Girl's Weekend

Being the jet setters that we are, when my Southwest Ding! icon popped up a while back, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the capitol of the Gem state, Boise, Idaho (city motto: "energy peril success"- what in the world?). But not only does Boise offer the best grilled salmon sandwich that I've ever tasted, it's also home to our great friends, Jen and Mark McBride, whom Mia and I got to spend the weekend with. We left the boys home to veg in front of the TV while eating Mac and Cheese straight from the pan and freely eliminating bodily gases, while Mia and I enjoyed our first getaway together.

In actuality we were sicker than dogs and really appreciate our hosts for not complaining while we coughed and hacked all over their house. But the sun shone all weekend, the kids had a blast playing, Jen and I got in a few marathon chatting sessions late into the night, and I also got to meet up with my friend from high school, Neva, and her cute little family (best part: watching her oldest son's recently frozen wart fall off and bleed all over- good times huh Neva?).

The best part though, was how amazingly angelic Mia was. So much so that I began to wonder if I had done her a huge disservice by deciding to have more children. It was heavenly to enjoy a trip mostly free of tantrums, meltdowns, bickering, and bedtime battles (OK, one meltdown the last night after skinning her knee). Seriously, was it the altitude? Because not even 20 minutes after being home she was fighting with Sam, whining, and generally freaking out. We've been "blessed" with this return to normalcy ever since. Oh, and just a few hours after arriving home, I developed conjunctivitis in both eyes, and spent an exciting 2 hours waiting at Urgent Care, only to have it pretty much clear up on its own in the waiting room. That's the way we like our Urgent Care trips: pointless and kind of embarrassing.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time in Boise, despite being sick and hardly sleeping at all- Thank you McBrides! We miss you! Jen, Mark, and their beautiful girls.

Photo by Mia- do we look tired?

The girls enjoying a little "slumber party" minus the slumber part.