I can’t express how much I needed this years vacation.  Plus, unlike last year, it didn’t rain, I didn’t wind up with a concussion, and I didn’t get sick. It has been a really stressful year, and it is amazing just how much of that tension can be melted away in a week.

For me, it was a week of volleyball, softball, Karaoke, playing with my new camera.  For TheWife, it was lounging around reading and shoe shopping.  For LatteGirl it was making new friends, reconnecting with old friends, spending too much money in the arcade, and lots of swimming.

I thought last year LatteGirl had really spread her wings, but it was nothing compared with this year.  I guess I can thank the game room and her need for quarters, otherwise I am not sure I would have seen her all week (well other than meal time).

I covered how I thought that this was the perfect vacation, when I first found it, so I won’t repeat myself.  (If you didn’t see it then, you can find it here.) The only thing I didn’t cover then was the friends you make.  This was our third year going to Chestnut Grove, and what makes it special is the people.  Not only do I look forward to being there, I look forward to seeing the same faces year after year.  Its the friends you make, even more than the place itself that makes it such a great time.   Most vacations…such as when we went to Disney last year… well, I need a vacation when I return from them.  Not here.

I played a little too hard, drank a little too much, laughed a little too lound, and now I am actually ready to come back and face the world again as I count down to when we do it all again.