Ah ... Vacation

There is something positively rejuvenating about vacation. I'm not sure if it's this "suspended in time from reality" thing where you just focus on the immediate around you or ... maybe it's the severed distance from things like your email, telephone, or local hubbub. Whatever it is ... it's a very essential element to overall happiness. At least, that is what I believe. Whether it's a long weekend or a week, I think D and I have learned that we need to have at least one of these vacations a year. (Funding these vacations will probably determine which type of vacation it is.)

We just returned from a trip to Pennsylvania to visit D's sister and her family. It was every one's first trip to PA. They live about an hour out of Harrisburg, so we weren't venturing to Philly or Pittsburgh. Instead we got to view the Blue Mountains and see lots of stone work and it was AMAZING. K had so much fun playing with his cousins (one is a year older than him and the other is four years older) and we of course tailored our activities to fun family events.

These events included making our very own chocolate bars at Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. And I just have to pause a moment as I remember my chocolate peanut butter milkshake. I don't want to think about how many calories or fat this treat cost me ... I just want to think about how unbelievably delicious it was. It was like a liquid, smooth, creamy Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - which is perhaps the world's most perfect candy. Seriously, this place shouldn't be called Chocolate World ... it should be called Chocolate Heaven.

We also went to a place called Lake Tobias where we went on an animal safari and fed animals from around the world from the safety of a topless bus. I had the pleasure of a Texas Longhorn slurping all over my arm. Not the sexiest thing in the world, but pretty darn cool nonetheless.

We also spent lots of quality time in the pool and just soaking up the sun. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. The forecast had occasionally teased rain, but it didn't happen until the morning that we were driving to the airport heading back home. The best part of the whole trip though was just relaxing and conversing with family. We went our own pace, waking up around 9:30 (which, I realize with the time change, was only 8:30 for us) having a leisurely breakfast and then just going as the day carried us. Not a lot of pressure, just fun. And that is what makes a vacation so important. I feel much more rejuvenated and ready to return to the grind. Of course, as an added bonus to myself, I took two additional days off so I could get all the little home tasks that I would normally do on the weekend done before returning to work. (Because an oil change is so much fun.)

Here's to the next vacation!