Looking Forward To

It's the 2nd day of my work's summer hours! It's soooo nice to leave at 4:00 instead of 5:00. It's one of the many perks of my job :)

Anyways, I'm really excited for summer and the nice weather. I think that having kids has really changed my perspective on what to do with my leisure time. No longer am I content sitting in front of the TV all day, I want to get outside and play! Having kids renewed my joy for things I did when I was little, like going swimming or bike riding, and I get excited for the time when they can do those things with the same excitement as myself!

So here's a short list of my reasons I'm excited:

• We have a pool membership for the summer. 
• I bought a bike rack for the back of my car! (Hello finding new trails)
• Our backyard is mostly thistle free so we can run around barefoot!
• I'm leaving work at 4:00 (I can't stress this enough)
• Brian and I are planning our first road trip/family vacation to the Ozarks!!!! (more to discuss on that later)
• Nolan is turning 4 this summer and I'm taking his birthday off for a Mama/Nolan play day (probably going swimming if we're being honest)
• We bought a membership to the science museum in Des Moines as well as the Blank Park Zoo - the hidden benefit of these memberships is RE-CI-PRO-CI-TY. That means many other zoos and museums will allow FREE entry! (There's a zoo by the ozarks that does reciprocity)

Ok, the above things that I'm excited for all have the possibility of going down a rabbit hole and talking about the minute reasons that I'm excited for each of the above but I think I want to zone in on the Ozarks vacation. 

I have been SO wishy washy with vacation planning lately. Like I've had dreams of going to Germany/Harry Potter World and did everything except for buying tickets as far as planning but things fell through. To back up, when Brian and I got married in 2011 we went on a honeymoon to Mexico at an all inclusive. I was kind of pushing for a european vacation but he really wanted to do Mexico and I, being a little more traveled than he, figured that he could decide. We made a decision to have a "big vacation" (ie one that's a little more expensive, maybe a week or more, to a destination that you definitely can't drive to) every 5 years. That means we were due for one in 2016 but GUESS WHAT? Wehadababy Itsaboy. So instead of doing the big trips when the kids are so little and, let's face it, still sleep terrorists it makes more sense that they come with us rather than having them stay with family. 

So Brian and I were discussing something to do this summer - and we hemmed and hawwed about Colorado. I mostly wanted to go because I wanted a mountain vacation that was relaxing with some hiking. Something that didn't take a lot of structure because the kids are so little it seems like they (especially Maxwell) won't remember it anyways. But I still wanted to go and do something because we really only have 14 years until Nolan moves away for college... That sounds like a long time but that's, in my eyes, 14 potential vacations as a family if we only do one a year. So what better time than today?

That's my background anyways. So I've started a very pathetic pinterest board and come up with the below ideas for activities during the day:

• Hiking
• Zoo visit (fo FREE)
• Cave tour
• Water Park

That oughta do 'er. And I'm guessing the kids will be tired when the day is over. 

Anyways I think that the next few weeks/months of planning is going to be really fun and going there will be a fun way to end the summer. More to come? 

Before I click "Publish" I have to share this:

MRW I'm the designated driver

"Hold still... please smile!"

When you turn 1 and grandma gives you the best present of all time.