BlackWater Down!!

Well, well, well lots to tell.  We are back from our little anniversary getaway in Cambridge, MD.  Three days is the perfect amount of time to get some quality time with the hubs and just enough time for me to miss the kids, pack it up, and head home.  I can NOT report good news on the eating front.  We had wonderful intentions, oh I can't do it, I can't lie to all of you.  I personally knew in my heart I was not going to deny myself any food.  I had a sensible breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and dinner was usually shared appetizer, and a salad with a protein.  Desserts were the downfall.  I subscribe to the bliss point.  It is the perfect combination of sugar, salt, and fat to make our brains emit endorphins or feely goods.  I felt good after every dinner :). 

The food was not the health success of the getaway; the bicycle adventure that I am going to share with you was.  We scoped out nearby biking trails and found a really cool nature preserve only a few miles away.  It is called the Blackwater nature preserve.  Once we found out the name of the preserve, in my head I kept thinking BLACKWATER DOWN! BLACKWATER DOWN!  you know, like in the movie, Blackhawk down, I know weird.  We hit the trail at 1000 hours on Thursday.  There are two options, the 20 mile loop and the 25 mile loop. We decide to do the 20 mile loop.  At our first intersection, I realized I forgot the map, what???? Rookie mistake.  We just went with our gut and continued on...It was so beautiful.  My hubs and I were riding along, talking, sharing a beautiful moment...until...he turned into a 16-year old.  About mile 6 he just takes off, well I just let him go.  He shoots right past the turn we should have taken and we end up on this narrow road off of the bike path, he finally stopped and waited for me.  I was not happy.  We turn around, I show him the sign, stop at the car, and say, "We are at least riding 10 miles and ending on a good note".  We got back on the bike path and did just that.  What happened to 20 miles, I don't know.  I should definitely, always remember the map. 

Here are a few pictures of the Blackwater Wildlife Preserve:

There were many different bird species just hanging out.

 

The bike path was like an island, one false move...

 

Hubs

 

Whoa hair!

That was definitely outside of our comfort zone but something we will do again.  This is definitely worth the drive.  It is about 2 hours away and only costs $1 per bike, crazy awesome.  Just do it!

The first day the kids were here without us, it was supposed to go like this...They were to take the bus home, meet the sitter at the stop, come to the house, do homework, and whoever had practice, get ready for practice.  It was picture week so their forms were all filled out, ready to go. 

3:25 I get a phone call, Bella took the wrong bus...WHAT?  She has taken the same bus for 4 years!!! Initiate mom fix it from Maryland mode.

3:35 I get a call from the sitter,"I cant find the kids I missed them coming off of the bus".  I told the sitter, "don't worry, they are down at the house".  Nope not at the house, hit panic button!!  Calling all neighbors...Where are my children?Yep at the neighbors!  Whew, ok fast forward to 5:00pm.  My mom picks up the kids, one of them heads to practice and remember it's picture day.  5:35 I get a phone call, "David left his picture form at home".  Ummm clearly these children hatched some sort of evil plan to stress their parents out on their STRESS FREE vacation, yeah it worked. (Key in My Kid's Evil Laughter)

I almost did not write this post today.  Residual consequences from bad decisions that my husband and I made when we were going through our rough time last year surfaced.  It was a heavy blow and we are both sighing a little heavier today and feeling regret.  There was a time, it was very short, that my husband and I were very self-centered.  We always tried our best to stay focused on our family and each other and well the world got the better of us.  We turned our backs on the ocean and boy did a tidal wave come and rock our world.  We turned our eyes quickly back to God and focused on our family.  WE are doing amazing but we have to deal with the small waves that come after the tidal wave until our ocean is calm again.  I want this blog to represent a genuine life not a highlight reel in the hopes that if any of you are going through a difficult time you are not alone, not even a little bit.