Getting ready to leave…

Linden will be finishing her last day at West middle school today! Same for Asher – his last day at Cherry Hills Village Elementary School. Boy am I going to miss the wonderful morning walks to school with Asher, and missing Winter on every single walk too!! Cherishing the wonderful education that both of my children have had at Cherry Creek school district this far! Cherishing Neighborhood friends and dogs and peace and nature and beauty that we have found in and near home. Grateful for so much! Anxious and excited for what comes next!

Cris Journal Day 1

3/17/22

30 min ‘til we start descent to Honolulu, Oahu! First leg of sabbatical with the kids and I would not be more excited!

It only took us about 2 weeks to get organized! Which did include A LOT- not only play—skiing (cirque twice… seriously), scuba pool time (omg I forgot everything for December sessions for our first part of scuba certification), happy hours with our closest friends including even an open house and time with Mia and Larry prior to them leaving for Laguna Woods, California. Precious time with grandma DeAnne after Patagonia, ACLS zoom recertification with Dr. Gilmore even! Then to mention the nitty gritty pre travel stuff- we filled out withdrawal forms for the children from CHVE and West, We created a family travel blog with our own “domain” even (ballonoffsabbatical.com), We created a travel list and then revised to the perfection Generation 4 (or 5) version, We ordered up the kazoo from amazon, rei (4 visits- I think) and met with Michelle and Brian to go through the Luna/ Chenango job description! And how could I ever forget- We loved and adored and comforted our Luna. She knows something big is coming up!!! We cried too! God we miss our beloved Winter. It is really hard to believe she has passed and it has been a couple months already!

Okay- time to stow away the computer- we are getting ready for 5 nights of Pearl harbor Museums and swim in Hawaii!!!! Shout out to my most amazing partner and best friend- Ari! Could NOT even imagine doing this without him. Also a shout out to two amazingly brave and adventurous kids. Asher and Linden have been “all hands on deck” all week! Here’s to sabbatical- a family that travels (the world) together, Stays together!!!!

Xox Cris