A Weekend To Remember

Keith and I had our first weekend away from the kids in over a year and a half! It was much needed and every moment was much appreciated. I have to first of all say thank you to my parents who took our kids and loved them and cared for them just as well as we would have. They say the boys all had a fabulous time and Liam was a gem so it was great to know all went well.

The main purpose of our trip was to attend the Family Life Marriage Conference in Whistler. We attended this conference about six years ago and decided to come back for a refresher. It's a good tool for us as we felt like we needed a 're-set' on what our priorities and focus for us as a couple and a family are. I know there are many fabulous books out there to help with marriages but getting Keith to read a book doesn't work so well. He likes to learn by listening and as much as I love to read, learning by listening is something I enjoy as well. As being alumni to the conference we were able to leave the main group and go to another session. We did some really neat personality assessments and got to learn how to mesh with other personality types. What Keith and I were very surprised to learn is that out of the four categories we fell into the same one! But under that umbrella we had opposite traits. Really neat stuff.

The conference was held at the Chateau Whistler which is a beautiful hotel. We love it there. One of the first things I like to do when we go to posh hotels (which is NOT often) is look at the room service menu. It's all about food, y'know! What I love to do is oogle at the ridiculous prices that these places charge for common place items. Such as $37 for an order of Eggs Benedict or $16 for a six pack of Coke. And even better was this menu had a page for dogs. Sheesh!

We didn't have a ton of free time between sessions but we did make it a priority to hit the Rocky Mountain Fudge Factory on the first night. We dodged big fat rain drops all the way from the Upper Village to the Main Village to get our treats. We each chose an apple as our indulgence. Keith's was called an 'Avalanche' and mine was a Skor Bar apple. Excellent choices and we enjoyed every bite!

I couldn't even wait to take a bite until Keith had framed the picture. Patience is something I need to work on.

Yes, we even had a bit of homework. I got Keith to do mine :)

The Chateau has a fabulous little casual restaurant called Portabello's. It had some many wonderful things to chose from. For breakfast one morning Keith brought up a piece of breakfast pizza. The sauce was salsa and then it was loaded with bacon, scrambled egg and cheese.

The view from our window was lovely. After the first rainy night, it snowed pretty much the whole time. It was beautiful!

On our way to grab a quick lunch between the morning and afternoon sessions. We had quite a walk from the hotel to the village so it was nice to be able to really stretch our legs and get some fresh air after sitting on our butts for hours at a time.

Saturday is 'date night'. We had decided the night before we were definitely going to the Mongolie Grill for dinner. I had heard about this place forever and couldn't wait to try it out. It was even better than I imagined it would be! You get to load up a bowl with all sorts of raw veggies, noodles, and meats. Careful to not fill it too full because it adds up fast! Then you select a sauce (I chose one that was a bit too spicy but my Mongolini Martini cooled it down nicely!). After that you get it weighed so they know what you charge you at the end of the night. Then on a massive round grill they stir fry it up for you as you watch. It was a great experience! When you walk back to your table they will have a nice bowl of rice waiting (white or brown) and you just dig in and enjoy.

Blackcomb was set to open in a few days. They were servicing the lifts and grooming the runs. Made me a bit itchy to do a bit of skiing!

On Saturday night we walked around the village after dinner and found a fabulous candy shop called 'The Great Glass Elevator'. It had so much candy to chose from. There was candy there I saw from my childhood that brought back memories, imported sweets from the UK and plenty of unique treats. We found some yummies to bring back for the kids. We can't go away and not bring them back a little something!

Nate loves sour and Chad loves Pop Rocks!

And also a few sour and gummy treats for us all to share.

It was a good weekend. It's not just enough to attend these conferences though. One must put into practice the good things they have learned. So that's what we aim to do!