For Christmas Brandon surprised me with a trip to Sister's Oregon. He rented a great little place in Black Butte for 3 nights and arranged for Grammy, Amy, and Katie to help with the kids. It always takes a bit of planning to make sure everyone has a place to go and that things are as "fair" as possible but we figured out a plan that I think everyone liked and that worked for Grammy who was taking on a majority of the kids. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! everyone for the help and time away!
Before we left I made a trip to Walmart with a Christmas gift card from Nana and bought the kids some special treats and new things to play with while we were gone.
We left after naps on Wednesday, dropped a couple of kiddos off at Amy's house and then went to Safeway before heading out of town.
I know this is silly but one of the little things I've grown to love about our trips is going to the grocery store. Normally grocery shopping is routine. We usually do grocery pick up somewhere and if I do have to go into a store, it's in and out before anyone has a meltdown. The shopping is practical and planned and as affordable as I can make it. However, when we go away we always go to a nicer store, we splurge to buy the fun stuff, we usually only have a partial list and wing the rest, and look at me shopping with this tiny cart that could definitely not feed even a quarter of my family. I LOVE IT!!!
We hit a little bit of snow on our way through the pass but nothing too crazy and arrived safely at our destination just before dinner time.
For dinner we drove into Sisters and went to Three Creeks Brewing. They had some tents set up outside with heaters and although it was pretty cold it was still nice to feel like we were eating out.
Brandon makes the best breakfasts!
This picture is from at home but Brandon also makes delicious coffee.
Day 2, New Years Eve, was spent mostly out and about. We drove into Bend and spent the first part of our time wandering around a Barns and Noble. We bought a book for Brandon and some gifts for the kids. Then we went to Jamba Juice and Target before grabbing an early dinner at a Mexican food restaurant in Sisters that also had outdoor seating.
Then we came home and I finally learned how to play Catan!
DAY 3 was our down day. We did end up making a quick trip into town because someone forgot their yoga pants but it worked out alright because on the way back we grabbed burgers at a place called Sno Cap that Brandon had been wanting to try. The burgers were great and we met a family while we waited who had 2 year old twins with them which was kinda fun!
We spent the afternoon playing more Catan and going for a walk.
To wrap up the day we had appetizers and drinks, a good conversation, ravioli, and watched Friends.
I'm never quite ready to head back but alas the time has come. We spent the morning of Day 4 packing up, I found some time to journal and write down some of the New Years goals we'd been talking about and that I'd been thinking about the past few days, and then we headed back into Sisters for a few more quick souvenirs before heading home to our crew!
Until next time...
