Ya Ya Weekend October 3-5

Since 2005 a group of my friends have been having a Girl's weekend, It started with book club...my first book was in November 2000 and it was at Kim's house and it was The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood.
From there we became a core of friends with kids, who hung out together scrap-booking and reading and what-not. Some in the group had kids the same age and played at the park or one another's home.
I was BFF's with Kim and so I kind of got in by default on the pre-Ya Ya weekend trip which was in October 2001. I was happy to tag-a-long to Chicago with 4 (or was it 5?) pregnant women. We had a great time sleeping in bunk beds...insert sarcasm here, and listening to the hormones going wild in a sometimes cranky sort of way :-)
The true yearly weekend began in February 2005 when one of the girls had moved away and was having a hard time being away from all of us and the FUN we have. Who could blame her? We all pitched in and flew her out for a surprise weekend of fun!
Since then we have lost a few more Ya Yas to out of state moves and so getting together has become more important than ever.
I am sad to say that Kim was not able to make it this year and she was sorely missed.

We stayed at a cabin in Brown county-
Friday night we had a Birthday party for all of our birthdays and Jen even brought party hats! It was fun to get a giftbag and know that all of us are loved even if birthdays get lost in the mess of everyday life.

Saturday we spent the day at the cute and srtsy little shops and ate lunch at a diner that Nicole had found highlighted in the newspaper. That night we had a wonderful campfire and watched Traci and Becky's fascination with fire bloom. We always try to elicit some secret information from someone in the group...a deep, dark secret but come on, we're Mormon Moms what kind of pasts could we possibly have?! (No comments from my pre-1983 friends is necessary. I know your secrets too!!)

Sunday everyone went horseback riding while I stayed at the cabin and watched General Conference...Yes I know, I am SO spirit-chill.
Really, I just wasn't into horses.

It was fun and relaxing and I love the girl-bonding that it creates. Somehow we all have a hard time translating that to real life. Life is getting in the way and stress keeps us from enjoying our friendship fully.
But I love the Ya Yas and I hope that this will be a sisterhood for the ages--with or without Divine Secrets!