Mountain Getaway

July 30, 2012 · By ·
We’ve had a bit of a hectic summer, schedule-wise.  Mr. B was a bit overextended activity wise with a summer class for his MBA, involvement on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit, two soccer seasons and some other extra curricular activities that are slipping my mind at the moment. Add to that Nell’s arrival, and we were maxed out.  As a general rule, I really try to stay pretty upbeat about Mr. B’s school schedule. And as a general rule, I really try to stay upbeat about the newborn-lack-of-sleep thing. And the parenting a toddler thing. We’re lucky to be in the situation we are that Mr. B can further his education with a minimal out of pocket expense for us, and we’re lucky to have two, healthy beautiful children. I will sleep again. Thomas will not throw two year told style tantrums forever. Mr. B will not be in school forever. But this summer, I had a few less than upbeat moments about what seemed like an endless supply of nights home alone with two kids (one of whom…cough, Nell, cough…prefers to sleep for her daddy) and very little time with my best friend and our little family.

So, with Mr. B’s summer class finishing last week, we took the opportunity to steal away to my aunt’s cabin in the mountains. And it was a perfect, much needed break from reality. My aunt stocked up on a ridiculously large bag of plain M&Ms, and I’m embarrassed to say I ate a good portion of it. We swam in the lake. We took Thomas out on the paddle boat. Casco got lots of walks and lots of swimming time. 

Nell didn’t seem to fully appreciate the awesomeness of having a cabin on the lake to visit. But she napped like a champ and gave us her longest stretches at night yet, so we’ll work on her appreciation of water and the Colorado mountains later.

Thomas, on the other hand, wastes no time getting into the lake. The first night we were there he went into his chest with his clothes on. He’s my boy, that’s for sure.

Casco’s come a long way since we had to teach him how to swim.

My wonderful aunt who hosted us and snuggled Nell so that B and I could spend a little two on one time with our Tom throughout the weekend.


It’s nice to sometimes have absolutely no outside commitments but adhering to baby and toddler sleep needs and breathing in some fresh mountain air. I wasted no time taking advantage of my six week post partum clearance to swim and exercise again and jumped in and swam across the lake and back before we left while Tom and Nell were napping –  it was the most free I’ve felt in the water since Thomas was born. In short, a perfect long weekend.


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Comments

  1. Heather (Laptops to Lullabies) says:
    July 30, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    I totally hear you about solo parenting a newborn and a two-year-old! My husband works a lot of double shifts and often goes two weeks straight of solid nights. It can be very hard to stay upbeat when you’re that tired and overworked.

    I’ve been meaning to ask for your advice about taking the kids to church. My son is 25 months and my daughter is three months, so they are almost exactly on par with Thomas and Nell.

    We haven’t been great about attending mass in recent years, but C was just baptized yesterday and I really want to “come back” to the church, attend weekly, etc. But our two-year-old has been DIFFICULT and LOUD there, to say the least. Any advice for your Catholic peeps with little ones?

  2. Meredith says:
    July 30, 2012 at 3:21 pm

    Oh Emily, I SO SO SO feel you about that battle of trying to stay upbeat about your husband’s schedule and sometimes just not getting there. That’s been my battle this summer too.

    Glad you got away and got a chance to relax with some of that mountain air and water!

  3. lifeonprairiecreek says:
    July 30, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    What a beautiful family! So glad you all were able to enjoy some downtime.

  4. Mrs. 5C says:
    July 31, 2012 at 12:07 am

    I’m so glad you guys got a little break! And the M&M’s? Totally understand. :) We went to the beach with Rob’s family and Rob and I slept basically the entire first two days while the grandparents watched Katherine. I didn’t leave our room for the first 24 hours, and a bag of Milanos was the only thing in our room… so I ate nothing but Milanos for 24 hours. I’m sure that made some VERY high-quality breastmilk. Parent of the year, right here. ;)

  5. Ann E. says:
    July 31, 2012 at 6:38 am

    I can totally relate to a husband working full time / doing his MBA…however, I don’t have any little ones around, so I commend you for staying positive, as it sure is hard. I think the wives of people taking their MBA deserve to get the degree too, right? Keep up the good work, you are not alone and we will all get through this time and be so pleased that we did. Do you have a count down until he graduates? I do. I think I might even make a paper chain. :)

  6. Kim @ NewlyWoodwards says:
    July 31, 2012 at 3:41 pm

    Looks like a well-deserved vacation for all of you. How awesome that you can spend time at such a picturesque locale. And your family just gets more and more beautiful.

    And hurray for long stretches of sleep. I don’t even want you to tell me how long cause I’m sure I’ll be depressed about Henry’s progress. Any sleep tips for this momma would be much appreciated.

    I see you decided on the Double Baby Jogger. How do yu like it?