What do you mean, "Back to work"?

So, we're not dead, we've just been gone almost all summer. The kids and I left Tallahassee on July 9 and were gone completely from home until July 31. We spent time all over the state of Arkansas and even spent a week in Aspen, CO with my parents. Then we took a shorter trip to our favorite place, Destin, FL with MK and Scott and my mom. There are a few things I learned from the longer trip. (1) I miss Arkansas and all of our friends and family. (2) 8 days is too long to spend in Colorado with 2 small children. While the weather was magnificent as well as the scenery, there wasn't enough that the kids could do because of their youth and size. Maybe a few years from now will be better. (3) 22 days is entirely too long to be gone from my husband, kitties, and home. I doubt our trip next summer will be as extensive. And some of you people are going to have to drive to see us next year! But Andy did get an incredible amount of work done around the house with us gone with the help of his dad. Our house is magnificent! My husband is a magician. And he now absolutely ABHORS wallpaper. Our next home will either not contain wallpaper or we will LOVE IT. We have renovated bathrooms, kitchen sink, and painted bedrooms complete with princess border for E. It all looks amazing.
The trip to Destin was a fantastic cap to our summer of travel. It was a close trip so the drive wasn't horrible for us or the kids. Mom came with us to act as "au pair" for the 4 days we were there. She loved it, we loved and the kids loved it. I'm not sure if there was a downside for any of us. Mom got some R&R and got full solo access to the grandkiddos. We had a great time with Scott and MK as well.
I'll post pics of the house and trips later. For now, it's back to work for me and back to school for E and J. Emma went to school Friday and was sent home from school today with a cold and fever. Typical. Happy working.