Family Vacations & The Great Wolf Lodge!

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So - let's be honest.  Going on Family Vacations is expensive.  Even just a "quick camping trip" can run you a couple hundred dollars including food and gas.

I hope to do a blog segment later on how you can better save on your vacations (from tips I've done), but for now this blog is simple and sweet.

Josh and I have a few trips in mind we would like to take the kids on in the next five years.  Some big.  Some small.  One of them is the Great Wolf Lodge.  This will be a neat experience for both of us, as no one has been there before!  So not only will the kids experience it for the first time, so will mom and dad ;-)

One of my favorite blogs I follow, Queen Bee, is doing another Great Wolf Lodge Giveaway!  Follow this link, follow the instruction, and cross your fingers to win (as I'm crossing mine):Queen Bee Giveaway!

Of course while I wish you luck, I'm hoping to finally score a win on a giveaway so I can take the kids and hubby on this fun trip (would be a neat one to do later this winter after I've healed from surgery a bit).

Take care guys, and thanks for reading!

Nichole
~ Be The Thermostat, NOT The Thermometer~

Vacation Hangover!

Do you ever feel like you need a vacation after your vacation has already ended?

Yup.
You are suffering from a vacation hangover.

Sure, part of the want for another vacation so quickly is going back to work ... responsibilities ... life in general ...

But lets face it.  Your vacation flew by, and here you are.  Back on the plane, to return to your regular life.

This is where I'm at today.

My vacation was fantastic.  Filled with shows ... pool side lounging ... and of course, drinking.  We were in Vegas, after all.

Can I go back, please?

Yet, here I am.  Drained.

 

I relaxed.

I didn't rush things.

Why am I so drained??

I'm hungover.  From my vacation.

 

That's all it really boils down to.  It's not a terrible thing.  Smells and certain songs immediately transport me back to the gambling floor of the MGM, or into the Flamingo Restaurant where we frequented for Breakfast.

 

I'm glad to be home.  I'm glad to have my kids ... my friends ... my family ... my life.  Even work - kind of.

 

Okay, maybe not true about work.  My co-workers, though, is what I'm glad to be back to.

   

Vegas is my escape.  An escape that I crave and look forward to every couple of years.  In a city nicknamed "Sin City", I find peace and a calm there that I forget about here at home.

 

I think this "vacation hangover" is a reminder that I need to balance my life a little better, so I don't overdo it when the big vacations do come around.  Maybe cook a little more elaborate meals ... or have a glass of wine with dinner more often ... something to break the "norm".

I'd say take more baths.  But I have kids.  Toddlers.  Me taking a bath won't happen for another 18 years.

 

I promise myself that I will indulge a little more in my daily life.  Even the smallest of things will make a great impact.  I may not be returning to Vegas anytime soon, but it doesn't mean my vacation high has to fully go away.

I may need to remind myself of this many times, especially as life is about to get a little crazier ...

Thanks for reading.

Nikki
Be The Thermostat - Not The Thermometer

  

Back To Reality

For the long weekend, we packed up both kids and met up with my Aunt & Uncle for a long weekend at the Ocean.

Needless to say, it was amazing.

A "head clearing, releaxing, intoxicating, silly, loving, awesome" kind of amazing.

The weather was perfect ... the company was fantastic.

I never wanted to leave this fantasy world.

Alas, life crept up to me too soon and pulled me back in.  While I am not thrilled with confronting the bills, arrangments for Josh's layoff and more ... having this break on the coast was an unexpected necessity.

Leaving was hard, but I walked away with a clear head and a rejuvenated spirit.
I felt like I could take on the world again.  Something I feel we lose from time to time.  Especially as life gets busier and harder.  In the next upcoming weeks, I need to remember this feeling of calm and peace as I face new and bigger obstacles.

Co-Chair for my local Relay For Life.
Working Full Time.
School Full Time.
Family.
Husband.
Life.

I knew it was never going to be easy - but it will be worth it.

Next week we leave to go to Vegas ... if I feel 1/2 as great coming home from it as I did from the Ocean, I think I'm going to do all right in the next few months.

XO -
Nikki
"Be The Thermostat - Not The Thermometer"