Weekend Away

Last Friday Matt & I put the girls down for naps, packed up the car, and headed out of town just-the-two-of-us! We had purchased a Living Social deal for Suncadia Resort. On the way there we stopped at the outlet malls in North Bend. It is a really good thing there are not outlets closer because I went a little crazy in my purchasing of clothes for Addie. But I had taken inventory ahead of time, so knew where the gaps were and I purchased mostly size 5 & 6 for her to grow into. When I consider the fact that Etta will wear all these clothes too, I do not feel bad about getting name brands at sale prices.

I had never been to Suncadia before, but found it really relaxing. We were in a room that had its own little kitchen & living room so it seemed a huge amount of space for us. We could have easily pulled the couch into a bed & fit a pack & play. But that, obviously, was not the kind of weekend this was. So we just relaxed in the big space. Breakfast was part of the Living Social deal, so we got room service both mornings. The only other time I have had room service is when I was at the hospital after having the girls, so that was pretty special for me! Also included were some vouchers to use toward spa services. So I got to relax and be pampered with a massage and a facial.

We did not want to sit in our room all day, so we decided to take a tromp through the snow. We had packed snow shoes but decided to leave them in the car since the snow seemed pretty shallow and the paths were already visible by the lodge. That would have been a fine choice if we stayed by the lodge. But we kept going farther and farther, and the snow got deeper and the paths less obvious. I wished for the snowshoes on more than one occasion as I trudged ahead & my foot sunk through the snow until I was almost knee deep at times. I was pretty glad when we met up with a road toward the last 1/3 of our walk. The first 1/3 of the walk I had shunned the roads because I wanted to be in nature. But at that point I was ready for the bare asphalt that comes with civilization.

Suncadia was the perfect distance away. Far enough away to feel removed from home & the normal routine. But no plane ride or hours in the car (which makes me feel safer for the just-in-case emergency scenarios that pop into my head). So we decided that a weekend away will need to happen every year at least. I will keep my eye out for another Living Social or such deal - maybe the San Yuans next time?!

Meanwhile the girls had lots of fun at home without us. Grandma watched them for the weekend. Papa & GG stayed one night. Aunt May stayed one night. Myron, Lori & Coen visited. There was all sorts of family fun without Matt & I! Addie & grandma made some special desserts together. Grandma made homemade playdoh for the girls. They got cool St Patricks Day stickers to play with. They went to Carkeek park. I think they had so much fun and had so much to do they probably barely noticed we were gone.

However, Addie had pointers to make things even better next time:
-tell Grandma that Addie is not supposed to wear all her clothes during nap time because she gets over-heated (Addie knows this & could have taken off some clothes herself, but she likes it when adults know these things)
-move a few toys from our car to Grandma Karen's car when we move the carseats over
-leave sunglasses out where Grandma can see them - the sun made a rare appearance at the park!

I, for unknown reasons, did not sleep very well either night when we were away. So I was looking forward to a good nights sleep in my bed. But it was not to be. At dinner Sun night Addie threw up. After a bath to clean her up, she just wanted to lay down but be close to us. So she was on our bed & I read her some stories. She fell asleep there before Etta was even down for the night! We moved her to her bed when it was our bedtime, and although she was groggy she seemed ok - but you can never quite know. So I had that on my mind, plus my body just felt really sore I could not get comfortable or calm my mind down. Between those things and Etta waking, I got very little sleep. Addie had very little energy the next day and just wanted to lay on the couch all morning. Which was fine with me, because by that time I realized that I was not feeling well either. I had such sever body aches I could hardly walk, and I could not feel warm no matter how much I bundled up. I had a monster soar throat, food did not sound good and I just wanted to sleep. Welcome back from vacation, now it's time to get sick! Thankfully the girls behaved & amused themselves while I spent the afternoon sitting on the couch, and Matt was able to come home from work a little early. That night I slept really good and the next morning I still had a soar throat and my energy level was a little low, but I felt light years better than the day before. Addie was all better too and Etta  & Matt never got sick. Another mom from the co-op was telling me about how her & her kids were all sick that week, and they were much much worse than us, so even though it did not feel good I am thankful that it was short lived & not any worse.