This spring is my final time of having both my girls home full-time. Once fall rolls around, my oldest will start her first year as a college student and my youngest will start the high school odyssey that progresses into her being gone more than home.

I spent months kicking around the idea of taking advantage of the girls’ tandem time off and planning a family trip. Our last full family trip was in 2011 when we went to a working family ranch in Georgia. It’s been too long and I hate the idea of missing this chance.

I pulled the trigger at pretty much the last minute to book a property where we can stay.I don’t know if it’s fair to call procrastination “spontaneity”, but I’ll go with it to maintain that positive spin in 2017 thing I’m trying. I honestly just wish money grew on trees; it would make decisions so much easier. But, thanks to the side hustle and some opportunities to complete discrete tasks at my full-time employer for extra compensation, I feel pretty comfortable jumping into the spring break pool without fearing drowning.

We made the decision long ago that when we travel as a family for more than a weekend away, we will not stay in a hotel. I was late to the vrbo.com party, but once we used the service, we knew we had found an answer to the never-ending “where should we stay” question. Owners sharing their vacation rentals for short-term stays make perfect sense and this site lets you browse, daydream, and even save properties you’re interested in so you can refer back later. You can easily narrow down thousands of listings by entering your search criteria and then compare your findings. We settled on a condo in a high-rise, on-the-beach property this year rather than the standalone townhouse condo on a cul-de-sac from our last Florida trip in 2015.

As the days between now and when we leave are crossed from the calendar, I realize I need to be making plans and lists and organizing our packing, but most of those tasks remain undone. Eeks.

I decided if I treated this vacation like a blog series topic, I may force myself into being more organized and insightful.

We have our property booked and our rental SUV set. We have lined up a housesitter who will stay in our home and take care of Lily & Gibson. So now, it’s just a matter of doing the rest. Stick around. It will either be highly informative or wildly entertaining. Either way, it should make for a good read.