Sure! We've always had the type of family - even when the kids were little (and you could say even before they were born) - where we all go off our separate ways, so when we come back together, we generally really enjoy eachother's company.
This past Sunday DS came home from his off campus house to spend the day with us since it was our birthdays. He arrived unexpectedly early with cinnamon buns and coffee and jumped up on our king size bed (just like the old days, we always had a rickety bed thanks to him!), so we all gathered there with pillows, blankets and the dog, and swapped stories for over an hour, laughing so hard at times. It was really fun to hear some of the stories DS had to share about his new life with five roommates/teammates and his interpretations of his classes and professors, etc. (especially given that most days all we get is a brief text, if that!). DD commutes but between her job, her clinicals and her boyfriend, and our own crazy schedules, we are sometimes like ships passing in the night, although when we do have days off together, we enjoy shopping or going to a movie, getting a bite to eat, etc. She and I are very close. (As are DS and DH. All of us are, really.) But I think it's because we spend so much time at doing our own things that we appreciate the bit of time we have when we're together, even now, at college age.
Vacations were always with the kids. We sometimes did the splits, too, one of each of us with one kid when they were younger, then sometimes the kids and us separating for a while as they got to be old enough to go off on their own. I remember the trip we had when they turned 16, they wanted to do the four parks in a day - we made it to three while they kept going, lol. That was actually the last time we had a vacation all together. Since then we've been down to FL and elsewhere but DS is always with his team, so we see him very little there aside from at games (which is literally about two minutes at the end; thankfully they usually get one day with their families and a breakfast or dinner or two at other times, if lucky, depending on game schedules and team activities, which take precedent - but even then it's not like it's relaxing, there are curfews and unexpected call backs, clock is constantly being watched, etc.), and this past year we took my mother away with us, too, as we can't really leave her alone now. DD, too, has friends in FL (both living there and visiting at same time) who she often goes off with. Early on after kids were born we went away once without them and we missed them terribly, said from now on we go together (save for a night or two here and there relatively locally) and that's what we did. No regrets about either time with the kids or one penny spent on our
Disney vacations or cruises, especially after the health issues (cancer) that I had when they were around six. Before DS moved away he wanted to watch some of our early Disney trips on video and it was so much fun! Total newbies that first trip!
So glad DH spent a ton of time with the video camera.
DH and I go all kinds of places 'alone' together, of course!
