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Family Vacation

Here's the super late post about our first family vacation.... 
I have had so many thoughts about what to post and write about but just couldn't get the drive to actually do it. Now that it's been a couple of weeks I am ready to write about it! 

Our first family vacation was exactly what we hoped it would be and everything we needed it to be. I cannot say enough about getting away and bonding as a family. In the midst of the stress of rules, trying to understand expectations, school, work and balancing everything all while getting to know each other, going on vacation was exactly what our family needed. Doing only the good things in life for a few days with no worries about being anywhere on time and the hardest decision being ice-cream now or later was the perfect way to learn our family interactions better. 

It can be hard to adjust to new expectations - for us as parents and for our girl as part of our family. Having a minute to breathe and re-set was exactly what we needed as a unit. 

The best part of the trip was driving home and we chatted about our favorite parts of the trip... our girl had the answer "I loved the Hulk ride at Universal... and hanging out on the beach today... and the dolphin show at SeaWorld... oh, and the shrimp at the beach on the first day...." something from every day of the vacation. 


Ryan and I have been on so many quick trips that vacation had lost some of the excitement and awe... it was amazing to share something as simple as peel and eat shrimp at a little beach side restaurant with someone who hadn't had that opportunity before. As cheesy as it sounds, it reminded us just how blessed we are and how far we had come in our 10-year marriage. 

We love being parents. While it's stressful (more stressful than anticipated) sometimes, we wouldn't take this journey back for anything in the world. While there are absolutely days we think we don't want to keep doing this, there are moments like vacation that make it all worth it. Smiles in the backseat as she sees the night lights of Atlanta for the first time or waking up to see the sun rising over the beach. Crazy faces in the photos from roller-coasters and just one more stop for ice-cream. We hope these memories will stay with her for her lifetime and show her just how great life can be when you choose the path that might look scary and hard, but you know it's the right one. 

Our prayer is that our hearts will stay open to the challenge of loving in spite of heartbreak. That we will continue to learn how to support and lean on each other through the hard times and celebrate together in the good times... 


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Unknown said…
Vacation was so important to our family for all the reason you mentioned. That is when we bonded with our newest family members. It is amazing how the day to day responsibilities being out of the picture can help us to get closer as a family. Thank you for sharing your experience. It brought back some sweet memories.
April 9, 2017 at 12:42 PM
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