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The Creation of Family Traditions: Road Trips.

There are few things more wonderful in this world than a road trip. The anticipation of the vacation finally coming to a start, generally the many hours of build up you have traveling the road, anxious to reach the destination you’ve been so longing for.

I feel road trips are making a come back too, in a big way, as is the simplicity of a family vacation. Every family creates a different sort of tradition for the time spent on their well traveled paths.

For our family, road trips started with a hearty McDonald’s breakfast, a backseat full of pillows, a bag of Starburst, and country musics original greats on the radio. The many traveled hours took us from the largest interstates to the tiniest small town squares, and all the while we played games as a family.

“Car Bingo” was absolutely a favorite – a retro cardboard square with tiny plastic windows pushed closed when we spotted a cow, an airplane, a firetruck. “The License Plate” game was on-going … the excitement of finding a road-mate from some far-off place like Hawaii, Alaska or Kansas was unimaginable.  And last but not least, the most-played “Alphabet Game” is one that never gets old – broken into “teams” trying desperately to find the Q’s and X’s before the other team and hating when our travels led us off the beaten path where it seemed no letters existed in the world as our game came to an unfinished end.

Road trips are not soon forgotten. The traditions continue through the generations, the memories continue.

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Create family traditions of your own. Give the gift of IceMilk Aprons.