A weekend get-away

This past weekend we had the pleasure of getting away as a family! This was some much needed R&R for our clan, and to top things off we got to be there with some wonderful friends, the Blooms! Eryn and James have two kids, Patrick is 5 and Ella is almost three, the perfect ages to combine for a great weekend! Eryn and James had been to this quaint little resort called Rippling Water Resort. It was small, but we were all able to fit very comfortably in one "cabin" w/ a full kitchen, three bedrooms and two baths. We arrived Friday night and James and Jeff fished.
Saturday morning was lazy as we prepared for a fun afternoon on the water. We rented a Pontoon Boat and headed down the lake. We stopped at Ha Ha Tonka State Park, hiked a little and ate lunch and headed back out. We found a little cove in which we managed to convince the men to take the children "swimming". It seems we forgot that it was only April and that swimming would consist of jumping in the lake, some major shreeking from some normally "manly" men and convincing our small children to jump in after them. Ella and Patrick only tried this once, our baby girl...3 times! The sun was nice and warm so the kids began to konk out. We headed back in and let the guys use the boat for the remainder of the time to do some fishing. The rest of the time was spent at the little play ground, the "beach", eating, chatting and roaming around.
Sunday we got up and took our time getting ready, Jeff, James and the kids did some more fishing and we loaded up. We took the families to Ha Ha Tonka again to visit the castle. More details will come on that!
So, needless to say, this was such a good time for our family. With everything going on, it was nice to escape the reality that has become life and enjoy our little one and some fun "firsts" for her!