Getaway. . .

This weekend we boarded the puppies for the first time, and we went here:

I don't know if it counts as a true getaway. It was for a retreat given by my husband's employer and we had both the kids with us, but we weren't responsible for any of the pets, and I didn't wash anything more arduous than my hair all weekend. So maybe it does. I don't have any pictures of John's band rocking the hotel (literally, I went up to check on the kids and the music could be heard quite clearly on the third floor, and someone else said they could hear them on the fourth,) but they were the entertainment after the big dinner on Saturday night, and it went well. We've been to the retreats in the past, and the band was at least as good as any "professional" entertainment the hospital has arranged. There was MUCH dancing, at times the dance floor wasn't big enough, and they had their own DANCING NUN. Sister Anne is my favorite of the Sisters of Peace who administer over St.John's Hospital, and she likes to dance. I've done the Hokey Pokey with her myself on a previous retreat.

The Heathman is a strange place. It is the perfect mountain lodge, in the middle of the suburban business district in Vancouver,WA. We had to drive by the mall, turn right at the Olive Garden, and go past Big Lots and Marshall's to get there. But once you go inside it's all hewn timbers and wool trade blankets and I fell in love, with this:

That is the light sconce in our room, and I love it. I covet it. We don't have any lodge-themed paraphanilia at our house (other than a moose trivet I bought during the run of Northern Exposure,) but I seriously think I could find a place for it. We kind of have a Twenties-style Arts & Crafts vibe going on in our house, and I think I could make it work. Here's the side:

I love the owl. The pair of wolves on the other side were a little menacing, but I love the owl. It wasn't exactly a relaxing weekend, John was attending meetings, and we had to drive back to Longview for Audrey's soccer game Saturday afternoon (a 3-1 win, bringing our season to 3 wins, 2 ties, and 3 losses so far,) but it was good. Still, as nice as it is to get away, it's important to come back to this:

Those are the puppies sprawled out on the couch, on top of John and the newspaper he was reading. I think they've become part of the family.