A Summer of Firsts

Today is the last day of my first 10 day vacation as a working adult. It was by far the most relaxing vacation I've had in years. No work life balance to balance. Just life. Life with Lisa and the kids having fun on vacation, not thinking about anything. No bills. No schedules. Just hanging out at the pool, beach, backyard, bike trails, parks and Costco.

Our vacation to North Carolina was the first thing we did after Sydney finished her first year of Kindergarten. We started the summer of with a real bang. The 6:30 am flight was a little tight. We were supposed to pre-board but were a little delayed so actually got to board almost last so we sat at the back of the plane. Worked out just fine as we had some extra room to spread out.

Upon arriving in Raleigh, Aunt Melissa picked us up at the airport by cutting off most of the pick up lane traffic. What a move. Better than most stunt drivers.

At her/Uncle Doug's house for the first two days, we had great food and primo patio time watching planes fly overhead. We also went to a local park where we rode the carousel, paddle boats and a train. Each night we watched Lord of the Rings trilogy to finish off the night.

On Saturday, we ventured to the local Strawberry patch and picked 14 pounds worth. It was our first Strawberry picking trip and definitely worth it. We had fresh strawberrys with almost every meal.

After that we packed up the Highlander with our gear and stuffed all 7 of us into the ride for our first family trip to the beach. Sydney loved the beach. We couldn't keep her out of the water. Aubrey liked the beach but was more happy with the indoor pool. It was a bit warmer and definitely did not have any big waves to knock her down. Her first walk along the shore resulted in a little undertow mishap. Hadley was all about the sand tea party and getting Uncle Doug and Scott to fill up her water buckets.

The condo was great. Plenty of room, great kitchen for cooking all the meals and right on the beach. The weather was mid eighties, sunny with no humidity every day.

We played cards, collected a ton of shells, cooked out, slept-in and had a few margaritas. Umm, actually that was just me.

We got back to Raleigh on Tuesday where we spent the rest of the time relaxing at the house, playing at the NC Greenway park, going to the YMCA pool, having BBQ time with relatives/neighbors and more resting.

It was our first family trip to the beach but also to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Doug's place so everything was new.

And getting back to Overland Park after the trip, was nice too, only because sleeping in your own bed and getting back into your daily routine has its plus side too. We got to see our new hardwood floors. And the Hurley famly who we hadn't seen in almost two years. All the kids are growing up way too fast.

We saw the first firefly's of Summer, enjoyed bike rides with Aubrey and Sydney (they both learned how to ride in the last two weeks), Hadley started asking "Why" for the first time and has reached more than 100,000 why's since. She has her sister Aubrey's curiosity.

So if I had to think of one thing that I want to hold onto for a long time it's that the more you live in the moment, the richer the moment is and the longer the day lasts. I've always hated going to bed early as it means the day is over. But on vacation, I didn't mind going to sleep because I was just focused on now. Laser focused on taking in everything. With photos. With memories. With fun with the family.

As soon as we got back I grabbed a travel guide at Costco. I'm ready for our next 10 day vacation. But even more, I'm ready for tomorrow to see what other firsts we get to experience this summer.