Until next time...

The writing of this entry comes with bittersweet emotions. While a huge part of us is ready to return to our home, friends + family, we are equally reluctant to say goodbye to this amazing adventure. To be able to spend lazy days together as a family, for an entire month, can only be considered a luxury. We feel so blessed to have had this opportunity, and truly grateful to our employers at Wieden + Kennedy. Next time we see Dan and Dave in the hall, we plan to give them both a big bear hug.

As Heather's mom likes to say, 'you know it's been a good vacation when you're ready to come home'. For a long time Heather didn't know what this meant, but now she gets it. It simply means that you've done everything you've hoped to do, and then some. We definitely achieved maximum relaxation (well, as best as you can while taking care of two little ones). We wouldn't have done a single thing differently. The beaches were exactly as we remembered them. Both houses exceeded our expectations. We loved having our family visitors to add in a little distraction and a whole lot of fun. And the frozen fruity cocktails were a welcome treat at the end of every day (and boy are we REALLY going to miss these).

Now it's time to get back to reality and the routine of it all....but lucky for us we still have a couple of weeks left of our sabbatical. We will be spending our coming days getting settled and putting our house back together. Our basement remodel project has been completed so there's lots to do down there. We also hope to sneak up to Seattle for a night and hopefully catch a baseball game and get a little shopping done.

We hear it's going to be a gorgeous weekend back in Portland. That makes us happy as the weather here for the past 10 days has very much reminded us of home (in a not so good way). I think it's nature's way of helping us get on that plane. That and the swarms of pesky mosquito's.

We thought we'd end this blog with a Top 10 list. These are the things that brought a smile to our faces each and every day.

In no particular order of importance.

10. Daily family naps
9. The views
8. Our visitors
7. Lime & Coconut frozen cocktails
6. Turquoise waters + pure white sand
5. The kiddos, 24/7
4. Columbo's smoothies
3. The animal and insect kingdom (both welcomed and unwelcomed)
2. Maho Bay and Caneel Bay beaches
1. Waking up each morning without a plan

A fun by-product of this trip has definitely been doing this blog. We recognize that daily blogging is also a luxury and a habit we won't be able to keep up. But our goal is to keep you updated with the sometimes random and sometimes important moments in this family of four's life. More to come.

We thought we'd end it with a little video that pretty much sums up our trip.