Hi Reader,

I hope your week is going well so far!

Last week, we were on vacation at a cabin, but it didn't go well. It's our one vacation of the year, and honestly, looking forward to it really helped me through the loss of my mom, etc. BUT...it fell flat.

It was one thing after another. We ended up booking 9 days instead of the usual week that we do, because this place we rented was new to us and through Airbnb we had to do 9 days for some reason. That ended up being a good thing though, since we had to leave 2 days early.

On our first full day there, one of my twins stepped on something in the lake and slashed his foot open. We had to get water shoes and medical supplies delivered and he had to stay out of the water for 2 days. Bummer.

Then, it was so hot that I ended up almost having a heat emergency on our second full day there and had to spend time inside, even when we were hosting some family for the day. So embarrassing.

Soon after that, it had been so hot and sunny, that even my boys were exhausted from all the sun, so we had to have a day indoors.

Next, my oldest got a scrape on his back from lowering himself off the dock into the water...so now HE also had an open wound.

Finally, wildfire smoke got so bad that we had to leave two days early. Ugh.

OH and the whole time, I barely slept, which wasn't great either. My autoimmune flare rages on and keeps making life more difficult than it needs to be.

Here, this vacation that I thought would be rejuvenating and my saving grace after so much heartbreak and difficulty over the past few months, was over, and it wasn't relaxing at all.

Have you ever had a vacation like that, where it falls flat?

It's such a bummer because it's our one vacation a year. Quite honestly, and I remember saying this LAST year as well, but I'm seriously considering a staycation next year. I already have things planned out for that, but we'll see...

Though I'm disappointed overall, I do feel lucky that we were even able to go on vacation. I know not everyone gets to do that.

Even though next year, I'd rather just put that money toward the principal of our mortgage...

Now we're off to swimming lessons at the local swim pond for the next two weeks. Of course, we had a heat wave last week, but this morning, it's just 68 degrees as our boys will be getting into the water. Suddenly, the twins don't want to do swimming lessons, though months ago they said they did. Ugh. Should be interesting...

The weather is going to heat up again next week so I'm sure by then they'll be happy to be back in the water.

Ok, enough about me; I should try to add some value to this email other than my own stuff.

Here are a couple of blog posts that might be of interest this week:

Outdoor Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers Beyond the beach, here are some outdoor activites for toddlers and preschoolers. Read Blog Post

Air Purifier for Wildfires and More Looking for an air purifier to help with wildfire smoke? We love this one! Read Blog Post

Have a great week!

Nicole Prom, M.S.Ed., Ed.S.

Founder/Blogger at TheWayitReallyIs.com​

P.S. Use the code Newsletter20 for an extra 20% off everything in my shop and on Etsy using the buttons below!

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