Beach Trip-Part Two

I've been postponing my "part two" post of our beach trip from last week because honestly, it just didn't go as I'd envisioned and I didn't want to post about it, sad--I know. But, here it is....the good, the bad and the ugly:-) as the saying goes.

We ended up coming home a bit earlier than we'd planned, and I'll admit, it was due to me. I am not a fan of our family being apart under normal circumstances but when I'm pregnant I go into "super clingy/needy mode" (I know what you're thinking, poor Jamie) and so the fact that Jack wasn't going to go with us didn't excite me from the beginning. Nevertheless, I decided to look at the positives of it--sleeping in, having some down time to just relax, being able to focus on just Hanna and Joe for a change, no baby gear to haul and so forth. This ended up being easier said than done for me. I missed Jack so much I cried myself to sleep the first night (again, you're thinking, poor Jamie, or, what's wrong with her?) The second night Jamie and I both got some sort of "food poisoning" or something and were holed up in the bathrooms all night, which translated to no sleep that night and spending the next day on the beach in the sweltering heat anyway so that we didn't let the kids down. All day on the beach with no sleep the night before, half-dehydrated and 7 months pregnant--doesn't that sound like fun:-)?! Anyway, I put on my happy face and made the best of it for the next couple of days for Jamie and the kids.

Don't get me wrong, there were lots of happy moments and activities that were a blast--the walks on the beach each evening were peaceful and pretty, MagiQuest was nothing but fun, Father's Day was nice and it was a treat being able to have some one-on-one with Hanna and Joe for both myself and Jamie. The kids had a great time, they enjoyed everything we did and could have stayed alot longer, but didn't protest to coming home a little early either and were really happy to be home after we arrived.

Overall though, I couldn't shake missing Jack, I was so whipped out the whole time--so much packed into each day just exhausted me--and I was ready to just be home. The thought of just being at home and doing usual day to day things like laundry, cooking and so forth seemed more relaxing than being on our vacation:-). I was so very happy and thankful to be home.

This vacation really put mundane day to day routines in perspective for me. I came to two very important realizations while we were away--I am so blessed and so thankful for my daily life and to actually be able to be the one who cares for my children each day! Two, having my arms/lap/mind full at all times with one of my sweet children, whether it be convenient or not, and at times seem very overwhelming is one of the biggest blessings in my life! So, if nothing else I am thankful for the reality check and renewed appreciation and gratitude I have for all that I do each day.

Here are just a few of pictures I took the last several days. I took tons, but so many are of the same things/places that I am just going to post a these.