{inspired to take a vacation}

tonight we are leaving for vacation. right now, i'm sitting on the couch, on the laptop. spencer is playing video games. coleman is napping. matt is at work. we leave in a little over 4 hours. why am i so relaxed? i will tell you why. a week ago today when i discovered inspired to action i began implementing some of her ideas. by doing so, my days have instantly become more productive. so here i sit, a few hours before vacation and i'm not spazzing out or running around like a chicken with my head cut off. instead, i'm posting a vacation-related ramble.

from the mouth of babes (sort of): after picking spencer up today, he asked me what was wrong. i was a little baffled, as i was pretty sure nothing was wrong and my mood reflected that. when i inquired, he said "well, usually you get kind of grumpy when we are rushing around and stuff". WOW. granted, he's almost 12 and therefore pretty perceptive, but still. kind of smacks you in the face. the good news is that i was able to tell him that we were not rushed and i laid out exactly how the day was planned out for us to get on the road.

travelling with a toddler: this is the first time we've ever decided to hit the road at night. my husband will have worked a 12 hour shift and i know he will be exhausted by the time we get there (about 3-4 hour drive, depending on stops, etc). our goal, of course, is that coleman (at almost 17 months old) will sleep most of the way.

beach baby: i am seriously looking forward to taking our little toddler on the beach this year. i know it will be exhausting and matt & i will have to do some duty swapping to get any relaxation. but i am super pumped about watching him see new things and explore the big open beach!

vacation from vacation: my awesome sister is going to watch coleman for one day and night while we are on vacation (she lives about 45 minutes from where we are staying). this will give matt & i a day on the beach to truly relax (since spencer and his friend pretty much entertain themselves).

vacation to-do list: i did actually write a vacation "to do" list, but it's not as bad as it sounds. my hope and expectation is that i will probably have some downtime after coleman goes to bed or while he's napping. i made a list of some fun/relaxing things that i might want to do (mainly on my computer) while i have this free time. it's not a "must do" list, just some ideas. i usually read a lot while on vacation, so who knows if i'll actually do any of these other things.

inspired to action: i have no intentions of waking up at 5 a.m. while on vacation (especially since coleman has started sleeping later the last week or so). but i do hope to wake before everyone else for some quiet time and my morning routine. though i will not have a strict to-do list, i hope to move forward with some of my "daily retreat".

exercise:  i have done a fantastic job completing things on my "daily cards" except the exercising. today is day three without any. but surely packing has to count for something, right??? i am hoping to maybe take advantage of the beach for some walks or something. we'll see.

scrapping on the go: i put together a mini album that is basically a blank (but colorful) canvas. my plan is to scrap-as-i-go while out of town, only needing to add photos when i return home. i'm super excited about this approach because i've never done it before. i'll be posting more details later.