Mom's Need Time Away

This past weekend the girls and I decided to go to Wisconsin and then the Mall of America in Minnesota. I have never been able to travel much so any time I can travel I am really excited. I went without my kids and it was really nice to get away from everything and just be myself for once.

We drove a lot on this trip. I mean a lot. On Sunday we drove all the way from 7am to 11:30pm. Yup, it was crazy. If I never have to sit in another car I would be happy. My butt still hurts and I feel jet lagged. For those of you that want to go on a road trip, just don't drive all day and every day. It becomes torture.

We decided to do this in a weekend so on Friday we drove to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to get our friend Jenna and we stayed the night out there. We decided to walk around the town and go out to a couple bars. I never go out to bars or drink so this was a lot of fun. We did it responsibly too so that was nice and we didn't get crazy. Just some girlfriends enjoying drinks and talking. It was nice to not talk to toddlers all day.

This is at the hotel when we first got there. This was the only pic we could all get together lol.

In front of the water way! It was super pretty!

Last but not least a rooftop bar. It was really cool up there. 

Two of us are moms so it was rough for both of us to be away from our little's but it was super fun to be able to go out. Ashley and I woke up super early the next morning, to the dismay of Jenna and Stephanie. Poor girls lol but it got us up and out the door to spend more time at the Mall of America. Its about 6ish hours from Milwaukee to Minnesota so we got there around lunch time. 

Mall of America is awesome! The first thing I thought was was that we need to take the kids here! We went to the Sea Life aquarium first because we all love sea life, especially Ashley. I think if we didn't go there Ashley would be super sad. My favorite part was the sea turtles and the big tunnels they had us walk through. 

I also loved the seahorses

We didn't decide to ride the roller coasters this time since we only had a couple hours to really spend at the mall but they looked like fun and next time we go there we are totally doing this all different so that we can have more time to ride the roller coasters. 

We ended up shopping a lot. It was cool to do and I ended up getting a really good deal on some shirts at H&M. Ashley bought me a shirt I was looking at. I was so taken back and thankful for it. She really is my best friend, and no not because she buys me stuff lol. We ended up eating at a restaurant called Dicks Last Resort where the waiters treat you really badly. It was very funny but I probably wouldn't go back there. It was a little too much for me but it was all in good fun and luckily I do not get offended easily. This trip was over way to quickly. I wish it would have slowed down a little. 

Sunday was the worst day though. It was us stuck in the car for hours with nothing to do and we all didn't want to stop much because we all wanted to get home quickly. My legs and butt still hurt. Seriously, I am not getting into a car unless I have to.

So that was a little bit about my trip, now let me tell you why every mom needs to take a trip like this. 

Yes, I was selfish for one weekend. I know what a lot of people would never leave anywhere without their kids for a weekend. I never thought I would be able to leave my kids for days at a time being so little. It was hard and I talked about them constantly. I am sure my friends got annoyed at how much I talked about them. It was needed and I think every mom needs to take at least one weekend (if not more) away from their kids to keep their sanity.

It was really rough for me to make the decision to go on this trip. For one I never do anything for just myself and this would be 100% selfish. I never want to be selfish or take anything away from my kiddos. With that is point two, it costs a lot of money to travel and get away. We are trying to get financially free and I felt so bad taking hundreds of dollars away from my family. We really need that money and I felt completely selfish doing it. We completed Step 1 to financial peace university by Dave Ramsey and we had to reduce the amount of savings so that I could go do this.

So, even though I felt bad and felt selfish I needed this. Moms spend all day taking care of others and we hardly ever take care of ourselves. I cant remember the last time I went shopping for myself and bought a new wardrobe. I always buy things for my kids but never myself unless I really need it. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself, let alone shower. I needed some time to myself some time to be Jessica not mom.

Moms, you DESERVE this. Plus the best part of the trip was coming home and seeing my kids. I had to wait until the morning to see them but they were so happy and excited to see me. I got to give them some souvenirs I got for them and when I came home they bought me a rose. My husband is more appreciate to what I do every day with the kids because he had to live with it. Yeah, it was only a couple days and probably didn't get the full experience of having kids but it was enough. It was nice coming to a clean house and an appreciative husband. It helped renew me and now I feel like I can be a better mom.


Peace and Love,