Friday, March 16, 2012

What A (long) Weekend, Part I - Bee Creek Retreat

Our spring break consisted of a 4 day weekend this year (which is odd considering I am a student and Mac works at a university but, oh well) so we tried to pack in as much spring break fun as humanly possible.

Friday morning we drove down to Mac's uncles vacation house just north of Cliffton to hang out with Mac's two uncles Jimmy and Cliff, crazy aunt Karen, and grandmother Walker. The drive was alright; we thought leaving at naptime would inspire Gideon to sleep the whole way but he resisted mightily. I finally told Mac to stop for gas and then went into the suitcase for Chip, Ellie, and a blankie. Once he was all tucked in Gideon went right to sleep (Mama victory!). Right after we heard his little snores coming from the backseat we drove past an old guy sitting by the road next to two festively dressed donkeys and holding a handwritten sign that simply said "Pictures". It was extremely difficult not to turn around and wake Gideon up for the photo op.

Not long after we arrived at Uncle Cliff's Bee Creek Retreat (named for the creek that runs through the property), he took us out in his "buggy" (i.e. the yamaha Rhino 4 wheel drive vehicle) to check out the property. We went down to the creek, dipped our toes in, and then Mac drove the buggy back up to the house via the scenic route. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little terrified as I clutched the baby on my lap as we hurtled over rough terrain without seatbelts in a 2 seater with essentially no doors, but Gideon seemed to enjoy it. After lunch and a failed nap attempt we took the buggy back to the creek for some family time. Gideon sat in the creek, soaking up creekwater with his diaper (which later exploded spectacularly), stacking river rocks, and trying to make big splashes by throwing the largest stones he could find in the slimy creek bed. It was pretty cute and all three f us had fun exploring.


When Gideon started to shiver we got out and laid in the grass, sorting sticks, play sword fighting, and enjoying the wonderful weather.









Back at the house we found everyone waking from naps and the uncles kidnapped Mac to help them with some work. Apparently this work involved Cliff almost killing them when the buggy broke and went careening backwards towards a tree. Luckily it is something we are all laughing about now. Later Cliff and Jimmy went to get some really tasty burgers from town for dinner. Not long after, Gideon went down with his usual amount of fussiness and then we got out the dominoes. Chicken Foot was fun but Mexican Train is now one of my new favorite games, probably because I actually won a couple of times. I think it is time to invest in some dominoes for the house.

The next morning we had some of grandmothers breakfast casserole, took a few pictures, Mac helped load lumber and retrieve logs, and we hit the road in order to make it home in time for Miss Lyla Q's birthday party...
(Mac, Me, Grandmother (being pushed), Gideon (trying to push grandmother over), Karen, Jimmy, Cliff)

More pics of the beautiful land and our adorable son can be found here:

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