while Mama's away...

Last weekend I had the chance to head out of town to spend a few days in Spokane with my dear friend Kate from college.   Of course spending time with her was the best part of the trip, but I'm not gonna lie…traveling by myself was a great side perk.  It was SO easy to get through the airport, I got to read (as in, a book!) the entire time on the plane.  Forgot what that was like!  And as for the weekend up north, we spent one full day on Priest Lake in Idaho with Kate's mom and dad and her mom's college roommate Val who was visiting from Texas.  A super fun day in the sun!  And the next day I got to help Kate with her 3 boys, as her hubby Drew got the day off to go to the Husky game.  All in all, super fun girl time and so great to reconnect with a fabulous friend.  Thanks for everything Kate!

not a bad lunch spot

Captain Eric

the view as we were heading home from the lake.  Soooo pretty up there!

Kate's 3 boys are adorable.  Ben, almost 7, Ty is 4 1/2, and Dylan, 18 months.  It was really great to hang out with them, while I was not busy managing my own two kiddos.  Kids really are fun when you're not in charge of everything else at the same time!

And while I was away, Eddy did a fabulous job keeping these two happy and safe.  He even managed to get them all to the Cal game, for which the Bears won by a surprising amount.  I told him they seem to be a good luck charm, and he might need to take both kids to every game this year.  We'll see if that happens...

decked out in their blue and gold finest (K's first Cal game -- apparently she did great)

And then these sweet faces greeted me for lunch on Sunday after I flew home.  Leaving definitely does make it so much better when you get home!