Mini-Vacay

Two weeks ago, Paul was given three free vacation days to use up by the end of the year, and we jumped on the chance for five whole days together immediately!   My dear friend from high school, Cara, lives up in the back woods of Door County, WI, and it had been far too long since I had seen her and spent some good quality time with her.  I had never been up that far north in my great state of Wisconsin, and thought it would be the perfect, budget friendly trip to take as a last minute vacation with our little family of three.

Wednesday morning we woke up around 8 and started preparing for the trip.  Paul took Zaylee girl with him to get the oil changed, while I cleaned the house and packed the bags.  Packing for a three, a baby being one of those, is a lot more work then you might think.  Babies have A LOT of needed things, and their little itty bitty clothes take up so much space when packing for five nights, which really means ten outfits for the occasional wetting through the first outfit of the day.  In Zaylee's case, this happened at least once every day of this trip!  I always worry she isn't getting enough milk, but with the way this girl has been peeing lately, I'm most certain she is, in fact, getting plenty!!
Zaylee is such a champ on car rides.  We are always amazed at how well she does just chilling in her seat talking to herself and her bunny boo.  It was about a five hour drive, with an hour bumper to bumper traffic.  During that dreaded hour, I went back for a bit with Zay and let her get out of her seat for some much needed stretching.  She LOVED it.  Her face lit up as she leaned against the window, jumping up and down on my lap.  Cars next to us would smile at her, which of course filled her with so much excitement.  It never gets old watching the animation on her little face as she sees new things and experiences things for the first time.  She is just so much fun!

We made it up to Cara's around 5:30, and were shocked by the amount of darkness that surrounded us as we navigated through the trees to find her house hidden among them.  She didn't mention to me that she lived in the middle of nowhere!  We found so much humor in this fact, as we joked about our city-slicker selves.  I always thought I was more country then I was city girl, until I pulled up to her house in the forest.  She greeted us in the driveway with her puppy Jax, and led the way up the porch to her humble abode.  It was a decorated in just my style, and I loved every bit of the house she had made her own.  Zaylee got acquainted quickly with Jax the dog, and Lola the cat.  This girl LOVES animals and is not one bit afraid of them.  We ate some pizza, and sat around talking the whole night just catching up on life and reminiscing on our old high school days. 

We woke up Thursday morning bright and early at 6:45!  There was no rushing back to sleep with the sunrise embracing us through the big open windows.  Zaylee was fascinated by all the trees that surrounded us, and the chickens running between the multitude of tall, slender, bare trunks.  We ate fresh eggs, and were blown away at the goodness that oozed out of those dark yolks soaking into our toast.  Oh the delicious difference in a fresh egg versus a store bought!  Paul will never enjoy an egg the same way...until he owns his own chickens some day :)

My attempt at a family self portrait.

Can you tell she LOVES being on daddy's shoulders?!

After our delicious breakfast the three Tabs headed out to our hotel in Egg Harbor.  We had plans to walk around to the different shops and have a nice meal out since we rarely ever eat out any more and it was vacation so it was a must!  Neither plan became reality, as the towns were something you see in a Zombie movie, and the restaurant that was open was a big disappointment on the ol' taste buds!  We weren't going to let anything get in the way of our fun family time, and just rolled with it.  The hotel allowed us to check in a few hours early, as we were one of the three guests staying there, and we set up our stuff in the room and headed to the pool!  The water was perfect, and we had the place all to ourselves.  Zay was ready for a nap so the first pool trip was a relaxing, snuggle time with my baby girl.  After naps for both of us ladies (2 1/2 hours!!) we headed back down for a more exciting dip in the water, full of splashes and giggles and big smiles. 

Since everything was a ghost town, we decided to order in some pizza and just enjoy some good family time by the fireplace in the room.  It was lovely!  Zaylee went to bed around 7:30, and Paul and I snuggled up to watch some cable TV.  I wouldn't change anything about that day if I could.  It was perfect!

After some average continental breakfast food, we headed back to hang out with Cara, and eat some more fresh eggs, obviously.  She lives close to the lake and a beautiful park called, Cave Point (I think!), and we walked along the shore for a bit before Zaylee couldn't handle the cold any longer.  More like, we couldn't handle the cold any longer!  We attempted some family pictures, but Paul wasn't in the mood and Zaylee was too distracted by the water and beauty all around us.  Paul prefers to live in the moment and truly hates when I whip the camera out and almost always says, "Manda just be here NOW with us, we don't need any more pictures!"  I do agree, however, I wanted a few family shots from our first family trip.  He of course obliged me, and looked ever so handsome in all of the pictures!!

There was a lot more talking, eating, and laughing that night, and it was a great time with my great friend.  I loved this relaxing, no agenda trip, and thoroughly loved our time as a family out of our ordinary routine just being with each other.  It was wonderful in every way, even in a Zombie land of no good food places to eat out of season!!