How Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Turned Empty Nester 'Despair' Into a Positive: 'We Got Over It'

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos open up to PEOPLE about their lives as empty nesters since their youngest son Joaquin left for college

When Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' youngest son, Joaquin, left home for college, in the footsteps of older siblings Michael and Lola, the empty-nesters were admittedly, if briefly, bereft.

"It was deep," Mark tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "It was like a loss."

"When Joaquin left [for the University of Michigan], it was hard, the two of us and the dogs staring at each other, like 'Well, now what?' " says Kelly, who had been spoiled up to that point as Michael, now 25, and Lola, 21, enrolled close to home at N.Y.U. "The first dinner I cooked, I'm not kidding, was for 12 people, and it was just the two of us. We sat there with this inordinate amount of food, neither one of us hungry at all."

Among her first thoughts, she recalls, was: "We're empty nesters, oh no, what are we going to discuss?!"

Plenty, as it turned out.

"The first 48 hours we were leaning into the despair and then we really leaned into the positive side," says Kelly. "We got over it!"

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Related:Mark Consuelos Tells Kelly Ripa He Doesn't Want to Have More Kids: 'I'll Be an Older Dad'

The power duo, who will share co-hosting duties of the newly titled Live with Kelly and Mark when Mark takes the coveted seat next to his wife on Monday, found themselves enjoying newfound freedom.

"We went to the beach and we saw the sunset and we were like, 'Oh my god, this is amazing'," says Mark.

Their wallowing quickly turned to a conscious embracing of the new chapter of their lives.

On a couple's vacation last June, Kelly says, "We ate when we wanted to eat, not when the kids wanted to. We went on hikes, we went rock-climbing – which was scary, but we did it."

Truth be told, the kids themselves may have helped smooth the transition by giving the family a last, sentimental hurrah.

"Two weeks before Joaquin left, Lola and Michael moved back home and they would all sleep in the same room," Kelly says. "They had me recreate things from when they were little, like I used to tuck them in bed, give them kisses and say, 'Ok, that's it, now goodnight,' and then I would come back in the room and they'd scream and laugh."

Adds Mark: "They would come into our room and get old DVDs of home movies and we watched as a family."

Now the empty-nesters, who have been married for nearly 27 years, will have even more quality couple time as they share co-hosting duties on Live. And that's more than okay by them.

"To have Mark join me at that desk every day, it's a dream come true," says Kelly, who has helped make Live the No. 1-rated daytime talk show over her 22-year tenure. "We've been so uniquely blessed."

For more of the exclusive cover interview with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, pick up an issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

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