Holiday World

Well, we did it!  We ran away.  I'd been threatening to do it for a while.  But, thanks to the high school  girls soccer team, we packed our bags and ran away.  The stress around this house had been thick enough to cut with a knife.  No one was smiling anymore.  We were all short with each other and quite frankly, things weren't fun in the house.  So, Thursday night we took the kids to my parents (i love you, parents!) and early Friday morning, Hubby and I went North to cheer on the high school soccer team.  Highlights:
watching the girls take the State championship,
IKEA!!!!!,
the local Goodwill store,
running through a forest preserve with hubby
a tiny little production of the "Putnam County Spelling Bee" (FANTASTIC!)
SLEEP!,
Not sleeping (wink wink)
And spending some amazing time with my best friend.  I've missed him.
After a wonderful time of reconnecting, we picked up our kids and headed East toward Holiday World.  We stayed for two nights in a camper on Lake Rudolf campground.  Holiday World was fantastic.  What a great little Midwest treasure.  My favorite things about Holiday World:
1.  Free drink stations.  Really, they eliminated the entire chorus of, "moooooooooom, I'm thirsty!!!!!"
2.  Free sunscreen stations.  We didn't even carry a bag in.  We could reapply sunscreen whenever we wanted.
3.  No full length mirrors.  Seriously.  I saw enough tan beautiful bodies to haunt me a lifetime.  It was wonderful to walk into a bathroom and not have to look at myself in a swimsuit.
4.  The wave pool.  We got every penny's worth out of our tickets here.  The kids exhausted themselves body surfing and we got to sit in the water watching them laugh and giggle.
5.  Reconnection.  For two days we laughed and joked and made memories.  We will need that connection to walk through the days of adjustment that are coming.  I am overwhelmed when I think of the amount of work it will take to pack up this house, move to the other house and begin cleaning insulation off of the junk in the pods.  Have I mentioned that tornadoes suck yet?
So, we are back.  Hubby is busy doing work stuff. (so glad I don't have his job...it is big)  And my posse and I are slowly working through the laundry.  Every once in a while someone will mention something from our trip and we can't help but smile.  Yes...the smiles are back!  I sure love those smiles!