V is for Vacation

Here we are in mid August. I'm not really sure how it got here so fast. I guess time just ticks away like always. It's been a quiet summer, but a busy one too.
The big boys were busy working all summer. One slinging pizza, the other working the grill at a seafood joint. The little one as usual finds a way to stay busy hanging with the neighborhood kids, and going to camp, swimming and of course eating fudgesicle after fudgesicle.
Hubby, the newest teacher in the family has been busy working at summer school and running soccer camps for the youth of our city, and for the last few weeks setting up his new third grade classroom.
Because everyone was so busy I found myself with a lot of down time. Time for me! I actually had days when I could go to the beach to read, browse the book store, grocery shop, and play in my garden all by myself. I treated myself to pedicures, bike rides and ice cream. Sounds blissful doesn't it?
At first I found all this alone time a little unsettling. I'm so used to at least having the little one to hang out with, but after awhile I got used to it and it was really nice. Time to really relax and refresh.


I found myself wishing at one point that I was going away somewhere. We had a big vacation last summer and we're planning another big one next summer, so we decided to just stay home this year. I watched my friends take off across oceans, to houses on the beach or the mountains and I was jealous.


But then one day I woke up to a beautiful day. Hubby and the big boys were gone to work and it was just me hanging with my best buddy Patrick. We packed up our breakfast and hopped on our bikes. We rode to the park and ate. After breakfast we played in the garden a bit, Patrick helped me water and weed, then we finished our bike ride.

This summer was full of little moments like that, walks on the beach, ice cream on the pier, fireworks on the 4th of July. Vacation doesn't have to mean expensive vacations, packing up the car and driving for hours, or crowded airports. Vacation just means, time away from doing what you normally have to do. Time to get to know each other again. To play, or nap, or just be.



In a few weeks we'll be back to schedules. I'm not dreading it because I know all the down time can get old too. It will be time to get back to homework, and bed times and soccer practices.

But we'll be ready because even though we stayed right here...we had a really great vacation.