I'm back and so thrilled to be so. I had a great time on vacation - it was honestly just the thing we all needed. It was great to be able to spend time with family and friends without the normal worries of everyday life lingering. It was great to spend lazy days alternating between the beach and the pool and the front porch. I got to read and shop like there was no tomorrow. I had time to clear my head and come up with new ideas and ambitions. It was the right kind of refreshing.

The beach was absolutely gorgeous each and everyday, except one. The water was wonderful and the sand was white as snow. Jack got to experience the beach in a new way. He'd been before, but only when he was much smaller, so this was one of his first memory making sort of trips. He built sandcastles and played in the ocean and collected sea shells (he called them all 'fossils'). He got to catch a crab at night and see jellyfish. We even saw a shark from a distance and two sting ray up close (yikes)!

When he wasn't at the beach, he was in the pool learning how to swim with a life jacket on. By the end of the trip, he was nearly a pro. He's getting the hang of it and rest assured by the end of the summer he'll have it down pact.

It was a glorious, laid back sort of week with no worries, no agenda, and lots of fun.

Do you have any fun trips planned this summer?

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