Whew! I Need a Vacation from Our Vacation!

{my son Lucas and niece, 'kissing Summer goodbye'}

We've just returned home from a 2 1/2 week vacation to visit my husbands family.  It was originally supposed to be a 10-day trip, but since we were having such a good time and my husband is able to work from his computer we extended it.  Overall*, we had a wonderful time......had a hilarious time in the car playing the ABC game with the kids, spent time playing disc golf, flashlight tag and croquet, sang karaoke and celebrated birthdays, listened to Great Grandma tell stories from long ago and looked through old pictures, just spent time together hanging out......ate a lot, talked a lot, played a lot, laughed a lot.  It was a great visit and we all had a fantastic time catching up with the whole family and good friends.
*There was of course the ER visit, the sibling squabbles, and many 'there's-nothing-to-do's', but all in all - great time.  ;)

......but, like almost anyone who's gone on vacation knows.......it's good to be home!  As great as it was to be there, there's just nothing like sleeping in your own bed, putting the baby to sleep in his own crib, cooking in your own kitchen......

Along with the joy of being home though, comes the work!  When I walked in our door in the middle of the night and tucked the kids into bed {stepping around their scattered toys and clothes}, my first thought was "How did we happily survive for almost 3 weeks with a fraction of all of this crap??"  I just recently finished reading a fantastic book about minimalism and living simply......and doing without a lot of what we own only encouraged how much I want to simplify our lives and get rid of "stuff"!

Besides the fresh reminder I have for the need to declutter the house, I also have the post-vacation "chores" to tackle........

 {going through this - freebies, bills, magazines galore!}

 {unpacking and laundering this - and it's only about 1/2 of our bags}

 {packing these -- 1 week til school starts....unbelievable!}

{restocking this - there's only so many meals you can make on half empty tubs of frosting, condiments, and wilty celery}

So, I thought I'd share why I may be a little scarce this next week......I've got my time all planned out for me -- lots to do!  Hoping to fit in some family time too before the kids are off to school.  I'm sure I won't be able to completely stay away from the blog though!  ;)

Are you planning any last-minute fun as the Summer ends?  Did your family go on vacation (or try a stay-cation) this year?  What's your idea of a perfect vacation? 

{Even though we had a great time, my perfect vacation looks a little like this......}  ;)