Holiday

It was great to get away.  We didn't go far and didn't do anything uber extravagant, but it was 7 days together as a family.  Much needed.  I needed to get away (as I shared here) and Carl had been gone quite a bit this summer because of work.

I find packing up to go away stressful.  We were heading to the lake for the week, so all the groceries, all the clothes, all the toiletries, all the flip flops, all the bathing suits, all the bikes, all the games, all the books....all had to be packed up.  I don't enjoy that at all, but Carl is pretty good at physically getting all that stuff into the van.  I just have to get it into bags.

We watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics and then headed off.  Two hours later we had reached our destination and the only thing on the agenda:  Relax, Together.  We slept in a bit each day, but more importantly, we stayed into our pyjamas until the afternoon.  We went to the beach and even though the weather wasn't really hot, we enjoyed the playing in the sand.  We used the kayak, went fishing, went for bike rides and hikes, of course played games and read a lot of books and magazines.  And ate too much.

I was wondering how long we'd be able to handle each other for a number of straight days.  Because you know that after a while someone is going to get annoyed with someone else.  There weren't too many squabbles or tears, for that I'm thankful.  There wasn't an agenda and so everyone felt free to go about their day as they wanted.  Sometimes it was building something out of sticks on the yard, or playing kitchen or hanging out in the hammock or reading to someone.  

My parents came out from Friday to Saturday and we did a bit of boating.  Brrr.....the water was cold, but we had fun.  By Sunday, we were ready to come home and had run out of clean clothes.  I was feeling renewed energy to tackle my house, the kids were looking forward to playing with their toys and getting back home and Carl felt he should be heading back to work.  

Thankful for the time away together, but good to be home.

p.s don't worry, I'll post pictures shortly.....