We dreamed of celebrating in Paris but decided instead for Tofino. Good thing because Dan nearly had to drag me away…should have anticipated leaving five of the six littles with grandparents would cause tears and cold sweats (from me). Finally calmed down and enjoyed the drive although I couldn’t figure out what to do with myself once we arrived. Settling into needing to do nothing, we opted for beach. Beach walks, beach combing, beach wading, surfer envy (some day…), big waves, inching the capri yogas higher to enjoy more of the frigid surf, wimping out on the swim not because of the cold but to avoid being the crazy lady without a wetsuit (I get enough being the crazy lady with “all those kids”). A walk through the forest, a lookout discovered, secret tide pools, macro lens love, a little lady happy all day in her Ergo. And just because we could: a late night dinner overlooking the ocean which found me ravenous and heavy-lidded but not needing to rush for anyone’s bedtime (except my own); pizza on the beach, out of the box, without napkins; snacking in bed watching a movie because it’s not allowed.
Beautiful, wonderful, refreshing. But rather lonely, speckled with not too few “the kids would love it”s and “wonder what they’re doing now”s. Next time we’ll bring them.
Two sunsets. Two sunrises. Two grandparents who gave us a great gift. Two parents so happy to come back to the chaos, noise, responsibility and joy of this big family.
Wow Rachel, these photos leave me speechless…What a nice getaway for you two, though I can imagine the silence would be strange at times. Still, what a beautiful place :).
xoxo
Twenty year ago my younger self could have written almost those exact words, except the place was the mountains. Rachel, I still have a hard time leaving my children [ age 14 and 18 ] at home, but you Need to get away with Dan and just enjoy being a couple! I am so glad you had such a wonderful opportunity to take this trip, hooray to the grandparents! Your pictures are just beautiful!
Hey, next time try surfing, it’s a lot of fun!xx
Oh Rachel what a special time you had! Yay for wonderful grandparents. And I must say you look gorgeous in that photo mama!
So glad that you had a chance to get away! Your pictures are beautiful. Hope you found some peace and rest by the ocean. Miss you!
What lovely, lovely photos – they look like paintings!! I love the shot with your new birthday present – that lens will open up a whole new world for you, won’t it?!?
wow..these photos are AMAZING! What a wonderful blessing, Rachel!
A special treat indeed. But isn’t if funny how you miss the craziness that is life with children. I love your photos. Jacinta x
The first time we left the kids for a mini vacation they were teenagers! All we did was talk about the kids 😀 Good for you on getting away and being together!
Rachel, these photos are gorgeous! The ones using the macro lens are stellar! And I really like those last three!
Wow, such a special gift. And stunning photographs.
On a much smaller scale, I went into town for two hours today by myself. And I felt a bit lost too. It somehow seemed to have been more fun ‘before’ – but still such a great thing to do, and you’re so happy to get back home to the littles!
Those are beautiful photos, a little bit of paradise! I can’t remember if I’ve told you this before: my Mum has 6 kids, and we often had our firends around. In our neighbourhood she was known as “the lady with 100 children”. It made her laugh! Having “all those kids” is great!
We’ve had dreams of Parisian celebrations as well as Tofino days. Both equally magical and currently out of reach for us. But so happy you’ve been touched by B.C.!
I am soooo glad you guys got away. What a loverly treat!