So many landmarks in such a small space. How can one find peace and happiness in Washington, DC?
A Day At The Smithsonian
Tag Archives: vacation
The Vacation Ends…
It’s been a whirlwind of a vacation. I mean, we’ve handled four kids in a small-ish space before, but for some reason this past week was a bit tougher than normal.
The week was far from perfect, and there were a number of ups and down for Sunshine and I throughout the week. We’ve got very different parenting styles and VERY different children (especially my teenaged daughter, who is quite the handful at times), so that ended up creating some tense moments at times throughout the week.
But as we discussed in detail on Saturday during some down-time (of which there was very little of all week long), all relationships go through ups and downs. Not all relationships are perfect and blended families usually have to work a lot harder due to the multitude of layers that each side of the family brings to the table.
When it’s just the two of us, the good is 98% of the time…and that can really spoil us when it comes to tough times and stressful parental situations. You want to tell yourself that things will be smooth, but stress is simply going to be part of every day life…especially during a vacation with “extra kids” who don’t normally hang out with one another.
Thankfully, Sunshine and I have an unbeatable ability to talk and discuss issues without everything turning into a blow-out fight. And because of that, we end up coming out of tense situations bigger and better than we were going into it.
So as the vacation ends, so does the majority of our stress as parents of a blended family. Where my daughter is still visiting until the first week of September and I’m still on the hunt for a job in Halifax so I can actually move into OUR home, stress hasn’t exactly left the building yet.
But it’s on its way…
The Mini-Vacation
I’m actually preparing for an awesome week-long vacation that’s scheduled for the second week of August, when my daughter flies in from Ontario and my son is with me for the whole week. We’re all going to be in the new home that I am sharing with Sunshine (that STILL has a difficult time sinking in…lol) and it’s going to be a wild and crazy fun time.
But this weekend is going to be a “prelude” to the actual vacation. After having supper with my son tonight, I’m heading off for a 4-day weekend with Sunshine and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been awhile since we’ve had some quality down time together, so this should be fun.
The down time is necessary, too. I mean, we’ve only seen each other briefly over the past three weeks for when I’ve driven there and back for job interviews. We need some quality time together, y’know?
In terms of the job hunt, I’m still looking and applying for at least one job every single day. While I’ve had some interviews, nothing has materialized yet. I’m doing my best to not get too down on things, though…I know that I’ll get something sooner rather than later. It’s just stressful on a number of different levels. The hope is that something happens within the next month…I really don’t want Sunshine to have to move into our new place and stay there alone waiting for me for very long (not to mention paying the higher rent while I still pay the mortgage on my house…moving away will come in VERY hand on a number of levels).
So a Thursday night with Sunshine and her girls along the waterfront with a ton of activities going on (Tall Ships!), a “date night” taking place either Friday or Saturday night (Ted!), and meeting up (hopefully) with friends on Sunday…this is shaping up to be exactly what the doctor ordered: sun, fun, and laughter.
Is it tonight yet?
Wordless Wednesday (Maine Blogger Summit version)
Okay…this won’t be exactly “wordless”, but I think you’ll get the picture(s).
So who is ready to spend 10+ hours in a car together today??
Sunshine was just a BIT excited about the weekend. I know it’s difficult to tell because she’s always masking her emotions. #PokerFace
It was just a few seconds after this that an accident with a busload of African orphans en route to Madonna’s house was narrowly avoided. I then decided that watching the road instead of mugging for the camera was probably a fairly decent idea.
I ran over this on the way to Maine. Oh wait…no…it just LOOKS like road kill. Actually, this was M’s dinner on Friday night. It’s an order of chili cheese fries that, funny enough, turned out to be bigger than he was.
T informed me that Michael Bolton was actually a “hard rock” singer before he became the king of cheesy smaltz. I didn’t know that tidbit of musical trivia, so she brought up a video of his on GJ’s phone. THIS is my reaction to watching and listening to that video (see below). PURE HELL.
So here’s a picture of the lake. It really did have quite the view. A lot of peaks and smooth surfaces all over the place. #creeper
Shouldn’t every sunny day in the summer include glasses of wine on a pier on a lake? Yeah…this was pretty awesome.
This would be Sunshine and Jobo posing for a photo op, which is something they rarely did all weekend long. Wait…who is that very small man photobombing this pic?? That can’t be M…even HE isn’t that small, is he?
I’m about to play Twister for the first time ever. Yes…you can tell just how excited I am. I felt as though I should have worn yoga pants just to make things easier, though. Oh well…I’ll have to wear ‘em next time along with my assless chaps. #clothingiwillneverwear
Now THIS is a Twister game that I can get into. T, Jobo, and Sunshine. Giddy-up!!
Stopped at a rest spot to enjoy some Starbucks on the way home. I had no idea the moose was even behind us. Photobombing sonofabitch.
We were quite excited to be in Saint John, NB while making our way back home. The Star Trek “beam me up” exhibit was pretty cool…though after the person behind us didn’t return we felt uncomfortable and simply didn’t feel like giving it a try.
Listen, there were a TON of pictures (well over 500) and probably the majority of them are of the nature I don’t want the world to see. So just know that the weekend was absolutely amazing and we had an incredible time with Jobo & M (fantastic hosts who really went above and beyond to take care of their visitors) and T & GJ (these two are a hoot!). Sunshine and I would absolutely meet-up with them again in a heartbeat.
CLICK THIS STUFF!!
Flickr? I hardly even know her!!
More PhotosUs yapping…..
FYI
