Kay, thanks for the comments! I have some more time off this week, and we're planning a 2-3 night local trip on our C&C 27 on the Columbia River.
One thing to note-- cruising is still very new to us, and every day last week we did something we'd never done before. (Like running the solar shower up the mast with the main halyard and giving everyone a luke-warm shower on the fordeck.) With kids along, it's somewhat stressful to implement practical and important cruising skills, but incredibly rewarding.
I imagine we could be having worse mid-life crises.
Jim H