FLORIDA

For the last year Andrew and I have been planning to take a trip somewhere warm without kids.

Before I go on and on about how amazing it was, maybe I should just remind everyone how much I LOVE MY KIDS. Just in case you start to forget when I get all excited talking about how great it was to be away for a little while. Again, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE MY KIDS!

Okay, having said that, we did have an AMAZING time! It ended up working out that we went with some good friends of ours to Florida for a week in September. Some of you might remember that Florida had several hurricane scares around this time. We were getting a little nervous in August that we might not be able to go. Miraculously, there were three hurricane warnings for the area we were in before we left, and three new hurricane warnings for the same place after we left, but the week we were there we had PERFECT weather. I mean, before we left, I was just hoping we wouldn't be evacuated. I wasn't going to complain if it rained the entire time. It was still a week away with my husband, right? So to have gorgeous weather was really more than I could have hoped for.

We hung out at the beach, at the pool, slept in, ate dinner at any old time we wanted, went out and didn't worry about what time we came home, read in total silence, read and rested ON THE PLANE...need I say more? It was heavenly. (Of course, the real 'heavenly' will definitely include our children, but I really think there will still be plenty of this, because it was amazing.) In case you can't tell, I REALLY recommend that every couple do what it takes to get away alone together once in a while. This is only the second time we've managed this since we've had kids, but we definitely plan to do it again. I know it's not easy. It takes planning, it takes effort, it usually takes saving some money for a while beforehand. I was a basket-case the night before we left because, much to my dismay, ALL of my kids were sick. There's nothing to make you feel guilty like taking off on a vacation while leaving three coughing children behind. But even that potential disaster worked out amazingly well. I promise it's worth whatever effort it takes to have some time alone with your love. And if it does take a lot of time and effort to plan a trip away together, guess what, the planning is almost as fun as actually going. (not quite, but it still gives you something to look forward on those days when you just can't seem to make anything go right!) We've also been working harder lately to make sure we have a weekly date, which is a nice way to keep things happy during those years between trips! :) I'll be posting more later about my favorite adventure while we were there.

Finally, I just want to give another HUMONGOUS (and GINORMOUS for Amy) THANK YOU to my awesome family, especially Amy, for jumping into full-blown parenthood for a week so we could go. And a thank you to my kids, who, if no one is lying to us, were really great while we were gone. There's nothing we'd rather come home to than you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!