To the Ranch. {Day 1}

I've put this off for a week--hoping I'd feel more in the mood to write about our family vacation. And even though I still feel too tender and unready to write this, I know I must. The whole experience had such a profound effect on me that it filled my heart to the brim and within those 5 short days a thousand memories were made. It was all so grand and spectacular and simple and tender. And here I'm left trying to put words to emotions and tell stories of the memories that played out. I'm feeling thoroughly inadequate--as I always do when I sit down to write. I just hope I can do this justice....

To begin, I can't really talk about this trip without saying that I have been researching a suitable family vacation for our family for over a year. And it took me util January to find the perfect place. One not too far away for a toddler to travel to, one within our budget, a place where we had never been before with beauty and quiet and solitude. And when I finally stumbled upon the "Island Ranch Retreat" I knew I had found our ticket.

While ideas circulated in the back of my mind through the long winter months, I didn't start officially planning until July. I had to get June out of the way. It was just too busy. So after the 4th, I diligently set to work planning and researching and preparing every last detail. I was more thorough than I have ever been planning everything from travel journal smash books, to road trip activities, to our food menu and grocery list, to bags and bags of carefully organized treasure hunts and special things to do at the ranch. I left nothing to chance---well, almost nothing. After planning sufficient activities to supply our vacation days and evenings, I left the exact timing and itinerary of how the days would play out to chance. I knew that as long as I had plenty of "items in the bag" so to speak, we could go with the flow of the days and meander through the days at a slow and steady pace. After all, this is exactly why I wanted to take my family to a 700 acre ranch...to get away from it all, to connect on a deep level, and make lasting memories. And I can honestly say we did just that.

{The first message in a bottle found before we left}

We left at 10:00 am on Monday morning--only one hour behind schedule. Our 5+ hour trip turned into 8 hours with frequent stops (since Maylie was potty trained literally the week before).
We stopped in Boise for "Linner" and then stocked up on groceries at Winco before heading up to Cascade.

As we started the trip, I hung up a green yarn timeline that we added to every hour of the trip with a hand drawn milestone of something we could see. And all during the trip I had my "Mary Poppins" bag well stocked with new activities for the children to do to prevent the fighting and crying we usually experience on road trips.

After all was said and done and we finally pulled into the ranch, I realized we had not even had to pull out my backup plan--a portable DVD player--borrowed from my parents. It was a miracle!

Pulling into the Ranch took my breath away. It was magnificent and even better than I had dreamed.

The sweet hosts had left us a snack basket, banana bread, and fresh fruit, along with a map of the property, and a description of all the trails around their acreage.

 I spent the remainder of the evening taking a tour of the Ranch house and settling in...

 I was in love with this little desk!

 The kitchen was beautiful (it even had granite countertops!)

 The view of the Ranch from one of the picture windows.

 The boys quickly got comfortable building all sorts of creative things with the blocks that the hostess lent us.

Each bedroom had it's own sink. See those pink flowers there? They were real. There were others in nearly every room. It was the little personal touches like this that made our stay so homey.

As I sat looking out over the Ranch on that first evening, I was in awe. All these creations of Heavenly Father right before my eyes and little me right in the middle of them. I felt so small and yet so connected to heaven. So blessed to be standing on the threshold of a never-to-be-forgotten vacation, and so eager for the days that lay ahead.