What's the Occasion? A night away from the kids...

Paul and I returned this morning from a two-night getaway to the Logan, Utah area. You know how some vacations are three-day, two-night? Ours was one-day, two-night... as we got in late Thursday night and left early Saturday morning. We did get a chance to dine at two area restaurants: Firehouse Pizzeria and Hamilton's. At both places, the server asked us, "any special occasion?" Well, it sure felt like that to me; a night away from the kids is so RARE. We have to kind of cajole and persuade family members to take our three girls for even an hour or so. I'm pretty sure if we have more kids that we'll end up splitting them up just to make it manageable for someone to say yes.

Thankfully, however, my sister Heather was willing and able to watch our kids. She's a pro. And a very giving person. She's the only member of my family up this far, so I ask her fairly regularly for help, although I try not to make it a habit. I do appreciate her willingness when she can.

We stayed at The Providence Inn in Providence, Utah. It is a Bed and Breakfast in an old church building, and it definitely has character. Our vacation club paid for our stay, which was lovely, but had it been up to me, I probably wouldn't have chosen the room we ended up in. I thought it was the Duck Room, but come to find out, it's called the "Old Mill Pond." Everything had a duck motif. Everything. Paul didn't mind it. There was a ceiling jutting over on one side of the bed, and I had to take extra care not to bump my head when walking over on that side, but it was a fairly nice room with a jacuzzi tub, TV and DVD/VCR player (with free movies to "rent"), and a dedicated shower in the bathroom. No couch, though. The first night, we watched The Illusionist sprawled out on the bed, but that was a bit hard on the back for Paul. So the second night, our vantage point for 8 Seconds was the tub. We had to add hot water a few times, but it was much more comfortable. They brought us some free popcorn, but I was so full from dinner that I couldn't even taste it. However, I did grab a chocolate chip cookie downstairs, fresh out of the oven. Couldn't resist that.

The Providence Inn offers a yummy, full breakfast... made to order from a menu of five or six selections. Paul allowed me to eat some of his traditional scrambled eggs, hashed browns, bacon, and English muffin breakfast if I got the fruit and cream french toast, so I took advantage of that and we shared both meals. Of the two, raspberry french toast and apple strudel french toast, I liked the raspberry best.

The best part of our time away? Not having to be anywhere or take care of anyone. On Friday, after a late breakfast and some necessary phone calls, we went back to bed for a few hours. That was lovely. I guess we're sleep-deprived.

We drove around to see the leaves, we visited the used book shop and the Bluebird Cafe on Main Street, and went to the Carnegie Library in Smithfield to find out if there was a CNG (compressed natural gas) station in Logan. It was a lot of hanging out without a lot of responsibility, and very relaxing. It ended too soon. But we are happy to be back with the kiddos. We like them, too. :)

I don't have time to post pics, as I'm off to watch the first two episodes of HBO's John Adams on DVD. Maybe later... I did take some nice ones.