Settling Back In

Finally back at home I was greeted with giant hugs from my boys.  It was so nice to be missed!  The good news about coming back a day early was that I had a full weekend to recover from being away.  Obviously there were a lot of things around the house that I needed to check in on, from laundry and groceries to the garden and schoolwork, but for the most part things weren't too bad.  I did come home to these gorgeous flowers...

It definitely felt good to sleep in my own bed Friday night and sleep in a little on Saturday.  I didn't want to do much besides sit around and blog on Saturday, but I figured that might be wise.  By the evening we decided we needed to do something fun, and the boys wanted to go to Mighty Taco and mini golfing since that was something Craig had promised them that didn't happen as planned while I was gone.  I couldn't really justify going to our usual place for golf because we had just been there and we didn't have any coupons, so I decided if we were going to pay full price, we should go somewhere more interesting.  So, we went to the oldest miniature golf course in the country (supposedly), which is across the street from Seabreeze, up near the lake.  Craig and I went there on an anniversary date a few years back.  Now it was time to share it with the kids...and the good news?  We didn't have to pay for Carter, so it really did end up cheaper in the end than our usual course!

We had a nice time despite some challenging raised holes throughout the course.  They were just enough to throw your ball off course.  We had a lot of fives collectively!  The bright side was that it kept us all pretty close.  I actually came out with the win, by some miracle, but even Carter played a pretty solid game, including a hole in one!

Carter playing on the lighthouse hole...and when it got darker, the lighthouse had a working, rotating light!

Carter at the start of the "chipping" hole, where you have to hit off that tee to a green about fifteen feet away.  Shockingly, no one was injured in the process!

Jacob on the boat hole.  I actually got a hole in one on this one about two minutes after I took this shot. Yay me!

You have to finish with pictures on the big chair!

And then we had to hit up the mushroom stools, too!

We finished off the night by stopping at our usual mini golf place to hit up the arcade.  Jacob really had his heart set on going there, which I think was because he wanted to try again to beat the record on the basketball game.  He came so close last time!  But as I had predicted, we got there and saw that the record had been driven up to an unattainable level.  The game was new the last time we were there, and somehow someone worked miracles to get it really high.  They must have hit every single shot and hit some sort of bonus level we don't know about!  We still had a good time for very little money and went home happy.

On Sunday it was going to be a very warm day, and Craig and Jacob headed off to lacrosse practice in the early afternoon.  As much as I was feeling very lazy again, I knew I needed to get us out to do something.  Originally I figured we could go up to the lake and ride the carousel, which had been under repair for a year and was now finally open and offering free rides.  But when I mentioned that, Carter wanted to go build sand castles, too, so it turned into a full beach trip!  It took a lot of thinking to gather up the stuff we needed last minute, but off we went!

It was a very warm day but ended up being rather pleasant on the water.  It wasn't very busy so we grabbed a nice spot about 10 feet from the water and started building!

We spent maybe an hour and a half there, and had a really nice time.  We built, Carter destroyed, and we hung out at the edge of the water for quite a while.  It was really pleasant and I hated to leave, but I still wanted to hit up the carousel before we left and Carter was begging to go to the playground.  So, we packed up, changed Carter out of his damp suit, and headed for the carousel.  It was nice to get free rides and see it up and running after so long out of commission. 

Carter had some playground time, too, with lots of time laughing as I pushed him on the swing, and then a little bit of time running among the rest of the equipment.  There were lots of kids so it was a bit challenging, but in the end he had a good time.  Dinner was quickly approaching so we had to head home.  Not a bad little afternoon, though!

It was a rough week since it was my first full one at work in quite a while--thanks to Jacob's week after camp, Labor Day, and vacation.  Lots of early mornings, late nights, medical appointments, and other things to remember, which kept me on my toes but very spastic most of the week!  Readjusting to work has been tough, as sitting at a desk all day sort of pales in comparison to retirement-style living and seeing new parts of the country!  Getting back in the at-home groove has been challenging, as well.  It took me a couple days just to remember I needed to get back in my work out habit, and finding time for it after that was even harder.  Before I left on vacation, I barely got a chance to set up good habits for the school year, between reviewing take-home folders and efficiently packing lunch, and now I'm finding it awkward just to get comfortable with it all again, let alone perfect it.  I'm hoping I can settle in a bit more this week, but Craig will be out of town from Sunday morning until Wednesday afternoon, so there will be no rest for the weary.

I guess I'm just not used to that kind of break from normal life, particularly during the more demanding school year, as opposed to summer vacation.  I simply don't have a lot of practice with settling back in after such a significant break in routine.  It also didn't help that my last couple weeks of work were very focused on a specific, urgent to-do list that I completed, so now, in comparison, motivation has been a bit harder to come by.  I think I'm also dealing with a bit of a letdown after passing by some exciting times--family weddings, my birthday, end-of-summer fun, the first day of school, and finally vacation--and now we have to face a considerably less exciting stretch and the slow march toward winter.  Don't get me wrong--I love fall.  Apple Fest next weekend, pumpkin patches soon, colorful leaves, Halloween, and so on.  But my trip was really outstanding, and without a big lacrosse trip this fall, I'm now at a bit of a loss.  First world problems, I know.  I guess I just wasn't expecting such a readjustment period.

But, as a whole, the trip was a fabulous success, and I feel so lucky to have been able to go.  My landing back at home was a bit bumpy, but good nonetheless.  And now fall has arrived and new adventures are afoot!