I LOVE THIS SHOT.... I just wish I was in it too!
On Friday, May 6th, my "Sensational 6" and I traveled to Richmond, VA to stay at the Sierra Hotel, on the grounds of the Short Pump Shopping Center. The night we arrived, we unpacked, ate at the world famous Cheesecake Factory, and then returned to our rooms to get our swimsuits on. We headed down to the fire pit/hot tub/pool area and spent well over an hour in the jacuzzi. It was so relaxing to just sit there and have UNINTERRUPTED conversations with my best friends. Afterwards, we went upstairs to our room and got comfy in our pajamas, pigged out on our "assigned" snacks, and had many wonderful and God glorifying conversations. We got pretty deep/personal. Developing our friendship is a tad more challenging with children present, so we made certain to make the most use of our time. We stayed up until 1 am and headed to bed. We made MANY wonderful memories, that's for sure.
On top of our serious conversations, we also had MUCH laughter. Our trip started off with a speeding ticket. YES, it was ME! I am definitely known to have a "heavy foot" but for this trip I worked extra hard to drive safe and slow. I didn't want to put my friends in danger, nor could I chance leaving my husband to face 5 other husbands and their children if something tragic happened. I thought the speed limit was 65 mph, but when I looked over at Jody, the speed limit changed to 60 mph. The cop said, "It changed about 8 miles back!" AHHHHHHH! Needless to say, I started my shopping spree $125 in the hole.
Erin Carroll was shaking literally. She said, "I've never been pulled over by a cop before." The girls made jokes about my question to the police officer, "May I ask why you pulled me over?" Isn't that a TYPICAL and COMMON SENSE question? SHEEESH! I seem to always be the target at a gathering. LOL! I guess it does make me feel loved in a sense.
After going to bed at 1 am on Friday night, a few of us were woken up 1 hour later to a massive drunk fest going on in our hotel's hallway. We were able to get the front desk to compensate us in a small way by allowing us a late check out, but that didn't help the lack of sleep some of us got. Erin said, "I literally got one hour of sleep last night!" Go figure, the one night we can get good sleep, we didn't.
On the way home, the car almost caught fire. Erin was trying to pump. Her adapter for the pump caught the car on fire, but Erin's reaction time was so quick, no damage took place. After much deliberation and attempts to find her an electrical outlet, we decided to head home. Poor Erin. Then, we decided to try a rest stop 15 miles up the road, where Erin was faced with making a VERY uncomfortable decision. For those of you who know her...you'd never believe this happened. She was forced to ask the rest stop attendant if she could use HIS office to pump. I'm sure that goes down as ONE of the MOST embarrassing moments for sweet, quiet, polite and VERY lady like Erin, but her charm allowed her to successfully pump using the attendant's office. While waiting for her to pump, we spotted Allison Ward and Mary Ward at the rest stop. What the heck? LOL!
We learned that our hubbies could most definitely survive and that is exactly why we plan to make this a yearly mother's day tradition. I'm not sure we've told them this yet! We figure we'd give it a good 9 months, just enough time for them to forget how hard that weekend away from mommy/wife really was, before telling them. :) We did learn that one hubby sent a massive text to the other hubbies which read, "I'm just not cut out for this!" Another hubby lost their child and had a neighbor return her. And one hubby was so scared to venture out with his two kids, so much, that he left his wife stranded with no keys and no way to get home. Good thing that's what friends are for. LOL! Enjoy the few photos taken of our trip.
We really missed you Dawn and Shannon. We pray you can come the next time!
Before I left town, I hand delivered a little "love note" to Shannon and Dawn, who could not make it on the trip. The note included some special sweet treats that I was assigned to bring. I wanted them to feel our presence and let them know that we would miss them.
The note read, "Rose are red. Violets are blue. This trip won't be the same without you!"
Traveling without car seats, strollers, diaper bags or KIDS! Once in a life time chance. Between the 5 of us, we were leaving 10 children behind. After shopping for multiple hours, we agreed the strollers actually do come in handy for bag transportation :)
Hanging out at the Cheesecake Factory. Ashely is laughing because the waitress was having the most difficult time using my camera. I said, "She's like a mom who takes forever to snap the perfect shot!" By the time the waitress finally figured it out, Ashely put her face in her hands. AHHHHH! Our only chance at a group shot.
I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun. ~ Chuck Swindoll
This is Erin's salad at the Cheesecake Factory. It was monstrous.
We let go of our pride and put on our swimsuits. We shared it all that weekend, secrets, body dimples, and morning beauty/breath. We had no shame. BUT NOTICE someone is missing in this picture.... she was the smart one who offered to take the photo. What mommy wants to be captured on camera in her swimsuit?
I LOVE THIS POST :):):):) HOW FUN!
ReplyDelete