A staycation

 

So we just went on a vacation a few weeks ago. I was dreading it. I've never actually got to really enjoy our family vacations. Sure a little time here and there but mostly I'd feel like the work horse and would feel more pain then pleasure in the experience. Not this time though. Sure I still felt a lot like the work horse. I was still in charge of carrying/remembering things like usual but it wasn't as much of a burden this time. Sure the kids still pissed me off a few times and Mike did too but it didn't really seem to matter this time.

 

Somehow despite the few flaws in our vacation all I can really seem to remember is how much I enjoyed everything. Those few bad moments barely even register in my brain. We went down to Islamorada. I've only driven through there and stopped at restaurants there but got was it so beautiful. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and seriously the kids must have been replaced by aliens because they sat still without any technology or napping or whining for an entire four hour drive there and back. Amazing right!? I know! It will probably never happen again but who cares. It did happen, that's what matters.

 

For the first week or so after we got back the kids and I slept in each day and Lil actually slept in her bed all night for a week. That's how exhausted we were from being so active while we were down there. We went boating, snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, tubing, shopping, and we ate till our bellies hurt. The kids didn't really have a bed time while we were down there. We just went all day until we couldn't move and then went back to the room to pass out.

 

I went snorkeling with my niece over on the reefs and I have only done it one other time. But I saw so many more beautiful fish this time then I've ever seen in the water. We were also fortunate enough to be stalked by barracuda, nipped at by curious fish, swam feet away from turtles and we even happened upon a nurse shark on the ocean floor. Of course we kept our distance but it was pretty incredible to be so close to a shark and I could barely contain my excitement while in the water. Somehow one of the few sharks I remembered learning about in school was the nurse shark so at least I know it wouldn't be harming us if we kept our distance. That didn't stop us from circling back to check it out a few times.

 

We went kayaking a few times and man if I think that if I hadn't been so active the few weeks before we left for vacation I may not have been able to get my niece and I out of the strong rip current. It was nice to see that after a second of panic I was able to let my instincts kick in and get us back to the dock. The best part about that was realizing I could do that and then wanting to do more to push myself to see how far my body could go.

 

I was definitely not expecting to have the amazing time that I did. I truthfully would have loved to just stay there forever. I wouldn't mind working at a paddle boarding shack where I could just put up a sign saying "be back in twenty out on the water". Or working at a jet ski place where my job is to zoom around in the beautiful ocean all day. I sure as hell wouldn't mind eating lunch on the dock and even cooking up some fresh caught fish at the end of the day. The island seemed like the most perfect paradise. I didn't want to leave and I certainly wasn't alone in that feeling. I think if we could all have just stayed there we would have and we could have if it wasn't for the guys business. Maybe one day we can make it back down there for more than a vacation but for now I just have to be sedated by the wonderful memories of the best family vacation ever. :)