My very brief return to life without children...kinda

  Date nights in our house is basically a very, super special occasion type of thing because my parents are very, very busy, so asking them to babysit for a date night is not something we like to do and we only have 1 babysitter we really trust (and there is no way I am saying who she is because we don't want anyone to steal her lol).  Our favorite, and only, baby sitter is an outstanding student and extremely responsible, so as you can imagine she is involved in basically everything and is very busy most of the time.  So when she is available to watch the boys for us we feel extremely lucky.

 Basically for me, it is toddler time all the time.  So when Reed proposed the idea that we go on an adult only vacation with our friends...his way of saying, "no you can't bring the boys with us!", I was a little frightened about leaving the boys.  Granted, I REALLY needed a break.  Its bad to say, but the boys were getting on my nerves and I'm about 100% positive that I was getting on their nerves too.  I was nervous about leaving because its summer time, so I knew they would probably be swimming without me and I wasn't sure how they would react to me being gone for a long trip (Thursday afternoon to Monday night).  I told Reed that if he really wanted us to go that he has to make all the arrangements ( I was pretty confident he wouldn't put in the time to do that, so I thought I was safe!)  The next thing I know, he has everything all lined out and I can't find a single flaw...so I have no choice but to go, and I have to admit that deep down I did want to go.

Once we got to Destin I was so excited to be there.  I missed my boys terribly, but I knew they were having fun, so I thought I might as well have fun too.  It took some adjustments to get used to a routine that I haven't lived in about 4 years.  We have a very strict routine at home: wake up at 6:45, lunch at 11:30, nap at 12:30, snack at 3, supper at 6:30 and bed time between 8 and 8:
30.  This would definelty not be the type of schedule our friends would be on for their vacation, so we shouldn't be on that schedule either.  So it got me thinking about the things you can't do when you have kids that people without children probably take for granted:

Eating whenever you want and choosing a restaurant on something that is not based on the kids menu, play place facilities, or whether or not its a child friendly environment.

When you get up at our house you hit the ground running because breakfast is the first thing my growing boys start screaming for.  However, on our vacation I didn't even have to eat breakfast if I didn't want to :)

Remembering how restful the beach can be.  With the boys its constant sand castles, running, and swimming.  It was so nice to sit on the beach and just relax with a good book.

Sleeping whenever you want!

Not planning.

I didn't step on a single lego, dinosaur or matchbox car on the way to the bathroom...or ever the whole trip!

Adult conversation topics.  Nothing revolved around Mickey, dinosaurs, or trains.

Not having to answer the question, "why?" "Wheres da pappis?!" and "What's that?"

Nobody cries or decides to lay down in the floor and randomly throw a fit.

My hair, body, and clothes were clean!  Not even a little bit of sticky substance anywhere.  I didn't even have to take a car shirt in case of emergency.  Even though I almost carried one out to the car the first night we went out to eat because I wasn't adjusted yet.

Life without children is soooo much different than life with children.  It actually took some adjustment to just relax and not plan everything.  My body seriously rebelled at the lack of schedule the first day...seriously cranky the first night when supper was past 6:30 lol.  But I loved every minute of the vacation and it was for sure needed.  As much as I missed the boys I think I am a more patient mom now that I had a little break.  So thank you sooo much friends that invited us and let us stay at their beautiful house in Destin.  It really meant the world to us and we can't wait to take a vacation again next year  :)