The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page

Today, my boys and I started on an epic two week vacation to the northeast United States.

I asked my brother, Tim, to join us.

Tim and I have always been close and the fact that he became a teacher this year gave us both the luxury to be away for 2 weeks.

It started out normal.  We got up early. The car was packed to the gills.  We were ready to drive 800 miles and only stop for gas.

Thirty minutes from home, we ran into dead-stopped traffic - a wreck on the highway.

No worries (we thought), we will just take some back county roads.

The first crossroad looked like this...

Again, we thought, no worries...

Until the next 5 crossroads looked like this...

I started to wonder if someone didn't want us to go on this trip...

But thankfully, after these few set backs,  we made it all 800 miles without a hitch.

The Windy City is more than wind

Todd's birthday was this weekend.
He wanted to celebrate big.
I wanted him to celebrate big.

So... when he suggested we go and stay with his best friend, Matt and his wife, Shannon, who was I to say no??

(You should know I have always been a go-er.  Even as a kid if someone was just going into town to wal-mart, I was sure to tag along!!)

Chicago stole my heart a few years ago, so any chance to go back is a chance I'm going to take!!

We left right after my school meeting and ate crazy gas station food on the way.

We arrived well after dark.

We woke up the next morning to the sound of this...  

But nothing could dampen my spirits because it was Todd's birthday!!

I decorated this cake at home 2 nights before and had done everything in my powers to NOT let him know.

When he opened it, he almost dumped it out of the box because he thought it was a plaque to hang on the wall... I guess, I did good. :)

Morning Haze

The haziness of the morning light covers me like a light blanket. 

Me grateful for the warmth that it provides but yet still allowing me to feel the crispness of the morning air.


Nothing quite provides like the morning glow. 

It reminds me that a new day is ahead of me.

Everything from yesterday has been washed away. 

And this new day its just starting to shine.

Girls Weekend 2014

This is the first Girls' Weekend without Kel M.
I wasn't sure how it was going to go.
In fact, right before we left, I was willing to back out.

We decided to go to Eureka Springs (even though the boys and I had just been there)... Kel M. had always mentioned wanting to go there and it just had never happened.

We stayed at the Pointe West Motel on Beaver Lake.  Even though the rooms were nothing to call home about, we got to witness this daily.

Our girls' weekend normally consist of us sitting by the pool. napping, and then going out on the town.  Again, I wasn't sure how things would be...

So we started out with what we knew... the pool.

And, of course, laughter ensued... 

I'm pretty sure the hammock sank ALL the way to the ground!! 

But that has never stopped us.

We laid out by the pool and napped the afternoon away.

By the time we were ready to head into town, the sun was setting again.

We didn't realize that Eureka was a town that went to bed early (unless it is the weekend).

So we found ONE store open.

We were just being casual browsers, 

when the sales manager came and asked if we needed help...

...Or some pie.

We picked pie.

Seriously... He gave us pie!! LOL

We then hung out with him for the next hour.
(Kel M. would have loved that!!)

The next day we went for pizza and massages.

That night we headed out on the town to celebrate our friend Kel.

We cheers to her life and her laughter and our friendship and our loss.

And somehow, with puffy eyes and tear stains...

I guess I still have it...

Cause on our way out, a guy stopped me and asked where we were going...

because he had shots in hand that he had just bought us...

and he said, "Because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Yep.  Kel would be proud that I haven't lost my touch 

of getting the whole group a free drink without even trying. ;)

Our mini vacation

This has a been a crazy busy summer!!
I love to take my boys and get away on vacations, but this just didn't seem like it was in the cards for us this year.
To start out, my a/c decided to give up its last leg.  I have been repairing it for the last 4 summers or so and it just couldn't make it any farther... so there goes a LOT of money!!

I'm taking classes for my masters this summer, so that has limited my time and then I am also tutoring 2 days as week.

All of this put together, is not a good 'get away' recipe...

But I just HAD to.
I needed to feel like I ACTUALLY experienced summer.

So, I rescheduled my tutoring and the boys and I left town for 3 days.

Colby got car sick on our way down (which has never happened before)...
Here is a pic just seconds before he puked on these stairs. LOL

To calm his stomach, we walked around for a while...  we turned the corner and I was sent back 20 years.  Yes, the last time I was here was in high school with my best friend, Erin.  We sat in this park and watched the eccentric locals - One I remember specifically was a high school boy dressed in a bright red long tailed marching band coat.

Erin and I also shopped in this store... Funny how some things don't change.

After Colby's stomach settled down, we got a quick bite to eat. (He's still a little green in this pic)

Then we headed out of town toward our cabin... 

This is the road that lead to it... the first sign of peacefulness and relaxation.

It had horseshoes for the boys to play.

An a HUGE yard, for baseball (of course)

And while they enjoyed themselves doing that... I enjoyed myself doing this.

We did find this little friend's home while we were out exploring.

Thankfully, he didn't live TOO close to us!

The first night we headed to the Great Passion Play.

I remember my mom bringing my brothers and I here when we were kids... 

So, it was nice to pass on this tradition to my boys.

The setting sun just added to it!!

Wednesday we headed into town.  

Colby had mentioned this 100' lookout tower several times and asked if we could stop.

Needless to say, Sam with his fear of heights was not exactly thrilled.

However, I was happy that the sign said it was FREE that day!

Reluctantly, Sam climbed... and would NOT stand up. LOL

So, we had to pose squatting for Sam. LOL

Colby, on the other hand, was extremely happy to be up that high!

So pretty esp for a July day!

After we went up 3 times, THEN Sam decided to go up and stand up.

Notice where I took the picture from??  Yep. This Momma was too tired for a 4th trip.

 We had heard wonderful things about Ermilio's ... only to find it closed for lunch.

What a blessing in disguise!  Because it was closed, we stumbled upon Oscar's Cafe.

It turned out to be our favorite thing all week.

I had the peach, brie, prosciutto salad. Delicious!

Sam tried out the waffle with sour cream and jam.

Colby had the chicken cranberry salad.

We then headed to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue.

We saw lions...

...and tigers...

  ...and bears. OH MY!

Actually this bear I think wanted to eat Sam.  He would huff and anytime Sam would turn away from him, he would charge the fence.  It was funny and scary all in one!!

Look at these scary creatures!!

That evening we did do back to Ermilio's for dinner...

... but what is a vacation without s'mores??

So we built a quick fire and made some.

The next day, we got up and hiked along the Beaver Lake.

Our hike was quick because it started to look like rain.

Colby bought this walking stick at the wildlife refuge.  He had to include it in our picture. LOL

We got a quick bite before leaving town.  This sign seemed appropriate for our mini vaca. 

Our last stop on our way home was Onxy Cave.

It was a self guided audio tour.

 It was interesting to be the only ones down there.

Any time I get to spend with my boys is a good time though!!!