Girls trips are quite possibly the best. invention. ever.
This year was especially fun and especially relaxing. Or maybe I just needed it especially bad. Ha.
Props to my wonderful hubby who always shoves me out the door and tells me to have fun. He knows I need a break once in a while, and how recharged I am when I come home. He never complains about having to watch the kids or re-arrange his schedule. Plus, everyone is alive when I get back. So, bonus. I am lucky to have him.
And I am so lucky to have these girls. Over the years they have become like family. I think of them more as sisters than friends. They still love me on my ugly days, listen to me cry and whine, aren’t afraid to call me out when I need to be called out, and inspire me to do better and be better in my everyday life.
There was a time when we all saw each other at least weekly if not daily – between the gym, play dates, park days, the pool, school, church, sewing night, and girls nights. But in the last year or two most of us have become crazy busy (and exhausted) with kids of all ages, heavy duty church callings, and life in general. We’ve been through A LOT in the last few years. Between the six of us on this trip we are the mothers to 21 kids at 7 different schools! Yikes. It is starting to feel like this girls trip is one of the very few times we all get together and spend some quality time.
This was the fifth year we were able to pull it off. (Not easily). We kept it close to home this time, ditched back to school night, and headed just an hour up the road to the nice Marriott Newport Villas. We crashed Crystal Cove, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach and it was perfection. Besides a gray day or two, we couldn’t have asked for anything better. Got to shop (scored some great stuff), eat a bunch of delicious food (mmm TK burger), reunite with old friends (miss you Lauren!), and lay on the beach with nothing but a towel, book, and diet Coke in hand. This was MY kind of vacation.
And of course the best part: all the wonderful talks, late night laughs, and getting ready to go out on the town with no crazy schedule to keep or kids crying in the background. That really is a luxury these days, and one that immediately makes me feel like I’m carefree and in college again.
Our numbers were fewer this year, (missed you Wendy and Eve!) and it is getting harder and harder to get away. But it is SO worth it! And something I hope to continue for years to come.
Memories I don’t want to forget:
- the hour long trolley ride with the singing driver
- squeezing in an early workout with Chantel
- TK Burger – the food, and the GREAT talk we all had in that little burger joint. Tears were shed over fatty fries and fry sauce. Mmmm fry sauce.
- surprising Lauren
- Shannon dancing across the street in front of the car when we dropped her off at her brother’s birthday party
- a certain steamy/hilarious text that was never sent
- the amazing wonton chips and mango salsa at Aloha Grill
- Texas waffles
- And… the hairy guy that kept hitting on Krystal and Chantel while they tried to play Smashball
Hahaha. Long live girls trip!
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