I love my Kids!

I woke up with a desire to go to the park on our bikes. It took a little effort to fish my bike out of our shed, and to get all of the tires pumped up but we did it!!
Its funny how each year the park brings new possibilities. We realize we have grown about taller, a bit stronger, a bit wiser maybe:) And as the Mama it is so fun to watch. It is so fun to watch your kids grow! And can I just add that if the giggles one hears when they spin their children on a tire swing could be bottled we would make millions.

In first grade you have learned to pump real good. You also like your hair to blow free in the wind. I watch you try to keep up with your brother and you can beat him sometimes. I pray that you never lose your vigor little one:) Someone called your big brother smart at the park today and he said yeah my Grace is smart too....you backed him up with a math fact...100 + 100 is 200. Yep I'd say you're pretty smart too.

You have learned this year that you can be the ultimate encourager to your little sis. I love watching you two together! You are also so strong I watched you cross the monkey bars with ease this morning this morning. I also watched you lead your sister in formulating a plan on how to contact each other from across the park. You are an amazing little man.

And even though you don't like to have your picture taken, you are the handsomest little man I know!


Thanks for being over excited to go to the park with me this morning guys.....you made my day.

Guess who's 1?

How did he go from this....



To this?


Oh man Joshy us 4 Jagers love you so much...we are so glad that your Mommy is a good sharer.

Happy First Birthday little buddy!

Oh and we got him the Darth Vader shirt I mean he's one now:)

TRL Ski to Sea style.

Our Ski to Sea team is currently looking for a canoe and kayak to borrow or rent. Anyone have one or no of someone who is willing to share?

The spring after Grace was born I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was terrifying for me because my Mother had received the same diagnosis in her 20's and I had spent most of my life watching her suffer through it and more recently deal with the effects of being on those meds for so long. The first year was hard. I spent much of the time ticked off and the rest of the time in pain. I read books and books and more books on the topic, talked to people that "knew" what to tell me:) And then one day I picked up a book that was probably taboo to some. It said Rheumatoid Arthritis does not have to define who you are. The book was completely based on treating this disease with diet and exercise, so I got on the band wagon. We stopped eating packaged food, we ate whole food and quit eating out excessively. I started exercising everyday with the kids. We would bike with them in the trailer or walk or run with them in the stroller everyday. I found that running could also dual as therapy. Each mile pounded out a bit of stress and after about 2 years, my rheumatoid went into remission and it only bothers me from time to time. In these times I can just beef up on anti-inflammatory foods and throw in some extra exercise or movement and I can make it go away. Someday it will probably come back with a vengeance...but maybe not and so I live it out pretending its not there. I see a rheumatoligist still yearly and they talk to me about drugs and blah blah blah and I say no pain, no need. I know this route wouldn't work for everyone but it has worked for me and so I continue.

About the time my arthritis went dormant I started to experience some other health problems, I say this is when my body in general got mad. First it was migraines, then it was my hip (stress fracture and separated muscles)from running without muscles, then it was a hysterectomy(form other complications all together). At this point my body gave up and I gave up because well pain in these ways was to much and once I was all healed up being re-injured was terrifying. So I walked a bit, but I really just wanted to run. And not just a mile or two. Nope I wanted to run mile after mile. I wanted to feel the release of the stress again. But mostly I hate being told no and I couldn't believe at the ripe age of 28 I was going to be held at never running again.

So I formulated a plan and I prayed that God would give me the discipline to listen to my body if it started shouting no at me again. So last spring I signed myself for bootcamp with the lovely and oh so amazing butt kicker Amy Demeyer. I knew if I wanted to run again I would need to develop muscle memory and muscles in general. The reason I was injured initially was from lack of muscle build, essentially zero core strength. So i did it and it was painful in a good way this time and challenging, and I found a new love. Bootcamp has made me feel strong and capable and well the bikini benefits aren't bad either....I'm not going to lie. But the main reason I got started was so that I could run again. And so now I do both I go to bootcamp twice a week at 6am and I run at least 3 times a week. And its not to be thin its to be sane and to feel good about myself. Actually in the year I have been doing bootcamp I have only lost 2 lbs and I can tell you where they left from;) Running is way cheaper than therapy- much like blogging- and it has become a hobby something I enjoy doing.

And so by late summer last year I dropped boot camp for 6 weeks and ran about 4-6 miles every other day. And believe it or not I was not only fast but I had no pain. So I ran up until it got to cold and I took the winter off and went back to bootcamp 3 days week. About 2 months ago I started running ago and just this past Tuesday I ran just under 8 miles for the first time in 4 years. And guess what no pain other than wow I just ran 8 miles pain:) And even better yet I can do it in just about an hour. Take that nearly 30 year old body. I took it slow I listened to my body I prayed a lot and I can do it.

I couldn't be more thrilled.

Our friends formed a Ski to Sea team and I am doing the running leg and I couldn't be more excited to compete again. May have to pick up a running buddy for some other races through the summer. Anyone want to go? Kris I know you are in right?

I am just so amazed I had to share! I didn't think I would ever be able to do it again.

Happy Birthday Grandma.

Today was Grandma's 81st birthday and think we celebrated the best way we could with a girls trip to Molbaks. Grandma actually managed to have 4 parties today which is pretty amazing I think her first one was at 6:30am and her last one was at 5:30pm...I wish I had her energy:) We had a vanfull with the Moml, Kristin, aunt Karen, Ellen, Grandma and Myself. We met Grandmas other sister Sarah at Molbaks with her daughter Laura. Boy was it fun to sit and watch these three sisters chat and reminisce and love each other. They are three of the sweetest I know of!


And look how cooperative they were with taking a photo.....:(

I told Kristin that was going to be us someday....I hope that we will be as sweet and beautiful!


Who doesn't love a ladies lunch? Especially when it includes salmon pizza, hummus plates and fruit platters I mean come on people....Oh and cookies!




Me and the Kritter. One of my favorite sisters. I have five you know:)


Two of my favorite people in this whole wide world. I hope that Beejer and I can be such a great example of love when we are 81 and have been married for 61 years. You are role models to us and have created a legacy to be much proud of. God has and continues to be good and it shows!

Once again I was reminded of the great gift I have been given in this family I have married into. They accept me and love me just as if I was born into their flock. I love every minute of it.

Happy Birthday Grandma....I am so glad you let us all be a part of your day. I will spend an afternoon at the nursery with you anytime! You are an amazing woman, one I feel more than privileged to know and love. 81 years young!!

Ebenezer Family Fun!

Family Fun Night was on Friday night at our school. I can tell you time and time again that Ebenezer can be the happiest little place on the whole face of the earth sometimes. I heart Ebenezer! In fact our whole little family hearts Ebenezer. Brian was up to his eyeballs in cotton candy machine and I ran the cancer coated popcorn machine:) Our kids ran around, ate to much sugar, played games and thoroughly enjoyed their friends and their school.

I was able to snatch some photos of Grace but Elliot was very hard to find most of the night. To much fun to be had!
We were able to have some family pics taken in the photo booth though so hopefully I will be able to share those with you soon.

Hey look Graces eyes disappear just like mine when she smiles real big now:)


Thats her bestie Madison. Those girls are chewable cute!

A Childs Heart!

My son continues to amaze me with his prayers, he has been a faithful prayer from the time he could put two words together. Speaking with inflection and dramatic effect, emotion beyond compare. He seems to always know the words to say. And he can bring this Mama to her knees with his ability to process and come to the Father in this way.

In 3rd grade this year they have been faithfully praying as a class for two kids their age that are dealing with very serious cancer diagnosis. It has been an interesting learning curve as at home we are dealing with many questions and thoughts that relate to the subject. At times I have wanted to yell or shout because I hate that this reality is a reality for children my children's age. I hate that my son is exposed to this in some ways but feel beyond blessed by it in others.

Recently one of the children they were praying for passed away. Of course I didn't hear about until bedtime when we debrief our day and talk about heavy hearts, hopes and dreams. My son got it out in tears and the conversation that came with it was one I struggled through. I think it was very real for my little man and it was beautiful thing to be able to witness his heart in this very sad outcome. We discussed heaven and what we believe to be truth after this life here on earth. We discussed Jesus and the hope we have in Him. And we discussed our family and previous and future things to come. It was good if it can be described as such. I encouraged Elliot to not see it as a sad thing but a time to rejoice that Garret was in heaven, and I questioned him with what he wanted for himself. The conversation ended well, and I would be lying if I didn't say I hugged my kids a little tighter that night. We are blessed with good health.

However the next morning was when it was put to rest. We pray every morning on the way to school. I have been encouraging the kids to search beyond themselves in this time in the mornings. To really think of others and who and what they will encounter. Elliot hit a home run for me Thursday morning and this is what he said, " Dear heavenly father please be with Garrets family today as they have suffered a great loss. And God thank you that Garret is in heaven and no longer feels pain....how amazed he must be to be able to sit on Jesus lap and see the beauty of heaven. Thank you that I will go there too someday." Yep and it took all I had within me to not pull over that car and weep. Kids praying for other kids like that...Oh mercy!

If you don't pray with your kids on a regular basis, I challenge you to do so. It is a beautiful thing to experience. God uses it time and time again to not only bless me but to teach me.

Just in case you miss them.

I realized I hadn't posted a pic of my two main peanuts lately.

They had Spirit Week this week and Monday was inside out backwards day. They were both concerned about have backwards pants on for obvious reasons so they opted for just inside out on the bottom. Today is Ebenezer Day and will end with a family fun night and spaghetti feed....we are all very excited.



The looks on their faces really describe them lately. Elliot is always trying to make us laugh and Grace pretty much idolizes her big brother....she is just over the moon for him. I love it!

Being a mom to these two is a dream. Although they each have their own challenges, I am beginning to see glimmers of what God is creating them to be. This is the fruit:) I am beyond blessed to be The Mama!

The season has begun.

I'm back at menu planning again today. I love the beginning of the season....it is also intimidating as all get out. Cooking for people a second time creeps me out. Repeat customers are definitely what you look for, however what if it isn't as good the second time.

So heres what I got today....

Appetizers
bleu cheese stuffed bacon wrapped dates
radish w/ lemon creme fraiche and tobiko

Starter Courses
Layered Crab Salad- this has avocado, ginger, red onion, cucumber and lots of other goodies....served molded from a ring.
Cold miso soup.....w/ radish and yumminess

Main
My famous salmon served with warm orzo salad with mint and feta and garnished with cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes lightly drizzled with a balsamic reduction.

Dessert
Vanilla Pana Cotta with a rhubarb compote.

Sounds good right????

I will be back tomorrow with something more stimulating, I promise!

By the way this client in particular requested I bring my husband along with me...apparently she liked him last time. Those darn dimples;)

Here Goes...

Sunday marked one year since my Dad passed away. It was a hard day for me in a lot of respects. The last few months my grief switched from sadness, to being extremely ticked off, and most recently a lot of the anger has subsided at its easier to just remember the good stuff. The anger has switched to just feeling sad that he missed so much, that his choices led to him not being able to follow his own dreams.

On vacation I thought so much about one of the last things we talked about was his desire to go to Hawaii. In fact he still thought he was going to heal up and go there just weeks before he passed. It ticks me off that he never got the opportunity to do so. I thought while I was on vacation about how much he would have loved it there. I wished he would have been able to see more of the world. I wished he was still here and I could have shared with him all that I had seen.

The years before he died were full of unfortunate encounters between the two of us. It led to me having to cut contact with him completely. It was so hard but It was what I had to do. This caused him to lash out at me in very painful ways. Usually with words that are stil hard to shake sometimes. But I know now it all stemmed from his own hurt. I know he loved me in his own way. I just wish this could of been resolved before it was to late.

Its hard to be a woman and make your own decisions and to live with all of the repercussions even if the decisions were made out of pure intentions. Its hard to make decisions that affect more than just you in a negative way. Its hard to be sorting through emotion and feeling and questions on your own, its confusing really, especially when the other person is no longer here to sort it out with.

When I was unpacking my sisters closet when she moved into her new house recently I found that she had salvaged all of my dads fishing sweatshirts(my dad was a commercial fisherman). When I picture my Dad I picture him in a fishing sweatshirt with a hat on and a pair of jeans:) He would get a new sweatshirt each fishing season marked with the harbor name they docked in. As I unpacked them I cried in her little closet and I mourned a loss I hadn't quite realized I had experienced. You see when you cut yourself off from someone its is assumed that you will feel no sadness. That you no longer feel a connection. And I can say that I allowed myself to be put in a bracket of not caring about what had happened in order to appear strong to those who needed me. The truth is I lost something a long time before he passed away and I hadn't mourned properly then, so I suppose I am just doing that a bit now.

That happy part is that God has given me the ability to separate the good from the bad. The fact that I can miss the good now is progress made to a healed heart. I couldn't do that before.

And it comes to a close:(

The last day was bittersweet. I missed my kids...the day before I cried on the way to our hike. I missed them so much my heart ached. But the other part of me....the part of me who had to worry about church, a meeting unprepared for, lesson plans that needed to be written....the responsible part of me wanted to stay in Costa Rica for a bit longer. We left with commitments to ourselves, to each other and to our little family. We spoke truthfully of what we wanted and what we didn't like. We set goals for the years to come and the more immediate future. We talked of love and heartache. It was a big day that last day. But it was fabulous and fulfilling and full of everything it needed to be full of. I was reassured more than once of how much I love God and his amazing GRACE for me. I was reassured that I can start anew anytime I need to as long as I have Jesus in my heart and hope in my step and so we moved forth. Relaxation...Bliss. Peacefulness is something I am trying to keep in my survival kit now. Something I can just whip out of my back pocket anytime I need. This was at the Hacienda where we went zip lining. Our last meal at Kon Tiki. My favorite place to sit and eat while were gone. Fresh Tuna seared to perfection with a sesame soy reduction(yum) with ratatouille and rice. Bananas Flambay......lots of buttery limey goodness inthat sauce with just a dash or two of the best rum you can find. I die:) By the way this is the recipe I bartered for. These two run Kon Tiki. They also became our friends over the time we spent there. They have the cutest little girl named June who speaks Spanish, English and French in her two year old tongue, it was the sweetest thing. They are also expecting another little girl in June. Their food was to die for it made me swoon, it takes a lot food wise to make me swoon. I learned as much as I enjoyed my meals. And what we knew was.....we didn't want to bring anyone home with us. So out with the bad. Thanks for reading. This trip was something I will remember forever. I truly soaked up every moment of it. I felt truly blessed to have been able to take the time and just go for it. I felt truly blessed that we had set the goal of taking it ten years ago and were blessed with the ability to do so! And to my vacation mate. I love you babe!! Vacation with you was a dream!!

Hike of all hikes and visitors.

I promised some pics from our hike today. So thats what you all will be getting. First I should tell you our friends Bob and Claudia were able to come stay with us for a couple of nights, they live in Nicaragua and it is a couple hour trip from there home to where we were staying so we suggested they come for a visit. I am so glad they came we had a blast with them! Since they had a car we decided to drive up into the mountains a bit a go for a hike to a dried up water fall. It may sound kind of boring to hike back to a dried up waterfall I mean it does seem a bit anticlimactic. The hike however was beautiful and it showed us a little bit more of what Costa Rica had to offer for us. It was a 6km hike which is about 3miles on a rocky river bed. There were some "splash pools" but the water was pretty stagnant and I am sure that splashing into them isn't advisable so we just checked out the contents of them from the edges and kept walking. It was really cool to see what the bottom of a river looks like. Thats Claudia down there. We saw no other humans on our hike. We did see lots of these little guys though. There were hundreds of tiny frogs all over the rocks we were on. They were so cute. I had to catch one so we could show Elliot, he is known as the frog whisperer around these parts. Heres Claudia and I at the base of the waterfall. Funny story....we had found these tiny white orchid looking flowers laying all over the ground on our walk and being girls we decided to accessorize our hair, they smelled fabulous. All was fine until we stopped at the bottom of the waterfall. We were soon attacked my giant bees who thought they smelled great as well. We ditched the flowers rather quickly:) SO the boys decided to scale the waterfall. Much to us girls dismay. We were pretty quiet about our disdain. However I will tell you I was thinking about the strong potential they each had for falling and causing serious damage to their bodies. And I am not being dramatic Brian told me half way up he realized the error in his thinking. We were no where near medical attention. We had no way to communicate with any one, and none of us could have hauled them out of where we were. Alls well that ends well I suppose. Brian and I have gone over our don't get dead policy in length since then. The funniest part or I guess it is funny now is once they got up they couldn't go down the same way:) So they had to wade down through waste deep leaves and branches, which is where the snakes and scorpions hide. The worst that happened was Brian got a huge gash on his calf and burn on his knee. We are thankful for Gods protection again I 'm not being dramatic. This monkey was just hanging out on our way back down the mountain. Brian was able to get super close without irritating her. Claudia and I made a feast for the boys. She taught me how to make plantains two ways(forever grateful). We aslo made sailfish. We weren't big fans. It was chewy and thats how it was supposed to be. The rest of our meal was fantabulous though and the company even better. So thats what I will leave you with for today. I think I have two more days of posts to wrap up the dreaminess of our trip. I also took some video so I am going to try to upload those somewhere. Than you can see me flying across the treetops:)

Living On Costa Rica Time.

A couple of days in I mentioned to Brian that Costa Rican time was different. He replied same clock different mindset. I thought this was the perfect way to sum it up:) I made breakfast most every morning at the house. We ate out on the balcony outside of our room. We became iguana counters, and trackers it was quite funny. Breakfast was most often rice and beans with tons of fresh fruit and avocados. Usually fresh fruit smoothie, local coffee and oh yeah mango jam made in Costa Rica that was out of this world. We woke up most mornings by 530. It was hard to sleep any longer since bedtime was between 8 and 9 every night:) Oh the treasures I stored up in sleep alone on this trip are immeasurable. I blogged out there. Read books out there it was a dreamy spot. By 5:30 it was already close to 80 degrees outside. Okay so before I share anymore pics I will tell you I have a tattoo on my right side. It is two cherry blossoms that intersect to make the shape of a cross. Cherry Blossoms are the sign of new life in the asian culture and that is what the symbol of the cross means to me as well. Even having it on my side means something else to me but I am not ashamed of it. I hope none of you find it offensive. I do not plan on getting anymore, But i truly love the one I have, it means a lot to me. This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. There was a tiny fishing village down the beach about five minutes. We watched them bring in the catch many evenings. It was always a family affair as their kids would be running about and dogs galore. It was fun to watch. I found this little guy hiding in my bathing suits one morning. Bob and Brian came to my rescue and caught the little devil. Then we took photos of him and promptly killed him. Brian braved the waves while Bob was here. It was fun to watch him. Those waves were super intimidating...so much force. This beach was named after the wave there, Little Hawaii. There was a river that fed into the ocean there after making a stop in a lagoon. It was breathtaking. One of my favorite pictures of the Beejer fromt he whole vacation. There were two guys that had an old oil container filed with ice water and coconuts. One guy carried the jug the other carried a machete. The guy with the machete would make a tiny hole in the top and insert a straw. BAM! This is my buddy spike. He joined us for breakfast everyday. He was huge and the only male on the property as far as we saw. Iguanas are quite territorial. No one was going to encroach on his ladies. And since nothing can compete with Spike I leave off here today. Tomorrow I will share some photos from one of my favorite adventures that we took. A hike into the jungle and share a story of my husband and Bob deciding to climb a waterfall and not knowing how to get back down. Now I've got you hooked. See you tomorrow!!

A Vacation I will Remember Forever.

We are home. We hit the ground running back into real life Sunday and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. Our Costa Rican vacation was truly the greatest vacation I have ever been on. There were no mishaps, wish we could'ves or disappointments. Its was truly relaxing and enjoyable...every moment. I am truly grateful that my husband is not only that but he is also my best friend. He can make me laugh and laugh and he can make me smile. He is the greatest when it comes to just going with the flow. When we described our time to one of our buddies they replied sounds like true Jager fashion. And there is no other way to describe our time. Although we like to run around around like chickens with our heads cut off a lot of the time...we are actually truly laid back individuals we enjoy taking things as they come not worrying to much about the day ahead and focussing on the moments in front of us. This vacation was a great reminder of how we truly love to be. I didn't realize until I was on vacation how much I truly needed one. I can truly say I was more than a little burnt out in a lot of different areas. Didn't take more than 2 days to realize this. I spent much time in Costa Rica in prayer. Prayers of thanks and pleas for remembering how nice peacefulness feels. Busyness can become a severe burden, a burden much of the time of my own doing. But on to the good stuff. For ten days I lived in my bikini, I packed way more than I needed. Next time and yes there will most definitely be a next time, we will take one bag. I didn't wear make up for ten days:) I laid in the sun with my baby everyday and we talked about all the good stuff, shared lots of kisses, and marveled in the wonder of Gods creation. We saw 1 scorpion, had a close encounter with a lethal and aggressive snake, counted endless amounts of monkeys and iguanas, had innumerable geckos for roommates, lots of different birds, and plenty of other creatures. We lived on the sweet wonder of incredibly fresh fruit and vegetables. Avocados that spread on toast like butter, fruit you could smell through its skin and fish fresh from the sea. My tastebuds are lonely now:) We decided not to rent a car so we walked absolutely everywhere. The town we stayed in was incredibly rural. No cash machine, no real grocery to speak of, and no paved roads. It was awesome actually. We were never in a hurry to get anywhere and we shared lots of good conversation on the road. I am also quite sure we wouldn't have seen as much wildlife as we did if we had had a car. It was fun. It made us feel young, and carefree. We went zip lining, and on a SUP adventure. Both were super fun. We also went on a 6km hike each way to a dried up waterfall(40 M high). It was beautiful!! So onto the pictures. It may take a few days to share what I would like to. Its just the way it has to be. This was our first day. We were at the only little soda that served "mexican food." Yep no tacos to be had in Costa Rica. What they had was much better. All of the food was fresh and lovely and perfectly seasoned. Also Tikos (Costa Ricans) do not like spicy food so nothing is in the least bit spicy. Even the salsa is more like a fresh salad. It was lovely...the food. This was also after we realized the decent tiny market was about 45 minutes one way from our house:) WE saw lots of monkeys..all of the howler variety. Their bark is worse than their bite. They move very slowly because of their slow moving digestive system so God gave them a lions growl to ward off predators. You can hear their growls from very far off distances. We have heard the worst they will do is poop on you if you get to close. They were so cute and their babies were so sweet. Amazing creatures! The trees were also amazing I am not sure what this one was called but I just loved the green lines that an up the sides as a sign of life that was waiting for the rainy season. The flowers in our neighborhood were fluorescent in color. Julie you will have to tell me if this is a decent attempt at macro or not:) It hought of you when I took it. This was our view for breakfast the second day we were there. The restaurant really looked like something out of movie or something. Smack in the middle of the beach sat a palm hut with a restaurant under it. It was gorgeous. And this is who joined us for breakfast. Meet the Tiko version of a blue jay. They were everywhere. And they were not shy I saw a lady donate an entire plantain pancake to one and he took it right out of her hand. Oh plantains......they were part of our diet in a big way. And they were one of the things i learned how to make properly while I was there. Bobs(Brians friend from Calvin) wife Claudia(a Nicaraguan native, she was born there and that is where they live) taught me how to make them authentically two different ways. This was a typical road in Playa Negra....now you can see why we didn't mind walking everywhere. It was breathtaking. This was lunch Day 2. This may look like nothing special. I must tell you the flavor in this dish was nothing short of amazing. This meal was a start of a long lasting love affair with the restaurant where we ate it. We ate there often and lingered in every course. I had dessert at lunch and dinner every time. They made one thing for each meal, there was no menu. The place was actually a surf hostel and so we got to make some friends there as well that ate there daily as part of there room and board. Lunch was 5 dollars and Dinner was ten. Dessert was 2 dollars...and was made fresh and delicious and often on the fly. I was in food heaven. The owners were french (Pascal and Camille) and had moved to Costa Rica from St. Barts about 18 months ago. They became friends to us quickly and I traded pool time(Camille is 8 months pregnant) for cooking lessons. I am now a master of the most delicious rendition of banana flambé that I have ever had in my life. Iguanas everywhere. The beaches were amazing, clean, water as blue as blue can be. We spent a lot of time there. We learned about sunburns from the sun at the location so close to the equator on day 2 the hard way:( From there on out we were serious about the sunblock. At Sunset the beach would become alive with the movement of these little guys. In numbers beyond my ability to count. You will get plenty of pictures of sunset from me. I love the sunset. I love that the sun sets here just liek it does in Costa Rica. I love the promise that comes with the sun setting, that it will rise again in the morning. The understanding that when the sun sets it marks the ending of one day and leaves you with hope and anticipation for the the next. Yep I love the sunset! Okay well that is about it for today. I'll come back tomorrow with some more. One last one of the two of us for the road. I can tell you I think I appreciated this vacation way more than I would have 10 years ago. And the husband says we won't be waiting 10 more for another. WINNING!