Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A Weekend In The Country

 I love getting to spend time with my boys. They both make me laugh so much, and they are a consistent reminder that being dirty is fun and expected. This weekend was an exceptional reminder that we need our family time.

We spent the weekend at James' company's lease, and we had so much fun. I loved getting to know James' co-workers better, and it was so nice to just unplug for a bit. It was an absolute nightmare to get Friday off of work, but it worked out for the best, because Cullen wound up feeling less than great on Thursday afternoon. I would have been at home on Friday anyway.

We started out our Friday morning with a family trip to the ENT. A couple of rounds of antibiotics, allergy meds, etc, and we were on our way. While we waited, Cullen decided that he wanted his "glasses like Daddy." After a bit of work, he was so proud to show off his new look. This picture reminds me that I should probably brush his hair sometimes. Maybe.
A little after lunch, we headed south for Alice, Texas. It was a long drive that involved a couple of naps and a lot of reading time. I'm always so thankful that James likes to drive on road trips. We saw some parts of Texas that were new to me, and we got plenty of time to catch up. It's funny to me how easy it is to lose track of the little things when work and life take over. Road trips have been a favorite of mine for years, because James and I always find something good to get into. 
We all stayed up late Friday night laughing and talking around the fire. Admittedly, a big part of why I stayed up as late as I did was an effort to wear myself out. I figured if I was exhausted, I wouldn't realize I was in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. If it hadn't been so darn cold, it would have worked. I piled almost all of the blankets on Cullen, so it was a long night for me. We used the heater the second night. Oops.

All day Saturday, Cullen ran around and enjoyed the great outdoors. The lease was full of hunting, animals (live and hunted), and guns. You know... Just one of those traditional weekends with our family. Cullen got to see three deer get cleaned over the course of the weekend, so James explained to Cullen that the dead deer were mean. Completely different from reindeer and entirely unrelated to Christmas. Sunday night, I found Cullen in bed talking to his animals about reindeer and mean deer.

Cullen napped like a champ on Saturday. Sweaty, dirty, and prepping his little body for a wild afternoon.
Cullen loved tossing trash and bits of wood into the fire pit. We let him practice while it was just embers, and he was ready to toss everything in by the time the fire was going on Saturday night.  
Cullen had lots of adventures with so many different animals. He saw cows, deer, bunnies, geckos, etc. I think his favorite part was not having to take a bath all weekend, because my options for him were a cold shower or dirt. I opted for dirt. 
Just mowing the grass... 
Making new cow friends. 
Saturday night was a great night to sit around the fire and make s'mores. Cullen only ate a few bites, but he seemed pretty thrilled with the chocolate and melty marshmallow.

It was pretty clear to me that the fresh air did Cullen some good. He slept pretty well on Saturday night. I'm always entertained by what he finds comfortable. 
After a weekend off, it was just beyond me to cook dinner. Let's just call it what it is. Lazy. We went to Double Dave's where Cullen can waste food eat for free. Cullen loves their pizza and pepperoni rolls, so we were all happy.
Of course, James shared his dessert pizza with Cullen. Cullen promptly got chocolate all over his face and then cleaned his face with his sleeve. It's hard to tell, but he's showing off his dirty, chocolate hand here.
Between the lease and his pizza dinner, Cullen got an extra long bubble bath on Sunday night. He's even cute when he's dirty.
Monday night, we made plans to meet Megan and Lee for dinner. They are two of Cullen's favorite people, so he generally acts a little less like a two year old when they're around. Some chips and a push pop for dinner made Cullen really happy.

Work has been ridiculously busy for me. My favorite person on my team got to move on to bigger and better accounts, so I feel a little out of place these days. I'm working more hours to keep up with changes and training of the new assistant, but I'm holding out hope that it will all balance out soon. In the mean time, I'm just thankful I have a job with a great company. And even more thankful that James has a great job with a great company. We may be stressed sometimes, and things aren't always perfect, but we sure are blessed!

xoxo ashley

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