Wow! A whole month . . . huh, how did it go by so fast?

Okay, I know DAMN well how it went by so fast . . . I've been on vacation (and still am).

During my last entry I was desperately trying to get ready for the first (and longest) part of my vacation . . . a 2 1/2 week trip to the wonderful state of WISCONSIN!

Why, I'm sure some of you are asking, did I go to this particular state? Well, there's a few reasons

1. Family

2. A beautiful lake

3. Did I say Family already?

Overall it turned out to be a pretty good trip. The trip was broken up into 3 parts: Madison, WI, Land O'Lakes, WI, and then Chicago.

The Madison portion was fun . . . the plane ride to O'Hare was great, all three kids did well in the car, we found out if we sold our house in the Bay Area, we could buy a 7,000 sq ft home complete with a full dance studio in the basement, and I got to see two of my favorite Aunts.

Land O' Lakes was pretty good too . . . Again, the kids did pretty well on the car trip up. Once we got up there, though, the weather would not cooperate. It was cold, windy, and NOT what we ordered. :) However after a few days, and more of Hubby's family showing up, the weather cheered up as well and the rest of the trip was fun. We went to Bond Falls which about 15-20 miles north in UP Michigan. The lake was positively beautiful . . . but unfortunately the water level was pretty low.

Finally we headed for Chicago. We spent the first day going on a road trip to South Bend, IN going to, where else, The University of Notre Dame. Neither Hubby nor I went there (in fact neither of us had ever been to Indiana before), but the campus was absolutely beautiful

The fun part was . . . even though I wasn't going to read it, I found a pile of Harry Potter #7 sitting in the front atrium of the Notre Dame bookstore. After some prodding from Kid #1, I bought it . . . and read it all the way back to Chicago. The next day we went to the Field Museum and the Aquarium next to Soldier Field.

We headed back to O'Hare for our 8:35 PM flight back to Oakland only to find out our plane was having a mechanical problem (some liquid was leaking from the right engine - not a good thing!). It wasn't until 10PM they informed us that they were taking our flight out of service, however there was a plane we could use . . . but it wasn't coming into O'Hare from LA until 12:15 AM!

We finally got home last Wednesday morning . . . at 5 AM!!!!

The good news was . . . my kids were pushed back into the Western time zone feet first. The bad news was . . . I left again last Sunday to drive down to Southern Ca.

I am exhausted both physically and mentally. I love my kids . . . but I am SO READY for school to start.

Thankfully, Hubby flew down last night, and drove me up to LA, dropped me off at my hotel, and is on his way home right now with all 3 kids. I am now preparing to do some MAJOR absorption of info as soon as my SCBWI conference starts tomorrow morning.

I'm looking forward to this . . . this is MY vacation.

I'll be going home on Monday . . . with only 2 weeks left until school starts.

WHOO-HOO!!!!! :)