The Laundry is going, the car is unpacked, the suitcases are put away. The kids are bathed and in bed sleeping. My husband is back at work just 60 minutes after arriving home from our vacation to Paradise. Our three night, four day adventure came and went all too quick as vacations usually do. I am thankful for it.
I am not sure exactly what it is about Paradise that I love. Contrary to the imaginary Paradise that lives in my head with endless white sands, crystal blue waters, endless beverages brought to me by sparkly unicorns, and roller coasters thrown in the middle of it all, this real life town of Paradise is small, quiet, does not have a Starbucks, and is surrounded by magnificent forresty trees and quaint old motels.
Our motel was a courtyard style, garden motel. Single story. Emma was bummed to find that our home for this trip was not, and I quote, stacked up tall. She rallied for the cause and made due.
When she found out that they fed us breakfast, but not lunch and dinner she almost boycotted the entire adventure. Honestly, I am not sure where this girl gets her imagination.
We went to the office each morning and ate our breakfast under the most magnificent chandelier with clocks quarterly chiming old hymns loudly and sweetly over and above Live! With Kelly, which Greyson apparently is a fan of.
The boy may just have great taste. Kelly is quite adorable and has fantastic taste in shoes.
One of the highlights of Paradise vacations is endless hours of swimming. Paradise is not a popular tourist attraction and therefore, we most often have the pool area all to ourselves.
Plenty of space for dad driven launches.
and deep sea exploring.
The little guy was a lot unsure about this whole swimming thing and while he worked it out, he was repeatedly photographed. He had to come to terms with the water because I was getting my $15 worth of use out of this swimming ring we purchased for the trip.
With a lot of coaxing and a plastic cup to play with he calmed down.
Babies in water equals unprecedented cuteness.
No way I was going to let him get away with missing out on all the fun. Sometimes mama knows best.
I may just need to start saving now for our next trip because Paradise has the most fun antique shops. I was looking for an antique baby scale and came up empty handed this time. I honestly could have taken home each and every single thing that was sandwiched in sardine like fashion into those cute old barns and rustic buildings. However, I couldn’t choose just a single item. It seemed almost criminal to remove them from their antique friends and put them in my non antique house. Yes things have feelings and no I am not insane. I opted for cute pictures of my boy instead. Barns make great back drops. I heart barns.
almost as much as these two men.
I really “needed” a break this week.
I needed peace and calm and play.
Time to hypothetically play foursquare with my 12 year old daughter {and whip her booty at it} in the middle of CVS. Time to make my 7 year old daughter belly laugh with a kids meal toy photo shoot. It is too easy to move too fast and miss the most important parts of life.
After proper goodbyes to our Paradise motel rooms 45 and 46, we slowly made the two hour drive home. We stopped five times. I love that my husband does not get annoyed with this. Stop and smell the roses, or in this case stop and eat at a hole in the wall joint for lunch (A-mazing food), use a bathroom for an unnamed child, use another bathroom for another unnamed child, purchase a Starbucks for the father, and make an impromptu surprise candy stop for all children. You will get there eventually. Why rush?
Home Sweet Home will be waiting.
It was the perfect ending.
What a great trip! Love all the special memories you made with your sweet family. And yes, you should start saving for mommy fun money- it’s quite important.
My Maggie is also afraid of pools.
Have a wonderful day acclimating back to normal life!