^ Armed with some new books from the library for the 2 hour car trip
^ We stopped in at a lake near the former Camp Davidson to find that they are now adamantly against the beheading of dogs - or is it beheaded dogs?
^ We arrived on Sunday afternoon and G voluntarily did all his homework so that he wouldn't have to work while he was on " 'cation."
^ These sweeties play together remarkably well despite being almost 5 years apart. Remarkably well, that is, until J singlehandedly destroys something G painstakingly worked on. It's character building.
^ The view from our windows and balconies. And the sunrises? Unbeatable.
^ This dapper little terrier had 2 brothers who were dressed equally as snazzy. (Funny story: B nearly commented to the shopkeeper on how festive the terriers were dressed for St. Patrick's Day. Fortunately, he caught himself before saying that out loud. (Wait for it - you'll get it in a minute...)
^ Swam for HOURS.
^ We loved visiting the High Desert Museum. Interesting, interactive, kid-friendly, moms-with-cameras-friendly.
^ Had to sneak in a few selfies to prove I was actually on this trip!
^ The Laura Ingalls Wilder fangirl in me fully geeked out in this little settler's village. This was designed after a 1904 sawmill and ranch, but everything about this little log cabin was very "Little House."
^ I have worked for WEEKS to capture this expression! When you give J something to eat that he really likes, you are rewarded with this perfectly funny little face.
^ We took G to ride a horse on morning.
^ A rare family picture!
^ Redmond does not hurt for views.
^ This little one got his backwards scooting action down while we were away...
... here he's fully backed up to the fireplace and can't quite figure out how to get unstuck.
^ B's mom came up for an overnight visit. We played Farkle, watched The Lego Movie, and went to Prineville to see my college choir in a concert while they were up here for their spring tour.
^ The morning of our last full day at Eagle Crest. Like I mentioned before, the sunrises from these front windows were spectacular. Also, it's always worth mentioning that finding B with one of the boys like this is not a rare thing. I hope one day they fully realize what a gift it is that he loves them as much as he does.
I have to admit, when B first brought up the idea of heading out of town for a week, I was a bit resistant. I know, who complains about going on vacation? But because of the speed at which everything feels like it has been moving over the last few months and because I get really tightly wound when I'm feeling pressure (people who have known me forever are nodding enthusiastically here...), I interpreted the suggestion of going out of town as: "oh good, just a few dozen more things to add to my to do list and then more that will need to be caught up on later." Clearly I have been teeming over with perspective and a spirit of thankfulness lately.
My response to B was met with, "Well, isn't this WHY we should be getting out of town?" And he was right. My tightly wound self needed a break, but I also needed to give my kids a break and heaven knows my hard-working, patient as a saint husband could use a respite from his work (and my crazy), so - we packed, cleaned house (because, yes, we were taking a break, but hello, I'm still me and don't lie, you probably clean house before you leave town, too), and then drove over the mountains to big-sky Redmond. The relaxing was almost instant. Not an exaggeration. Don't get me wrong, going away with two kids looks nothing like the do nothing vacations that are depicted in Sandals commercials, but the mere act of taking a break from our daily lives, from the dishes, cooking, laundry, endless emails, phone calls, work projects, meetings, from the lunch packing, the errands, the can't do that right now I'm busies to the kids (gulp.), from the bickering with your spouse that only happens when you're at the end of your rope and know you have to do it ALL over again tomorrow, from the guilt that comes from knowing you need to put something off again because there just isn't enough of you and hasn't been for awhile, and on and on and on? So very much needed.
Getting away away was good and restorative. It was unplugged (although, not entirely by choice. The place we stayed at had wireless speeds UP TO 2 mbps and the wifi was not compatible with Apple products. Yes, you read that right, but fear not, we lived. Our survival tips will be front page news tomorrow. {Kidding.}). There was reading and talking. We played games, took walks, rode bikes, went swimming. We sat in front of the fireplace and drew. We didn't get out of our pjs until almost noon some days. There were long baths and horseback rides and taking in new towns. There was family time in spades and not any can't-do-that-right-now-I'm-busy (WIN!). There was space to breathe. It was a really, really good week.
