Grownup Getaways

This past June, Tim and I decided to indulge in a weekend away. It was our first getaway without kids for over three years, so it is an understatement to say we needed it. We opted to really treat ourselves by heading to the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee. This was an ideal location, because it was not only fabulous, and felt really far away, but only took us 90 minutes to travel.

We enticed our friends Scott and Sheryl to join us, so that Tim would have a golfing buddy and I would have someone to head with me to the spa and while away hours (6+) by the breathtaking pool. It was heavenly, and we definitely had to drag ourselves away that Sunday afternoon.

The view from our room at the Ritz.

The Broadmoor

Rocky Mountain golf.

Having truly shot our wad at this place (but worth every penny), I figured something like this probably wasn't on our horizon for another 1-2 years. But one day in late August, Tim came home and announced he had earned a trip from work. A long, almost-all-expenses paid weekend at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs.  With just four weeks notice, and neither set of grandparents available to keep the kids, our initial response was no. It seemed awfully far to go while leaving the kids in the hands of babysitters. But we kept dreaming about it, and convinced ourselves that opportunities like this do not come along very often. Fortunately, our trusted sitters that we used for our Ritz weekend were available, so we seized the moment (despite a heart-wrenching meltdown from Danny the night before I left - Laura didn't even look up when we departed).


















It was glorious. Late September in Colorado is possibly my absolute, ideal climate. I got in a couple of runs and luxuriated in multiple spa treatments. Tim golfed twice, and I joined him on the latter part of one of his rounds, since he was fortunate to be playing by himself and the views from the course were spectacular. We also enjoyed a morning hike together, and of course several kid-free meals. The entire weekend was the antithesis of our scheduled-to-the-nanosecond existence - not to mention the luxury of having Tim all to myself.

I am happy to report, too, that after three days and nights, I was ready to see my chickies again. Of course, 30 minutes after my return I was already mildly annoyed and frustrated, but we'll chalk that up to jet lag...

Hard to say when we'll be lucky enough to get away again, so for now we'll look forward to our family getaway with the Francos in a couple of weeks. Not exactly the same, but sure to be wonderful in its own way.

Compare and Contrast

After picking up a couple of library books for Danny, our latest voracious reader, Laura and I ambled across the street to the Smyrna duck pond. It was a glorious afternoon, and she was relishing the views, the creatures (geese, ducks, fish, turtles) and especially this copper frog.

It naturally brought to mind the photo session that took place for Clare's third birthday in this same spot.

I started to think, while taking the pictures of Laura, that I could see sisterly resemblance. Now, though, I feel like you have to look pretty hard to see it.

So...yeah. Maybe distant cousins. But they're both mine!

The New Frieda?

"Look at my hair! It's so beautiful!" is not an uncommon phrase to come out of Laura's mouth. So much so that I was reminded of the character from Charlie Brown, Frieda, who is famous for patting and protecting her "naturally curly hair."

What we find funniest about it, though, is that more often than not, Laura is running around looking like an absolute ragamuffin, light years away from a well-coiffed look. I snapped this picture one morning at Publix, after she saw her reflection in the glass doors and announced, "My hair is beautiful! I look like a princess!"

(Note also the berry stains on her pajamas. Toddlers and Tiaras is not our future.)

With another daughter entering the self-consciousness of adolescence, I have to fully embrace this vanity - and naturally cannot wait to show her these photos when she's a teenager.