Last week was my kids’ spring break and I took them to my in-law’s cabin in Grand Lake. While it was not exactly as refreshing as a beach escape (it was negative-seven degrees one morning!) it was so nice to get away for an extended time! I went up on Friday with the kids and Dave, then Dave left on Sunday (no spring break for him) and TIFFANY BROUGHT HER KIDS UP ON MONDAY!

It was the first MA! Retreat! As I write this, actually, it is April 1 and it is EMERSON’S BIRTHDAY, which also means MA! IS ONE YEAR OLD! What an amazing journey this has been so far.

Tiffany and I planned to be up there and attempt to plot out the next six months or so, but we realized that it was simply nice just to BE. Our time together has always been tight and we have to STUFF everything from budgeting to brainstorming into our one-hour lunches! She lives in Colorado Springs and I live in Denver, so we meet in Castle Rock over lunch and sprint through an agenda. (Once, she ordered chocolate cake while I was in the bathroom and we both felt so decadent for taking extra time for this luxurious splurge.)

So, suddenly, we were in the peaceful mountains, a bottle of wine between us and kids in bed (and out of bed and in bed and out of bed…) and we just TALKED! We took tangents. We explored our past and discussed our current lives outside MA!

Nope, we don’t have the next six months outlined, but there is no doubt in my mind that MA! is stronger because our understanding of one another, and care for one another, is deeper.

Here are a coupla pics from our time up there — we never found a way to get a picture of all of us together. There was one moment at a restaurant when we were waiting for take-out that we thought might work… but the kids started melting down and we exchanged that panicky “this-is-all-going-to-fall-apart-any-second” look, and rushed out.