First Family Trip Back To Our Hometown
We initially planned this trip because my partner’s family was having their summer reunion in Okoboji, Iowa. It’s a long journey from The Netherlands so we figured to make the cost of flights and all the travel effort more worthwhile, that we should stay for 2 weeks. This gave us more time to see my family, our friends, still work during (no PTO when you’re self employed haha) and for me to host some events at my clothing store.
Going back to my hometown is admittedly very overwhelming. There’s always so many people to try to see, things to do, and tasks at my store that pile up now that I’m abroad. We even brought my dog (Peaches) on the international flight. She did great on the travels but when we left her at my mom’s to go to Okoboji, she got very anxious that we left her. She refused to eat, got really dehydrated and was hiding under the bed for days. My mom took her to the vet and emergency vet… so that was an unexpected $600 bill. I also totally had a mental stress breakdown when we were at the zoo because I was SO tired. There’s a 7 hour time change so Hayes’ sleep schedule was so messed up. Most mornings he was waking up around 2-3am because that is 9-10am Haarlem time. As the breastfeeding mom, most of this fell on me. Trying to regulate him, myself and make it to all the commitments around town… made for some very long days. By day 12, we were at the zoo with Clay’s family and I was so behind on client work, it was extremely hot and Hayes was just over it… I just finally snapped and started crying because I was feeling the compilation of being pulled in too many directions.
However, it’s always worth the stress because it’s really important for us to maintain these relationships. Getting to see our families bond with Hayes is so special. He got to meet his cousins, great grandparents, aunts and uncles. I was able to celebrate my sister’s birthday with her over breakfast, a museum date, and coffee shop hang out. I also went to a gathering at one of my best friend’s houses for her annual cat’s birthday (yes Banjo is a very special boy).
I put in a lot of love, effort and intention at my secondhand shop as well. I hosted a staff bonding gathering. It’s always super nice to get to spend time getting to know the girls better. I also had an experimental pop up of baby + kid’s clothes, which went so well that I decided to make a dedicated section and we will be stocking those items on a recurring basis now. We had a sidewalk pop up and I made numerous interior upgrades to the physical space and our systems.
I’ve now been back in Haarlem for two weeks settling back into routine. It’s taken me so long for my mind, body and spirit to recalibrate but all in all, it was a good trip. I’m thankful to have so many people we love and care about that are excited to see us too!