Tim and I made a decision about 9:00 on Saturday night to take the fam on a road trip the next day. I'm not one who does spontaneous things, but
I'd seen Sonja a week earlier when
she stopped by my place for a couple hours and I just wanted a little more time with her. She and I tried coordinating schedules and Monday was an option, so we went for it. Except we didn't tell the kids.
Sunday morning was business as usual, until we blitzed as soon as church was done. We usually loiter until the second service starts, so the kids weren't thrilled to leave right away. Silas and Devon both passed notes to me during the drive home because they were suspicious about what was going on and wanted to figure out what was happening, but I just smiled and let them wonder. After lunch I told everyone to grab backpacks and fill them with a change of clothes. Then card games or books. Then jammies. Then toothbrushes. With each addition their guesses about what was happening got changed. It wasn't until we pulled out of the driveway that we told them our plan. So fun!
Here they are at our one pit stop on the way out of town. Ready to roll!
We drove for about three hours and settled into a yurt at
Tumalo State Park. We've never stayed in a yurt before, but I loved it! All the pros of tent camping, but none of the downsides. We'd actually stayed at that campground once before, way back in the summer of 2010. It's fun to look at
the pictures from that trip because Teebs didn't exist and Naomi was exactly a year younger than Teebs is now. Time flies.
Anyway, when we'd made the reservation the previous night we'd mentioned how we should try to connect with some of the other people we know in that area while we were there. There was no way to see everyone in a 24 hour period and it was all last minute planning, but Tim and I each contacted one friend to see if they could squeeze in time for a little visit.
My friend was Robin and she ended up inviting all 6 Ws over for dinner with her family. She and I have been friends for almost ten years and I've shown you pictures over the years of cool things she's made for me (aprons, quilted bag, baby blanket/quilt), but with the exception of a two minute exchange more than four years ago, I haven't seen her since
a baby shower in 2010. We headed to her home as soon as we'd gotten settled into our yurt. It was
so good to give her a big hug, eat good food (including my first gouda experience) together with our families, see all her creative/artistic endeavors, and catch up on life in face-to-face conversations.
Due to their respective professions, I figured her husband and Sonja's brother were probably acquainted (they are), but in a small world moment discovered she lives about two blocks away from Sonja's parents. I love it when worlds collide.
Anyway, we headed back to our yurt after a few hours and the kids wanted a campfire. It was really cold, though, so we decided to wait and build a fire in the morning. Not as fun as one in the dark, but this campground stay was more about lodging and less about camping. We did spend a little bit of time playing Quiddler before bed, though.
Naomi and I were Quiddler teammates.
Teebs and Devon hung out on the top bunk at first, but eventually joined the game.
Silas and Tim were ready to get pictures done so we could just play the game.
Those pictures were taken while everyone was still happy, but some of us (mostly yours truly, but also the totally amped and over-tired Ws) were pretty much ready for the day to be done a short time later.
This morning we started our fire at about 7:30 when temps were in the low-mid 20s. Seriously. It was cold.
Eventually these Teebs and Naomi came inside and, despite the somewhat pained look on Teebs' face, had fun playing some game they made up while eating cereal. The cereal alone was a big deal because I never buy it, so they were excited for the treat.
Devon and Silas weren't going to let sub-freezing temps keep them from enjoying the small amount of time we had at the campground, so they took off exploring for a while.
They climbed up a hill and found a great view. Upon their return to the campsite, which is probably where the smoke in the lower left corner of the next picture is coming from, Silas grabbed Tim (wanted to show him the view) and a camera (wanted to show the rest of us), then headed back up. Here's one of the pictures he took.
We snapped a quick family picture before we left the campground. We were blinded by the sun, but at least we have proof that we were there.
Yes, I was wearing slippers. If you've known me very long at all, then you know I wear flip flops almost every single day of the year, regardless of the weather. I knew it was going to be below freezing, though, so I packed real shoes to wear today. At least I meant to pack them. About two hours from home yesterday I realized I'd left my shoes in my bedroom. Given the choice of flip flops or slippers when temps were in the twenties, I opted for slippers. You know me, always a slave to fashion!
We headed to Sonja's parents' home after we left the campground and I got to see this sweet baby face again. Is she cute or what?!
Two of Sonja's nephews were also there, so they played with the little Ws. So strange to think that their dad was 15 when I met him, just two years older than Silas is now. Again, time flies.
Naomi brought Candy Land and asked Susan to play with her, so Susan grabbed Teebs and spent some time gaming with the two littlest Ws.
Susan also made cinnamon rolls for everyone and we all visited for a while. Then she and Tim took all the kids (except Ella, who was about to go down for a nap) and walked them down to the neighborhood park. They burned off steam for well over an hour, which meant Sonja and I had a chance to just sit and chat without any disruptions. So nice!
I, of course, asked for a picture of all the adults before we left. We had some issues with getting clear pictures on this trip, but an imperfect picture is better than none at all. Right? Temps were in the mid-fifties by this time. Thirty degrees in about four hours. Crazy.
Other than a couple minutes when they dropped off and picked up Sonja last weekend, we hadn't seen Susan since
she stopped by in August 2009 and it had been years longer since we'd seen Lane. Oh, the warm fuzzies that came with spending time with this family whose home I spent so much time in during college, and even beyond! It was wonderful.
We finally wrapped up our visit there and made one more stop before heading home. Remember how Tim and I each contacted one friend, other than Sonja, to try and visit? Tim's friend was Greg. Greg and I were both part of a Christian club on our college campus, but weren't particularly close. However, he also happened to live in the same dorm as Tim and invited him to a regressive dinner our group was having one night. That night was the first page in the story of the 6 Ws. Greg was our unintentional matchmaker.
Tim's seen Greg once in at least ten years, just for a brief visit, so they obviously needed picture proof of their time together today.
I'm Facebook friends with Greg's wife, Stacy, but hadn't met her until today. It was fun to get to know her a little bit. She and I jumped in the next picture, but we couldn't get a clear picture on our camera to save our lives. Thankfully, Stacy busted out her phone and got one that works.
Two of their girls were gone when we came by, but I got to hold their baby for almost the whole time we were there. She's such a cutie! I did, however, let Naomi hold her a little while for fun, Devon hold her when we were doing a picture of all the adults, Stacy hold her because she needed to eat, and Tim hold her just because he
is Greg's friend and she
is Greg's daughter. Wasn't that nice of me?
It was a whirlwind couple of days, but it was so great to see old friends!
We came home to no internet and I'm completely non-techy, but Tim eventually figured out how to fix it and I was able to get all these pictures loaded. Good thing, because I loved seeing everyone and wanted to tell people about our little trip.
