You guys, it had been years since I had a real honest to goodness vacation.  You know the type of week where you can just sit, relax, swim, basically do whatever you want to do without obligations.

And guys, boy was this vacation so sweet.

Honestly it couldn’t have come at a better time.  This past year has arguably been one of the most difficult of my life.  With Paramedic school and everything that comes along with it and then working 60+ hours a week on top of that.  Man I was tired.  So when my Dad called me in May asking if I’d want to come down to Washington for a week this summer and my parents would use their airmiles to get me there I was all about it.

I really lucked out too.  My parents rented a house on Long Lake, just outside of Spokane, and everything about it was perfect.  The house was adorable, the yard was huge (with fluffy grass!) and the water was the perfect temperature.

I spent the week doing what I’ve been dreaming of doing for a year, reading and swimming.  I polished of 3 books and started 2 more.  There’s just nothing like getting into a good book.  The location also had the added benefit of limited/no cell service (forget about data), so it was a completely unintentional social media fast.

The second night we were there we had a family bocce ball tournament.  Red team vs. Green team.  The stakes?  $50 and the ability to use it to choose whatever type of desert you want for the family.  Unfortunately my team didn’t win, but fortunately for me the team that did had good taste in desert.  Root beer floats the first night, then ice cream sundaes later in the week.  So good!

On our second to last day my cousin Andrea and her family who live in Coeur de Alene came over to visit and brought their families boat.  We had been watching the boats out on the lake and practically drooling all week so it was exciting to finally get out on the water!  Tubing is one of my favorite water activities.  The more extreme maneuvers the better!

I could have stayed there forever, sitting by the lake shore and reading my day, and roasting marshmallows and stargazing at night.  While my time at home was super sweet it was also way to short.  We literally drove back to Seattle and I was at the airport to fly back to Alaska just a couple hours later.

I have no idea when my next vacation will be, but if it’s half as good as this one was then I’ll definitely be blessed.