...meeting people you have never seen before
...swimming in a bathtub with your sister, three serving spoons and four cups - for two hours
...fishing in 106 degree heat
...swimming in a lake of incredibly warm water
...trying to catch minnows with your swim goggles
...stopping the car to get an ice cream cone, just because (Grandpa is MUCH nicer than Mommy)
...sitting at the biggest table at the restaurant - looking around and seeing happy faces
...juggling madly to try to keep everyone happy and failing, but being ok with it
...bugs all over the windshield
...seeing deer by the headlights
...stopping the van to take pictures with your phone of gigantic ELK
...watching hundreds of movies
...eating too much
...sleeping too little
...10:30 bedtime for little people
...sand in the sheets and mud on your flip flops
...being deeply grateful for all of the people in this huge enormous extended family who love my children so. I don't deserve all of the nice things that they all do for me or my kids. My mom, my dad and step mom, my father in law and all of the sisters, sisters and brothers in law that I have, well done, you.
...knowing that you may never have this chance again. Grabbing it and holding on for all you've got
Vacation is not time for
...drama
...arguments - I'm proud of myself. I walked away from three arguments in which others were trying to engage me. I'm not ruining this trip with your crap.
...irritability
...calorie counting - see also, ice cream and cake and Red Lobster and Whataburger and coke
...grudges
...worrying about your blog stats, twitter following, facebook standings, Google + invitations or Page Rank
...letting other people's feelings and expressed ideas weigh you down
Vacation is a chance to get away from my day to day life. I'm loving every single minute of it. Well, except for the exorcism part. And maybe the antlers.
