Vacation Redefined

Dennis and I looked forward to our beach "vacation" last week since it was made official 6 or 7 months ago.  What we didn't anticipate was that we would decide to list, sell, and close on our current house the week after the trip to Pensacola Beach. 

Managing our expectations is a new item in our tool box of life.  Dennis and I mistakenly thought that a trip to the beach with our parents and my sister would be "beach time" as usual...but it wasn't.  The long days sitting on the beach, reading books, drifting in and out of sleep, and sipping adult beverages are long gone.  Something wonderful has replaced them, yes, but those days still have a special place in my heart. 

We replaced those fun days with early wake up calls at 5:30AM (the kids decided not to cooperate with CST and preferred to stay on their EST schedule...5:30AM in Pensacola equates to 6:30AM in Atlanta).  And, the townhome we rented was a nice size but when Blake and Connor wake up, EVERYONE wakes up. 

I did chug a few Smirnoff Ice 24 ouncers but that was the closest that I came to leisurely drinking adult beverages. 

I do remember that it was Dennis' rotation to go to the beach for a little while and my comment to him was this: "the kids are down for a nap.  Hurry up and relax at the beach.  See you when you get back."  HURRY UP AND RELAX. 

Connor loved playing in the white sand on the beach ... until his ears started to bother him.  Yes, he got an ear infection while we were there.  Then it was like the "terrible three's" took a dose of steroids and everything was a battle with him. 

Blake loved letting NO ONE hold her except for her Mama for the majoirty of the trip. 

The bright side is that the kids loved being surrounded by their family.  Nana, Papa, BAM, Papa Martin, and AK showered the kiddos with attention and love the entire trip.  And I loved being able to spend Fathers Day with my most-favorite dad.

Oh, wait, there was one relaxing part for me:  we were going back and forth with the underwriter for the mortgage on our new house and so I had to go to Office Depot on numerous occasions to print, sign, scan, and fax documents back and forth to him.  I think Office Depot may have saved my vacation by giving me a few minutes of relaxation.  That and the fact that the urgent care clinic was right next door to it so we wouldn't have known where to take Connor otherwise. 

Pensacola was beautiful....and luckily we had beautiful weather while we were there.  It was great out on the beach and in the waves...or so I hear. 

TOTAL CHAOS is our new 'normal'.  I'm not complaining, I'm just saying....