Getting Out of Town: Top 10 Reasons A Winter Get Away Works

Miss A in her New Outfit....she was getting so excited for our friends to arrive on New Year's Eve and could hardly sit still.. I think I have 14 pictures of her jumping up and down!

We just got back yesterday after a few days at our family Lake House. Realizing that we live in the middle of the country and the temps have been below zero with frigid windchills for days, you might wonder why it was worth it to pack up half the house and head to a frozen lake.

Granted Miss A wanted to take her swimsuit along just in case we decided to go swimming and Mr. C was convinced he could fish a little off the dock with his new bobbers, there weren't any "lake activities" involved in this little trip.

For two and a half days, we got to spend time with our "lake friends." They are a family we enjoy so much in the summer and now realize that, in winter, they are fun to hang out with, too. It was weird not to have dinner down by the dock or go on a boat ride to the Marina, but trekking between the snow in the sand made for some new "memories."

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A change of scenery does wonders for your spirit. A little bit of shake up of the "routine" makes for some fun family times. Plus, with about 15 inches of snow on the ground and temps so cold, we were starting to get "cabin fever" at our own house so why not go to the cabin to see some different walls and furniture!

Miss M vegging with PW's Cookbook

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Here's my top 10 reasons we enjoyed our little winter getaway....

1. Having a friendly neighbor snow plow our two driveways so that when we arrived we didn't have to push around 3 to 4 foot drifts in the driveway. In fact, there was a little path he'd made between our two houses that made me smile.

2. Cracking up on the way to the Lake when C asked us to have another "staycation" this summer at the lake and M said "yeah, I like to go on vacation I just don't like the going there" and Miss A in all seriousness said "M, why do you have to be so complicated" Really, what 5 year old talks like that!!

3. Hanging out and sharing meals, game time, and New Years Eve with another family and not feel the pressure to make fancy hor d' oeuvres or get all dressed up and have the house spotless. It's the cabin after all, it's all casual.

Waiting for the New Year....

4. The kids loved playing Taboo and Apples to Apples and competing as "families." Miss M gets really into the clue giving at Taboo! The kids played card games and Operation, learned Tripoly and Spoons and came home wanting to learn more and turn off the TV and gaming systems and just "play games"!

Miss A and her friend "playing" a card game. These two crack me up

5. The meals were no stress Pioneer Women's Cinnamon Rolls, Hoagies with all the fixings, and Pizza Night! Easy making, easy cleanup, and plenty of mouths to eat the food so no huge leftovers.

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6. Seeing the snow covering the deck out back and the fact that I could walk right onto the deck's benches from the sun room is a "picture " I'll carry this summer when it's hot and the deck is filled with sand shoes and wet towels.

Check out that snow - I walked right out onto the benches.

7. Celebrating New Years' Eve on New York Time so we can all go home and get in our jammie's before midnight. It was even fun to watch the "Red Bull Jump" although their idea of "any minute" is a little different than mine. (Let's just say they made it sound like the jump would happen imminently when in actuality it was hours off)

Happy 2010!!! Happy New Year

8. Waking up on New Year's Day to a snow covered back yard and seeing the frozen lake silent and still.

9. Watching my brave but chilly husband escort all the children out on the frozen lake. They loved walking across the "cove" and sliding around. I think he was just thrilled C did not have use his "water rescue" Boy Scout skills to rescue anyone who fell thru the ice!! Guess the fact that the ice was 8 inches deep and then had a layer of 3 inches of snow on top helped, too.

Running across the lake to the house across the cove; Look at all that snow. No boats or wake in sight. No need for sunscreen either!

10. Sleeping in Saturday morning and then sharing our last breakfast together before cleaning up and heading back into town. We brought the chocolate chip muffins and they shared their blueberry muffins.

Bonus: Coming home Saturday at lunchtime, we stopped at Panda Express and all three kids cheered for the treat and the fact that it made for a great end to our "mini vacation" Getting away for just a few days with some great friends and a fun family. Priceless.