Children make friends so easily, which I absolutely love.  And that means they can also be the best “wing kid” when meeting your own mom friends.  I’m so grateful that through my kids school, or their camps, I met these sweet mommas.  It’s great that we’re also in the same season, which means there’s always a timely conversation going.  The other weekend, we all headed down to The Ritz Carlton Resort in Naples, and it was SO special.

I’ve written a bit about this on a recent IG post, but it’s always a bit hard leaving my family, on any trip.  This year has been filled with so many amazing opportunities for me, many of which have taken me away from my family.  As someone who always said “I’m a stay at home mom… with a blog”, this has been a season of transition for me.  Maybe you’re in a transitioning season, you’re ready to see about going on a girls trip, or you’d just like to work through taking some time for yourself.  OR maybe this is not a need for you at all.  a “good for her, not for me” scenario.  But here are a few things I marinade on when I leave:

•  My children are loved, safe, and secure while I’m gone.
• They are seeing me deepening and investing in friendships (or my marriage!!!) , and I think that’s important for them to witness!
• They are developing a different bond with whoever they are with (husband, grandparents, aunts/uncles).  It gives them the chance to get that focused attention on them by another person who loves them, and they craft an entirely different itinerary than if I was around!
• I come back  refreshed, missing them so much it has become a bit painful lol, and 1000% ready to be the best mom I can.  {side note:  I don’t think everyone has to do have girls trips or time away …but for me, it’s really helpful in my motherhood!}

Anyway, I just thought I’d share in case you’re working through that mom guilt or coming up on a first trip away.

Soooo back to the trip  …

We took off after drop off at school, and headed down.  I love even the drive on girls trips… all that chance to catch up and chat about everything.  The drive from where we live is about 2 hours, and in my opinion it’s a pretty easy one.   And as soon as you step on property you feel like you may have just jumped on a plane and you’re now in the islands somewhere ! (:  It’s a gorgeous property right on the beach.  There’s also a ton to do – the spa is beautiful and huge, an adults pool and a kid friendly one, an amazing powdery white sand beach with attendants ready to set you up with shade and a libation, and lots of options for dining.  We paid a bit extra to have club level access, and as you may remember from our Ritz Orlando experience, there’s alllll the food and drinks you could ever want, with personalized service.  They were aware there was a birthday being celebrated, and even had a cake made for Kristen!  It was one big fun celebration weekend!  I can  200% recommend Naples for a great low key girls trip.  We even danced one night at the Sushi Bar – the DJ played such fun music, I ran into a sweeeeeet lady who has been following me for a few years (which totally made my night!!), and we got some grandmas on a “grandmas trip” up on the dance floor to dance with us.  It was a weekend where we laughed, cried, chatted about our families non stop, and made so many precious memories.

You can read Grace’s post about this trip here! At the bottom of her post is alllll the shops we loved.  We especially loved shopping on 3rd.  I really can’t wait to head back to Naples one day soon.  And bring the fam and explore more!

Thank you Ritz Carlton Naples for being the perfect backdrop for our “momcation”!  I can’t wait to visit again, very soon!