back to real life

Wow! We have been gone for the last 9 days on a whirlwind of multiple vacations. It was soooo good to get away! Our first few days of vacation consisted of camping with our entire life group at Diamond Lake- so much fun! Beautiful scenery, beautiful weather (if you don't count the torrential rainstorm that attacked at 2:00am, Saturday- the day we were leaving), and good times hanging out with wonderful friends.
Sidenote: Rainstorms on a camping trip have to be the worst things ever- everything was soaked, rivers were running through our campsite, the kids were literally melting down in the tent with me while Andy raced around outside to pack everything up, and there is just nowhere to go. BUT....it does make for a good story, right?? I'm still alive and still glad I went, right Canby Life Group??
So, after the wonderful, yet, exhausting camping trip my in-laws drove up to the campground and swept off with our 3 little children for 4 DAYS!!!!! Can you believe it?? Yes, we had planned this many months in advance, but I really didn't understand the ingenuity of this timing until the rainstorm hit. We actually got to unpack all the nasty, wet, smelly, camp stuff WITHOUT the children! I think we cleaned up in record time with time to relax that night. (Back up a little; Andy's parents took the kids so we could have a very nice anniversary (#8!) vacation together.)
Let me take a moment to tell you how MUCH I appreciated every moment we had to ourselves for 4 days straight. This was the first time we had left Eva overnight with anyone, so really my first break in over a year. So thank you, thank you, Darryl and Judy!!!!
AND THEN (after a day and a half at home).... off we went to Bend, to spend 2 nights at the Inn at The Seventh Mtn. It was luxury! Bend is such a beautiful town, beautiful weather, beautiful mountains all around us. We hung out by the pool, went out to eat for breakfasts and dinners, went out to a movie, walked around downtown, shopped a bit, and went on a used book store hunt to find lots of good books. It felt good to catch up and remember why we love each other so much. Good to have a chance to miss our kids too. Overall, these last nine days have been refreshing, fun, and given me more appreciation for my marriage and family.
Now, I've got just a few more days until Andy goes back to work (he's a teacher) and real life REALLY sets in...
so enjoy they last few days of summer vacation!!!