Weekend Getaway

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That is a picture of Sam and I taken Sat. evening at the resort pool. I wanted to post a picture of Paul and the boys I took outside the resort's sign, but it turned out blurry. So, you're getting this instead!

For the most part, it was a relaxing weekend. We didn't plan anything at all, which I'm sure made it boring for the boys. But we just wanted to get away. We weren't sure what all amenities would be at this resort and since we'd only be there for 3 days, we didn't want to plan a lot. Our last experience at a resort was up at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. Now that was a resort! This place at Okaboji? Not so much! But we had the chance to swim and watch movies. The boys liked the arcade and were constantly bumming quarters off us. They mini-golfed at the resort's indoor course. I wasn't terribly impressed with the mini-golf course or the resort itself. But it was free, so I'm not going to complain. But I wouldn't go back as a paying customer.

Paul and I did do some antiquing. Ok, we did a LOT of antiquing! I'm sure that didn't add to the boys' enjoyment, either. We've just really gotten into this over the past few years. It's kind of an expensive hobby, though! Paul likes to look for his antique cars and trucks and pieces for his collection of old-time tins. I'm looking for all kinds of things. I did find a piece for my growing enamelware collection - a pot in almost perfect condition. I was really excited about that! That almost never happens. Enamelware dings pretty easily and then the gray shows through when it does. The handles tend to corrode pretty easily, too. I ended up getting that, another large pot with a lid, and a long-handled small pot. Paul found that last one for me. I'm going to need a bigger kitchen if I keep getting this stuff! I also found a red bowl from the 1930s and a pretty lime one from the 1950s. I bought those purely for practical use - I need more bowls. But I love that they are old! Paul was thrilled to find this huge framed painting of a farmstead in the fall. It has a John Deere tractor in the field, with a buck lying beside it. He had to have it. Now we'll have to figure out where we can hang it! I'm kind of running out of wall space.

We watched the best movie yesterday before leaving. The resort had a "theater." I put that in quotations because it wasn't much of a theater. It was simply dvds shown on a large screen. But we watched "Marley and Me." We both loved it - such a good story! I think the boys were a bit bored with that, too. Poor kids.

One thing they did like was a nearby bug exhibit we visited as we were leaving. It was a visiting display of these huge - like 7 or 8 feet in diameter - wooden bugs. There is a conservatory up there at Okaboji. It turned out that the boys had previously read about these bugs in one of their issues of Highlights magazine and they were thrilled to discover them right there where we were!

Ben was still weepy this weekend. That made things hard for me. I never know anymore when he's going to burst out bawling and it's really stressful! The licking has become a major problem again and I'm so tired of hearing, "I promise I'll never do it again, Mom!" I called his dr. this morning and he's prescribing a low-dose sedative for him that will hopefully get him some more sleep and end these crying jags. The ride home last night was almost unendurable with him. I feel so inadequate to be his mother right now.

But it wasn't a bad weekend. It is always nice to get away, particularly if getting away doesn't involve camping. I know Paul, especially, seems to need that. He gets so stressed out with everything going on his life that if he doesn't have a date that he can anticipate where he'll be taking a break, he has a rough time. Even he says that. So he's already counting down the months until we go visit the Creation Museum next year! I think the boys will have a better time on that trip. And as for me, I really don't care where we go, as long as we have these opportunities to make memories and enjoy eachother. Someday when the boys are grown and scattered, memories of times like these will be very precious.