I’m back into the swing of day jobbery–and I’m not quite ready to be there. My family vacation was wonderfully relaxing, even if the weather was somewhat disappointing. It only rained for half a day, but a few days were quite blustery and overcast and cool. But we all made the best of it, went to the beach anyway, and went to Dairy Queen more times than was probably healthy (but those mini Blizzards are so damn tasty!).

Sauble Beach (on Lake Huron) is known for its sunsets, and we were treated to some gorgeous ones–when it wasn’t cloudy that is.

Madeleine (no, “it’s MADDY!” as she would say) had a blast below:

And then there was Claire, picking stones and collecting them to take home of course:

When the weather was poor, we took off into town for ice cream… and  shopping of course. Charlotte is all about shopping–just like her mother–and decided it would be fun to try on every single pair of sunglasses she could find. Charlie is a fashionista already:

And then there was my wife and I…running around and trying to read and relax when we could. We even found time to take a quick pic:

Her parents came up with us as well, which was fun. They were also a great help with the kids too, and even watched them on occasion so we could take off into town or go for a drive. I got a bit of reading in, ate way too much, drank even more, and gained a few pounds…but isn’t that what vacation is for?

I even wrote a new chapter on the current WIP while there.

I came back relaxed and ready to charge ahead to an encroaching deadline.

Though I already can’t wait to go back to the cottage next year.

Sun and fun. Can’t go wrong.

And as for being unplugged? I did a pretty good job. No tweeting or Facebook. Though I admit I did peek once or twice. And I did check email at one point… But all in all, it was a rather nice break from the internet. I’ll definitely unplug again.

Here we are and it’s Thursday already. Wow, the week is going by fast. It helps, mind you, that I’ve been able to somewhat stay in touch with the world, friends, and whatnot by wifi hotspots on the resort. It’s been fun.

Weather has been fantastic. Besides a spot of rain yesterday it’s been around 28-30C every day and sunny with a touch of cloud. Today, no clouds at all which is doing wonders for sweating out the excess water weight and um, cerveza.

Here are a couple pics of the pool and my view during breakfast.

Punta Cana - Breakfast View

Punta Cana - Pool

Full update when I get back to reality Monday night.

Adios.

Right. So I’m trying to type this update from my Blackberry while I sit in a darkened hotel room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The kids are finally asleep, wife is having a shower, and I’m sitting on the bed listening to the wave machine do its thing in tandem with the air conditioner. Ah, A/C. I almost forgot how pleasant it is. I sure don’t mind the transition from -30C to 24C. And it should be up to 30C within the next few days.

Anyways, we stayed over in Buffalo last night so we could get to the airport quickly and not worry about being held up at the border when we have a flight to catch. Up at 4am and then off to the airport. We would have been there with lots of time to spare but the elevator in the crappy Best Western decided to stop working, so I had to carry all of our luggage down the stairs. Luckily the 4th floor room we were supposed to be in hadn’t be cleaned (beer bottles everywhere, sheets all over the room, no syringes though), so we were actually on the 2nd floor. But still.

The rest of the day went well, with all flights on time and everyone in great spirits.

Tomorrow it’s off to a cruise ship and then a week long voyage of sun and booze and sandcastles, with stops in Key West, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. Then it’s one more night at this very hotel–which is much better than the Best Western–, and then home and reality.

Time to get some sleep as it will be another busy day tomorrow.

And just to note: you can always follow along via Twitter and Facebook (links on the right side bar).