2nd Annual QMBFF Weekend

Last year I had the chance to meet my online friends in real life. It was amazing even though we all wondered to ourselves how it would go since online 'friends' are not always what they appear on the computer screen. Within 5 minutes of being together in Texas we knew no one was crazy and instantly we became quad mom best friends forever, or qmbff's as we have nicknamed ourselves. Last year when we all tearfully parted ways we promised this would become an annual tradition of meeting up the weekend before Mother's Day. Maybe two months later we decided our 2015 qmbff trip would take us to Lake Tahoe and we began to make plans. Paul thought we were nuts for planning so far in advance and I often rolled my eyes at him because seriously who doesn't start planning a trip 300 days out? Men just do not understand!

Finally those 300 days passed and even Paul couldn't believe how fast our girls weekend crept up. Last year our time in Texas was from late Thursday evening until early Sunday morning. It was way too short and we knew we needed to make the weekend longer. At first we planned Thursday-Sunday but in the end three of the girls came in Wednesday. I really think the best part of the whole weekend was having them all meet Paul and the kids and then spending a night at our house. It is so cool to now be able to talk to the girls and have Paul know exactly who I am talking about. He has now become more involved in my conversations about my qmbff's rather than just nodding his head and acting like he cares. 

The weekend officially began Wednesday when Ashley and Amber arrived in Cali.

All 5 back together again.

On Thursday, we spent a quiet morning, or as quiet of morning as it can be with 7 kids, 4 women and 1 husband, at our house before heading to pick up the last member of our sanity at the airport. It was so awesome to all be together in person again. The weirdest part for me was even though it had been a year since we saw each other you would have thought it had only been a couple of days. We talk every day multiple times and so there was no need to catch up on what had occurred during the past year, instead we just kept talking like we do everyday. After a yummy Italian lunch and a unique qmbff experience we were ready to head to Lake Tahoe. Thankfully I did not feel guilty one bit for leaving the husband for a whole weekend because he got his 5 day guys weekend in March so it was a guilt free girls weekend for me. 

I think I take this exact picture every time I go to Tahoe but it never gets old.

The most beautiful, amazing twin mom allowed us the use of her cabin near Tahoe and it was the most spectacular place to relax and forget that we had 25 kids between us. Well maybe we didn't forget about those kids since not even an hour after we got there I got a call from Paul and I had a 7 year old sobbing into the phone because she 'accidentally' cut all six of her siblings hair. I am not even kidding you!! I am so glad that her father was home to deal with her because I gave her an ear full over the phone and am not sure exactly how I would have reacted if I had been the one who needed to discipline the accidental hair clipping. After questioning myself again of why my daughter thought cutting hair was acceptable it was Christmas for us. I quickly realized I lack in having artistic/creativity skills! Good thing I have a year before we see each other again and hopefully Pinterest can help me do better than a Target run next year. 

The cabin

Christmas: quad mom style

A triplet mommy makes our annual weekend even more special by sending us the most delicious cookies ever. I also had ice cream cones and poker chips/dice/cards sent as a special treat for Paul and the kids. The shirts were created by the amazing Ashley. Necklaces were hand stamped with love by Amber. Becky brought us the best hand lotion and salve made by her sister. And then in case we ever forget that we have the best cheerleaders in the world Amber made us picture frames for our annual qmbff picture (My frame was updated to the 2015 picture by Sunday afternoon).

Friday we found ourselves being ummm...rather lazy except we failed miserably in sleeping in. What is up with not being able to sleep in when one totally has the opportunity? After a late breakfast of quiche and caramel rolls it was time for some pampering. My good friend and masseuse drove all the way to Tahoe to give in-cabin hot rock massages to each of us. We were totally in heaven. Some of us even got in a game of Scramble which I have not played for years but love. After all the hard work of getting massages we found ourselves soaking in the hot tub. Yup it was a great day.

Paul's comment when he saw this picture, "That place is a mess"! I agree that if I was at home this scatterness would drive me nuts but it was so nice to have a weekend that we didn't worry about everything being all tidy.

I am only adding this picture because this would never happen at any of our houses in the middle of the afternoon; a nap, eating while sitting, and a game being played.

Saturday we got a tad more active and the day actually left me with some sore muscles. We went to Tahoe City and went zip lining. Some of the girls will tell you it was not zip lining but rather a rope obstacle course but either way it was so much fun. Maybe only Becky will feel the same as I did but I know the others were happy when they had food and beer following the challenge. I have already told Paul we are having a date day and heading up to Granlibakken soon so we can go back and we also plan to take the big kids as soon as Drew hits the minimum age of 5. Following lunch it was time to head back to the hot tub. Three different groups of people joined us during our time of relaxing and the reaction we got each time when the groups of people found out how we knew each other was YouTube worthy every time. We especially loved the gentleman who asked us if we were on a trip before we graduated college. He made our day and we had a good laugh since this is the second year in a row we were asked this question. Apparently we don't always look like the over exhausted, stressed out moms' that we really are. Wonder if we can get this question for a third year in a row? 

And then Sunday had to come. Though I think we were all ready to head home to see our kids it was bittersweet because we were not yet ready to say goodbye to each other. But don't you worry we already have next years trip planned. We will be visiting Michigan but even better, we will get to meet Becky's family and stay at her house for one night since we are all coming in Wednesday. Who knows a couple years from now we may just make our annual girls weekend a full week; just don't tell the husbands or they may boycott any future plans. And because getting together only once a year is not adequate we have already begun planning our annual fall weekend with the husbands which will begin taking place in 2016 and then a family vacation during the summer of 2017. Do you think there are any Type A personalities among us?!? 

This had to have been the worst obstacle on the whole course and Becky is up there acting like it is no big deal. 

When we arrived back to the cabin a box awaited us. Inside there were 2 dozen chocolate dipped strawberries from the Lesnau kiddos! Major kuddos went to the husband. Paul said he just wanted to make sure we had gifts for the next several quad mom trips as each husband out did the husband before. 

So though we are all separated by way too many miles, the time we are able to spend together recharges us and reminds us that we are all pretty darn awesome moms. Some days we rejoice at the milestones our 1, 2 and 3 pound miracles have met, some days we laugh at how wild this ride is, some days we have pity parties for ourselves but in the end the five of us are so thankful that we are able to share this part of our life with one another.

In case you want to follow these amazing moms check out their blogs:
Amber B: http://bellsandkilts.blogspot.com/
Becky: http://ourmultiplesjourney.blogspot.com/
Amber S: http://fourtoadore.com/