"All you need is love..."

"...da, da, da, da-da.  All you need is love, love, love.  Love is all you need."

Over and over and over I heard this song.  We were only 20 minutes from our holiday destination when Stott Volcano erupted in the back seat.  I did the only thing I could --- crank up the radio louder than their screaming voices.  And by golly they liked it...the song that is.  They weren't all too fond of having something 'out-sound' them but they quite enjoyed this classic Beatles tune. 

Who knew this song would sum up the requirements of the family vacation ahead of us.

Like everyone else I know, at times our home seems too small for the continuous battle for the coveted top dog position.  Overflowing into the basement, or the yard or even down the street doesn't seem like enough room.  However, this week we were able to strip down to the bare bones of our family - L O V E.

In our squishy one bedroom,  700 sq foot chalet we stepped on each others toes, rubbed elbows and wrestled till the bitter end for bathroom privileges, but -- did so quite comfortably.  We cooked meals together, did daily chores like cleaning the cabin, setting the table, tidying up and getting wood and most importantly played- together.  All four of us.  Bizarre, I know.  

The only toys the kids brought were three, yes three hot wheels cars, a colouring book with crayons and a huge story time book.  That's it.  Every spare moment was filled with fun-family stuff.  Even though we experienced frigid temperatures of -30 all week, adding another sweater under your jacket and wrapping the eggheads up like mummy's was all we needed to endure the day tobogganing. We swam every night until our feet were uber wrinkly, played hide-n-seek more times that I could count, crafted till our hearts delight and even stripped the bed of all it's sheets to build forts.  Even after it was made.  I had to coax myself through this one!!  Fun.  Just plain fun. 

The boys got along better than I've ever seen them and I can't remember when Sheld & I have been able to start and finish so many meaningful conversations.

I'm not one for overly ambitious or outlandish New Years Resolutions but this year mine was to commit to the fam that as a parent, I want to have fun raising my kids in a loving way.  And we did.  This week was flippin awesome!  A great start to what I know will be a great year for our family!

Here's a few pics...