I'm getting goosebumps.

A week from tomorrow starts our family vacation here and I CANNOT WAIT.

I honestly can't put into words just how excited I am. I still feel the same way I did as a child: the almost intolerable anticipation is getting more and more intense every day. I usually have a hard time sleeping the night before we leave due to the excitement, and when we wake up the morning we leave, it's the same feeling I used to get on Christmas morning. Yes, it's that exciting.

On the 4th of July, I overheard someone in my family say that this will be our family's 50th year of going to Russian River. Can you believe it? Half a century of going to the same place on vacation. It's become so much a part of us as a family - we always have the best time and get the opportunity to slow down a little and reconnect with each other (which includes eating Oma's delicious food, of course).

None of this would be possible without my grandparents, who are by far the best grandparents in the world.

Here's to another 50 years!