Landing from Travel

I always forget how challenging it can be to get back to our routine when we return from our travel. Please do remind me next time when we head out of town? 

Well, I am half-joking. We are getting back to our rhythm of fall season since we came home from Germany two weeks ago. I was fully aware that fall season is one of the fullest on the plate for our family so we made a conscientious choice in making sure that the landing on our routine was gentle. And in many ways, it has been. We love some of the scheduling changes we incorporated starting this fall and kids got through their jetlag in a way so much easier than it used to be. A gentle note to parents with littles. Things DO get easier when kids get older!! Girls do wake up in the middle of the night or incredibly early morning (like 3 am) and they can manage not to power into our room waking all of us up. If Satchi is awake, she would be reading her favorite Titin books in her bunk bed and if they are both up, they are playing some games with their stuffed animals together. Our family guideline for jetlag is that we stay rested (even though we are awake) until the sun comes up! 

Aside from managing family jetlags, what I have realized from our personal travel experiences is that coming back home is just as much of the travel experience. When we frame our travel schedule this way, it makes sense to allow for time to connect with home and with each other upon our return instead of simply resuming with our routines. I am still learning about this and it's work in progress because my tendency is to jump back into our regular routine only to find myself exhausted at the end of the first week back. Our bodies and minds work in a mysterious way and any change in one affect another. 

For now, I will share some of the snapshots from the last two weeks since we returned. We have been back to our learning routine including classes the girls are taking. Satchi added soccer and Coco added swim to their interests for the season. Inspired by how much kids enjoyed working on painting and art in Germany with Frido's mom, we are setting up the art station as much as we can when we are at home. Also, our weekly hike is up and running. 

I hope your autumn is greeting you gently.