There's no place like away from home

We have been talking for some time about a family vacation and we finally did it last week.  I got my act together and found a place on Table Rock close to Silver Dollar City.  After what is quite possibly the worst start ever, we had a really good time.  The week preceding vacation was not ideal.  Most weeks I feel very lucky to be a work at home mom with lots of flexibility; however, this was not one of those weeks.  I was busy with work, not swamped, but busy enough and it was registration week for school which meant lots of PTA stuff.  I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t breathe.  I finally broke down and asked my step mom to come up and help with the boys.  I was glad I did, but it was still a tough week.  I didn’t start packing until the morning we were due to leave and I didn’t relax until, well, it never really seemed like I relaxed, but like I said, the boys (at least the older 2) had a really good time.  We went to SDC the first day and Kyle got to experience his first “real” roller coaster.  Grant was pretty meek, which surprised me, he usually seems so daring (as evidenced by his head first descent of the water slide in the picture above).  I guess if it involves wearing a seat belt, he would just prefer to pass.  Kyle also enjoyed the magic show, something he has been into for some time now.  We didn’t stay all day, choosing to go back to the hotel for some swim time and dinner.  Tuesday was spent on the lake, renting a boat in the morning and then just hanging out in the afternoon.  Grant opted out of the boat ride, but at least it gave Ryan a chance to get his only decent nap of the trip.  I forgot how much fun it can be just hanging out by the lake, the kids spent lots of time piloting the kayaks, jumping off the docks and just floating around.  Poor Ryan is just not a big fan of the water and looked miserable most of the time, the only bright spot being a brief game of pushing Grant off the dock.  We grilled again and watched a baseball game on tv, which I think was my favorite part, just sitting together, no distractions of home, no feeling like I should be cleaning or sorting or all of the other millions of things on my at home to do list.  Wednesday we left after spending another morning at SDC and headed home, just one day before Kyle turned 7.  Will post later about that because it is indeed a story deserving of its own post.

 

I did not forget to pack my swimsuit of all things.  I did not, the week before vacation eat ¾ of a peach crisp I made.  Had I done that, I would not have said that I gave ½ of it to my step dad.