Mother’s Day Tradition

This year marks the 4th in a row that my sister and I have decided to give my mom a Mother’s Day ‘weekend’ in lieu of a traditional gift.  It has developed into a tradition,and my mom now looks forward to it every year. Since my sister and mom live in a separate state, we usually pick a place to meet in the middle.  We rent a furnished cabin or condominium, cook lots of unhealthy foods, visit the local (cheap) tourist attractions, and laugh A LOT!  This weekend is only for the girls in the family, and this year my sister brought along their exchange student, Tatjana, from Switzerland.  We thought it would be good to let her experience a little bit of our craziness:) 

This is a pretty good representation of what our meals look like….rich foods that often contain chocolate!  My sister made these chocolate waffles with strawberries for breakfast one morning.

This is where we stayed this year.  It is a very old cabin that is actually on the National Register of Historic Places.  Let me just say that there were bad storms Friday night.  A really old cabin with a metal roof is not my ideal place to be when there are tornado warnings.  Thankfully, God protected us all!

I love these ladies!  From left to right is my mom, niece, sister, and Tatjana

Then it was my turn to jump in for a quick picture.

We did a walking and boat tour of a local cave.  This was taken in front of the gift shop and visitor’s center.

The bridge to the start of the walking tour

This is the entrance to the cave.  It is kind of hard to see because of the trees, but it is one of the biggest entrances to a cave in the world.  They actually have a beautiful area where they hold weddings and proms. 

The weather was perfect, especially in the shade!

I love my sister.  We are so different in so many ways, but yet we get along amazingly well!

We stumbled upon this cute little place on the way back to our cabin.  They had antiques, produce, and anything you could need for your garden.  The best part was that it was all on a farm setting in the middle of the country.  You just don’t see that every day!

They had lots of these old radio flyer wagons.  It brought back great childhood memories!

Tatjana decided to test out the tree swing!

Tatjana leaves to go back to Switzerland at the end of this month so this was the last time I would see her.  I have only spent a short amount of time with her, and she is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.  She is also very talented.  She plays the piano amazingly well,and she speaks 7 different languages! I know my sister’s family,and especially my niece, will miss her greatly!

One final picture before we head home.  Apparently I missed the memo on what color to wear!

So that sums up my weekend.  I love my family, and I hope we can continue this tradition for many years to come.  We are all in agreement that we would much rather have the quality time together than anything money could ever buy!  My sister prayed for our daughter at each meal over the course of the weekend, and we are all hoping she will be able to join us for our Mother’s Day Weekend next year!