Back from vacation

We're back from vacation, tanned (them) and slightly sunburned (me), and ready for a few days to get back into the groove of things. Why is it that at the end of a vacation, you're so tired that you need another one to recuperate? We went on a week-long Disney cruise with our four- and six-year-old that we had planned a year ago (the result of a company award that my husband received--no way would I have been convinced to spend that much money out of pocket). Well, after 12 months of obsessive planning on my husband's part, the vacation came off without a hitch. Of course, the kids came down with bronchitis the week before we left, causing panic and fears of quarantine, but the antibiotic came through! We sprang the vacation news on the kids the morning we left, after a week of surreptitious packing and errands.

The kids had a blast on the ship. Simple things made their trip: getting to sleep in a pull-down bed, eating ice cream whenever they liked, playing on the beach, staying up late. I loved the sound of the ocean, the beautiful views, and the peace of sitting on the veranda and reading. I could, however, have taken a pass on the seasickness... Luckily, that didn't last long, and Mark came armed to the teeth with every motion sickness remedy available.

I brought along my sketchbook, which got no use since I forgot to pack the colored pencils in the last-minute suitcase stuffing. The digital camera and Mark's 35-mm got a workout, though. At least one picture seems worth translating into cloth. Once the laundry is done and the piles of stuff are put away.