Kid Free= Care Free

 After 21 months of Owen's life, we were finally ready to leave the nest together on a getaway. Chris and I have both gone away to various things~ bachelor/bachelorette parties, girls trips to Napa, Tahoe, etc, however one of us was always with Owen. Wynt did stay the night for Jac's wedding since we weren't sure when we were coming home, and my mom did for Jamie's wedding, but we came home and slept in our beds those nights. The weather last week was looking a little intimidating... Wynter was saying it was going to clear up, Chris was saying it was going to snow like the dickens. I was in the middle thinking... Even IF we can't make it up to Tahoe, I'm staying in a bed and breakfast in Placerville, or even going to Sacramento for the night with Chris. It's not that often that you get the opportunity to go away for 2 nights with your spouse... It had been since June 2010 when we went to Point Arena for our babymoon. That trip was the most relaxing trip we have ever taken. Point Arena is...well... A peninsula with a lighthouse on it. No town. No restaurants. Nothing! We stopped at Whole foods on our way into our Lighthousekeeper's cabin, and stocked up. We read books, went on walks, watched movies, and took naps. We were attempting to stockpile a few hours of sleep for what was to come. I digress. Onwards to Tahoe. From the photo above, we obviously made it. Aunt Jac and Uncle Colin were staying at our home with Owen for the weekend. Jac's boss Jackie heard we were stressing about the weather and offered her 4WD luxury lexus SUV for us to borrow for the weekend. So long hand crank windows of the truck, and hello seat warmers!! Talk about peace of mind-as the snow started to come down, I asked Chris when his last time he drove in snow was... And he said he doesn't think he has ever really driven in snow... Yipes... We made it up safe and sound, and the sun was out in Tahoe.

 We were a little lost (figuratively), walked around, window shopped, and enjoyed a peaceful dinner together. We skipped the lounge at Embassy Suites, as it sounded like Blues Clues meets the 9th hour of daycare. We were the only ones dining at the restaurant side, and the silence was a hilarious contrast to the lounge noise and highchair roadblocks.

 The next morning, Wynt and Dave showed up around 8. Dave heard that the snow was going to be stellar, so he suggested we go to Heavenly that day. Within the hour we were pulling up to an almost empty parking lot. SWEET! I needed to rent some equipment, and I felt like the odd duck out of us 4. I borrowed Ava's (age 6) helmet, was wearing a variety of borrowed gear, and couldn't coordinate my glasses with the goggles. After some loving criticism from Dave and Chris I was settled and comfortable, and we hit the slopes.

 Dave and his turquoise helmet were easy to spot.

 The. Snow. Was. Amazing!

 Freeeeeeeee! Nothin like the quiet out in the mountains!

 Expensive food break.

 Clipping back in after the lift ride. A key perk to skiing versus snowboarding.

 LOVE! We hadn't done this since high school...

 The day continues... We went out to dinner, then bowling, then gambling, then to see Hunger Games. We were making up for lost time! We didn't go to sleep until almost 2...

 I was the biggest loser... But we had fun.

The Aubins hadn't been bowling before. They had tried multiple times in their years, but this time, we walked right up and there was a lane waiting for us.

The next morning we all slept in, drank coffee on the couch and chatted with no agenda for the day, went to Sprouts for brunch, walked along the lake, and stopped at a little wine tasting cabin. We did as much as we could, and it still felt relaxing. This is a potent type of medicine: being responsible for yourself and only yourself for a little while. To all parents out there, I highly recommend this. We admittedly waited a little too long, but we didn't feel ready. Chris is hooked on a little one on one time, he jokingly said he wanted to get away every weekend off (every other weekend!). I'm so glad we all had a blast and it was crazy to finish conversations!

A HUGE thank you to Jackie for letting us borrow her car (we want one now!).

A GRANDE thank you to Aunt Jac and Uncle Colin for Owen watching, chicken feeding, and Blue feeding all weekend! Owen had so much fun and we didn't worry one bit. I wish Owen would have slept better the first night, but ya never know how he is going to sleep. Colin said with a big grin at the end of the weekend, "Chels, I would watch Owen almost anytime!" They both work with kids all through the week, so to have Owen all weekend was a true trial for what parenting will be like someday.