The Absent Parent

During my second year in Zurich I might have bragged about the number of days I spent not working. I think it was something like 34 days of vacation.  Well, in a similar vein, in the last month, I accidentally had 20 nights away from the kiddos, and I definitely wouldn’t call that a bragging fact. It actually makes me quite sad. I miss the family. 

It wasn’t going to be this way. Yes I had seven nights in India booked, 1 night up in Bend with just Cody and Brenda before the family arrived. The kids were slated for two nights with my parents to wrap up the first week of spring break and then I had two nights for a girls weekend in Vegas. Yes it seemed like a lot but it seemed manageable. 

But shortly after the India trip, things went sideways. After only three nights at home from India I tested positive for Covid. And so began my seven days of quarantine. 

Quarantine ended three nights before my flight to Bend. And thankfully soccer Saturday morning was canceled so Martin and the kids were able to get to Bend much earlier than expected so we were able to make the most of our four night Easter trip at Sunriver. 

We left Sunriver Wednesday morning, And due to logistics, it made more sense to drop the kids off directly at my parents house for a three night stay instead of trying to coordinate drop off Thursday morning. 

We had a nice Saturday before I left for Vegas where I am pretty sure the kids were done with me being gone and made more than a few comments about me leaving again. 

So all in, 20 days. Which is at least 14 too many.

Las Vegas Round 2

I clearly had such a great time with the Zurich girls in Vegas in January that I accidentally and inadvertently convinced the Colorado girls to have our next girls weekend there. Given I was just there I was actually contemplating sitting this one out. But then FOMO set in when the plans started to firm up. Oh hell I was in. 

The two day “weekend” of Sunday through Tuesday was shaping up in a very similar way from the January trip. Nice dinners in the casino of residence (this time the Wynn),  a spa day, some shopping and a super early flight home Tuesday morning. 

Dinners were amazing, shopping was a bust (I wasn’t looking to buy but the other 3 women came in with very large budgets and very long lists of items to buy but left with nothing), the spa was incredibly relaxing (being a Monday morning probably helped although I will say the amenities at the Aria were more conducive for a full day) and my flight home was thankfully not canceled due to doors flying off airplanes. 

We also spent some time gambling this trip. We all placed bets on the NCAA championship game (I broke even) and, come to find out, Emily is a big time gambler (although I shouldn’t have been surprised since our rooms were comped). We played craps and blackjack and lost on everything but had a great time in the process. 

With a tickle in my throat Monday morning and the threat of work looming for Tuesday I opted to not drink all day on Monday. It was the right call but I still managed to feel hungover all day on Tuesday and looked the part of someone returning from Vegas on the flight home.

Bend for Easter

There is truly nothing better than a big vacation house and time spent with family. It also helps that said vacation home was in the most family friendly area near Bend OR called Sunriver. 

The trip can be summarized as follows: a ridiculous game of Charades where clues included: stairs, rock, and Hermione Granger’s wand, a daily soak in a hot tub and so much good food