My vacation

The travel books in my parents' house of just some of the places they have been throughout the years. 
One of my guilty pleasures is to read these and dream of those places I need to go.  France, Florence, Ireland (need, need, need).

I’m back from my much needed, much appreciated night away from the house.  Staying with my parents was exactly what the doctor ordered – there is nothing quite like resuming the role of the child for 24 hours after spending many, many more of those days immediately preceding as the parent.

So, what did I do during my reprieve?  Pretty much nothing and it was HEAVEN.

I ate a leisurely lunch with my parents, walked Marshall and Max (they joined me on my vacation – I figured they could use a night with my parents, aka “endless suppliers of doggie treats”), took a long run in the afternoon, enjoyed an uninterrupted hot shower, had actual conversations that lasted more than thirty seconds at a time, fell asleep to the sounds of British accents as my parents watched “Downton Abbey” on PBS, slept in the next morning until an unheard of 7:30am, and headed home the next day.

I wasn’t the only one completely relaxed:



Can you find both dogs in this picture?



I returned to three eager sets of arms all hugging me at once and this sign:





Will had a great time with the kids and, not surprisingly, they all did well without me; but I was admittedly a bit relieved to hear that it was exhausting for Will, too.  I sometimes wonder if this whole ‘parenting F&G is hard’ is all in my head.  It’s good to know that their father feels it as much as I do.

As I was leaving Richmond for my vacation, listening to the radio and lost in my own thoughts, I wondered if I wasn’t being silly for leaving for the night.  Maybe I really didn’t need the time in Lynchburg; maybe I should have just pushed through and enjoyed the extra day with Will and the kids; was it really worth going away for just one night?

Now that I’ve been there, come home, and stepped right back in to the old routine I can safely say it was completely and totally worth it – I have been more patient, energetic and appreciative of this time than if I had just plodded through another weekend (because I also must admit that I missed those little munchkins and their daddy like crazy the entire time I was gone).

And having a good night’s sleep under my belt is never a bad thing in this house:

Happy Tuesday everyone!