Post-Vacation Blahs

We have returned from our 2 week adventure. It was a whirlwind of travel to Seattle, Bellingham, Vancouver, back to Seattle, the Big Island of Hawaii, then to Maui. I'm not sure I'd attempt a full two weeks with the kids on my own again, but we did make the best of it and tried to enjoy as much as we could while dealing with lack of sleep, anxiety in the kids involving meeting new people and the unknown of new places, and just the plain getting tired of being with each other 24/7.

We arrived home after 20 hours of travel that involved 3 plane changes and one delay. The kids did amazingly well for it being the end of the trip and the length of the travel time. We came home to a very hot house that we quickly cooled down with the A/C and we all passed out. We arrived at 9am on a Tuesday and had the day off, so I had planned it this way. I woke up midday to a horrible migraine. I'm guessing that the exhaustion, not drinking enough water and stress finally got to me. I quickly medicated myself and went back to sleep until it was gone. I woke again at 5pm and both kids were up. We went out to dinner and then it was back to bed!

I felt refreshed the next day and ready to jump back into work after taking my daughter to school for her first day, which was actually their 3rd day. She missed the first two days with the trip. I also would be starting school that day in the evening. I'm taking 2 classes this Fall semester. One in-class and one online. I was doing ok all day until I finally made it to that class...after running late and getting lost in the building. It was like a brick hit me in the head. And on top of it, it's Statistics! Not exactly the most exciting of topics. Although by the end of the class I had gotten my second wind once I realized how much work was going to be involved in order to pass the class. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed this evening after that class. I know I will be able to handle it all, but tonight I am feeling the effects of the trip and just can't put my energy into it. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Moral of the story...keep trips with kids manageable by keeping the sight-seeing to a minimum. Have a plan, but don't plan to stick to it and be flexible. Take another adult on the trip if you can for the added emotional and physical support or plan to stay with friends/family who can help out and give you a break. Try to plan the trip when you know you'll have a few weeks to recover, not right before school starts!

One adventure is over, only to bring on a new one!