Refueling our tank!

Thanks to two sets of AMAZING Grandparents..... the hubs and I got a parenting break last week.

A real - FIVE day break.

It's always hard, isn't it?

You love your kids so much and don't want to leave them, but then again ... know you need a break and special time with your spouse.

That's where I was - totally stuck in the middle...

Wanting/needing a break, but with a pit in my tummy because I knew I would miss the girls before we boarded the plane.

And, as true as that was -- I've also been praying and pondering how to carve out more time for the hubs.

After all - WE are the girls' role model of a Godly marriage.

Right now, today - we are showing them how to love a spouse.

We are their example of compromise, teamwork and always being there... good times and tough times.

When you have these amazing babies.... things get a bit hectic and you put them before everything else.

Which includes each other - most of the time.

I want the girls to see the hubs and I wanting to spend time together - more than the occasional movie date or work party social.

I want them to each find someone special to share their lives with and I want that example to come from us.

I want them to SEE us love each other .... I want them to see us like each other.

We have a very deep love - and we don't want to lose that in the craziness of life.

Being gone takes planning, both physical and emotional........

The physical work of trying to get things in order so the girls don't skip a beat or miss their daily routine.

The emotional work - for both them and us.  Prepping their little hearts about being OK without us for a few nights - and prepping ourselves because we know our instinct is to want to rush right back to them when they are sad.

But the truth is - it's worth it when you return with more patience than you left with -- for BOTH the babies and your spouse.

We are so fortunate to have parents who understand and encourage us to take these breaks.

We know it's not easy caring for these little people for 5 straight days -- we know it's exhausting... we know it's taxing, but also know our parents never whisper a word of that to us.

Instead - they tell us how they will cherish the time they had ... the conversations, the silly things the girls did - the way they watched them sleep.

On our last night away we celebrated with a fancy "anniversary dinner".

A short time into the meal, we started chatting with the couple seated next to us.

I'd actually noticed them the day prior out by the pool - pretty amazing in the midst of thousands of people.

They seemed to be in their mid 50's.... but REALLY enjoying each other.

You could see the love in their conversation.... it's what caught my eye.

After a few minutes of casual banter - we discovered they were also from Minnesota!

And minutes later --- that they are parents of TRIPLET girls.

We immediately connected with them and spent the next 2 hours talking.

Their girls, now age 22, are all graduating from college this year.

They are all at DIFFERENT colleges -- and will come together for each graduation.

They were so sweet - offering some advice, but mostly saying we'd figure out how to parent three daughters as we go along.

Their most important tip for us?

To stay connected to EACH OTHER along the way.

The went on to tell us how much fun they'd been having the past 4 years since becoming empty nesters.

Of course they miss their girls being at home...

Just imagine THREE daughters graduating and going off to college at the same time?!?!

But - they attribute their happiness to staying in tune with each other throughout the years.

The confessed it wasn't easy, but looking back ... time well spent.

It doesn't always have to be a week long vacation, but carving out that special time is so important and so easily shelved, they mentioned.

How true it is.

It wasn't a chance encounter with that lovely couple.

Not a coincidence.

It was perfect timing on our last night away... as we were literally itching to get back home.

We both left dinner feeling relaxed and spent the next 24 hours enjoying our quiet, our freedom and each other.

Time slips away ... it had been six years since we last vacationed together.

SIX YEARS.

So much has transpired and we wouldn't change a minute, but as the lovely empty nester couple from MN solidified......

It's worth the effort, the planning, the money and often a few tears from the girls...... to show them mommy and daddy's love is very important and we actually want to be together!!

Taking breaks from parenting is somewhat like refueling an empty tank of gas.

Its very difficult to get anywhere on E......

Just ask me - perhaps I've been in that boat a time or two in my life!

A BIG THANKS to Grandma P, Grandpa C, Grandma J and Papa R for their selfless giving.

There is almost no way we could have gone without knowing they were in such great hands.

Here we are just hours before we boarded our plane back to MN!

Very relaxed and in love :):)

With love,

Cuz I'm the mama!