Long overdue

This past weekend I had my first “girl’s weekend” since I have been married. Yes, that means it has been TWELVE years since I have slept away from my kids and my husband (I have been without Seth and without my kids a few times but never both at the same time). It isn’t something I am accustomed to, well, until this weekend.

I went to St. George with my two sister-in-laws and mother-in-law. That may or may not sound appealing to some but please keep in mind that in my case, I really do like my mother-in-law (and other than this post I call her “Mom”) and both of my sister-in-laws that came along are great. I can certainly out-talk any of them but that doesn’t likely come as a surprise to any of you that know me. We gabbed, gabbed, and gabbed some more – no topics off limits (sorry Abby). We laughed about stupid things and laughed so hard we cried about even stupider things!

Why is it when you get together with girls you act about 14?!

Abby showing her inner desire to be a dancer.

Smelling the roses!

I drove most the time which was often quite scary considering how well I don’t know my way around St. George but we survived. We ate out more than I care to think about (never eating at home once during the trip), but the food was quite good every time. We walked through a handful of antique shops on main street. Mom loves to shop for antiques and although I don’t really have any myself, I enjoyed window shopping for them as well. The weather couldn’t have been nicer. We enjoyed 85 degree weather the entire time. I am pretty sure we all came home with at least mild sunburns.

I also convinced the Johnson gals that it was time for their first pedicure. I am not sure they loved them as much as I do but I think they seemed to enjoy it. What is better than having clean, soft feet with a nice vibrant color for summer?! It was funny to watch them laugh from their feet being touched and then cringe from the clipping of the cuticles but overall it was a new, fun experience for them.

We’ve decided this is a must again for next year. Maybe a new place, maybe a day or two longer but definitely a must. A special thanks to my Dad and Kathy for letting us stay at their home. They are back in Alaska for a few months so we basically had a palace to ourselves at no cost to us. It made for a very affordable trip, although I am pretty sure that we all spent at least that much shopping! We also took their cute yellow golf cart for a spin and believe it or not, fit all four of us in it as we drove down to breakfast.

Rachel and Abby shared the bunk beds and I stayed in the other bed in the room. So cozy!

Definitely the highlight of the trip was Nertz (a game similar to Solitaire, except for four people). Okay, not really. I actually completely stunk at the whole game and was so bad they let me make up my own rules for myself. Thanks to Rach, I now know a new game that I will probably never play again, unless forced. Playing games with the Johnson girls isn’t good for the ego. I would be willing to bet that they will win without much contest on any word game. I did win a lengthy game of Trivia Pursuit via the ipod touch but I am certain that was pure luck, and they would likely agree.

Meanwhile back on the home front is Seth and six kids. Surprisingly, things went well, or so he pretends, but I will let him fill you in on that in the next post. I was greeted by excited kids and cute signs on the door. I will say when I arrived home the house was very clean, laundry done, and a real home-cooked dinner cooking in the oven. I am still trying to figure out who he hired. I’ll let you know when I find out.