Girls' Getaway

I just got back from a girls' scrapbooking getaway. It was so so so much fun and exactly what I needed being 7 months pregnant and with no break from the boys all day this summer. Last year we went to Memory Lane Inn in McKinney, but this year we went to Tyler because McKinney was booked. It's owned by the same girl who definitely knows how to do things right.

Embarrassingly enough, I didn't take one stinkin' picture while I was there. Justin needed our nice camera for a photo shoot for work so I just had my point and shoot and so I stole some of these pictures off their website and some from my friend, Kelly.

 

My trip didn't start off so smoothly. Last time we ordered the chef menu which I HIGHLY recommend. Unfortunately, if at least 12 people don't want to order it, then it isn't available. Well, the six of us wanted it but the other group didn't. So that meant packing our own food and ordering out.

   

But when you have a kitchen that looks like this, it doesn't make it so bad to be in the kitchen.

 

 But I'm a total airhead and forgot ALL MY FOOD at home! Talk about cutting off a lifeline for a pregnant lady. So I had to make a pit stop and do some shopping once I got into town and I mooched off the other girls too. 

The accommodations were awesome. Everything you could possibly need for scrapbooking that I didn't even leave for 4 days.

There were six of us that stayed in the room. Only three came last year and we added three more girls this year. I was a little nervous about everyone getting along but everyone got along so great and we laughed with each other like we had known each other forever.

We found out that Tyler is quite the happening place and even got to order Chuy's one night. Yum!

  

The had great sitting areas outside but I was so busy scrappin' that I didn't really utilize any of it. I did take the trash out once but there was some monstrous thunder that scared the living daylights out of me and I hurdled about eight of these bushes. I think everyone got a kick out of my hurdle skills 7 months pregnant. Wasn't really thinking that one through, it was just instinct!

 

I think the latest we stayed up was 3:30 a.m. Not sure how I did that considering I can hardly keep my eyes open at 10:00 at night normally. I guess I was just in the groove and having too much fun. The best part...that I got 14 spreads complete! WOOHOO! I'm so behind and I'm still only caught up to August of last year. My goal is to get caught up at least through Christmas by the end of the summer. 

 

These aren't even all of them but I figure I wouldn't bore you completely to tears!  We're already planning our trip for next summer! Wish I could do it more often but with our third one about to make her appearance, I feel lucky to get away this much. I'm so thankful for a husband who knows that I'm a better wife and mother because of these trips.

Sense of Accomplishment

Warning: this may be a boring post for those of you who don't scrapbook.

Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time on these darn scrapbooks, especially with boys. They probably couldn't care less. I, on the other hand, could look for hours at pictures of my grandmother or parents growing up. I think it's the fact that I hardly have any pictures of myself as a little girl, so it's this overwhelming need of mine to OVER document my children's lives minute by minute.

But then, when I'm feeling nostalgic and look back at the albums, I'm really glad that I do it. I feel such a sense of accomplishment, and it really does help me remember little details of the event.

So, in an effort to feel like I didn't just spend 4 days scrapbooking just for them to go sit on a shelf, I'm sharing them with you.

Back to reality

You know that feeling when you come back from vacation and you're already sad that it's over and wishing that it would just last a little longer? Yeah, that's where my head is today. Some girlfriends of mine booked a scrapbooking weekend a year ago because this place was booked until then. And now I can see why…talk about deluxe. I've been on scrapbooking trips before and they were so much fun, but this one just had it all.

Let me first say, that the day before I left for my girls trip was terrible. I'm talking about one of those oh-my-goodness-I-can't-make-it days with the kids. I felt like I screamed at them ALL.DAY.LONG. I hate those days. Besides them exhausting me, they make me feel like such a terrible mom. I even texted Justin one of those "Hey are you coming home early?" texts. So, this getaway could not have come at a more perfect time.

We headed to McKinney, TX pretty much in the boonies to Memory Lane Inn. I was as excited about this as a little girl going to camp because that's totally what it felt like. It was so quaint and the perfect set up. We had views of horses, bunnies and even a few goats. Do you see the little cottontail bunny in the bottom left?

We ran through the house like it was our own version of Extreme Home Makeover…like we owned the place or something.  There's room to sleep 12 and there were 6 six in our group. Here was our Lofty Ladies room.

And our bathroom.

And that's when completely lost our minds like we were at Disneyland. We jumped and laughed so hard because Angi hit the fan with her hands.

Angi's been my best friend since we were in 5th grade and we've definiely had about a million sleepovers at each others' houses. But this hands down, was our funnest sleepover ever.

After we took our Retalin, we checked out more of the house.

We checked out the work room and you couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces. We had everything we needed for four days.

So we got to work…fast.

And watched chick flick after chick flick including Glee: Season 1. My addiction has begun.

Battle wounds didn't even slow us down.

Oh, and did I mention that we had a chef come and cook our meals? And that they served and cleaned up every meal too? I think I gained 10 lbs. It was a good thing I wore elastic pajama bottoms all weekend.

We stayed up late every night. I'm talking 2-3 a.m. each night. It's like we were on scrap crack. You lose all track of time and it's just so much fun that you don't want to sleep to miss any of it. We laughed so hard about stories of our husbands and children. Normally when I do these trips, I'm up and ready to go home early Sunday, but we stayed every possible second we could this weekend. It was hard to say goodbye and I can't wait til we get to go again.