Weekend Recap - WOWZAs at the Cabin Edition (and #14 of 14 in 2014/ #1 of Summer Bucket List)

Weekend recap, you say? Becky, don't you know that it's Wednesday?! Yes, I realize it's Wednesday, but it's like my Monday, because it's my first day back to reality after an awesome weekend away with some of my favorite girls - the WOWZAs. The WOWZAs are my best friends - there are 8 of us in total, mostly friends from college. The WOWZAs formed after college, when we decided our get togethers NEEDED to be a regular occurrence for...mmmm...the rest of our lives. We thought a lot about what we should call ourselves, deciding that having a fun "nonsensical" term would be best. We settled on WOWZA - which we decided stood for "Women of Wild, Zany Adventures. A little cheesy perhaps, but the name stuck.

Originally we were planning for all 8 of the WOWZAs to go to Chicago for the weekend. When that trip didn't pan out for various reasons, the 5 of us who were able to get together decided to get together at Sarah's family's cabin. The cabin, which we've been lucky to stay at several times before, is GORGEOUS, and perfect for our get togethers.

After a nice morning and breakfast with my family on Saturday morning, Jackie picked me up to hit the road. It's just a couple hours drive to Sarah's family's cabin - which flew by because Jackie and I just chatted the whole time. We spend a lot of time together, but it's rarely just the two of us. Two hours of uninterrupted with her was awesome!

We got to the cabin a little before lunch time. The other three ladies - Sarah, Sus, and Kirstyn - had come up the night before, so they were already settled in. We got the car unpacked, and then prepped a perfect Summer lunch - brats on the grill, potato and caprese salads, chips and hummus, and some fresh fruit. YUM!

Apparently on Saturdays, we wear pink...lovely ladies at lunch

After lunch we cleaned up, and headed out on the pontoon. The weather was PERFECT. Sunny, but not too hot with a nice breeze. We tooled around the lake a couple times, enjoying our time together.

Fun on the pontoon

We got back from our boat ride, and were all pretty tired (because apparently pontoon rides tire you out?! Clearly we were in vacation mode.) We spent the afternoon lounging around, watching re-runs of Friends, taking naps, and getting massages (Kirstyn is a PT and was awesome enough to give everyone WONDERFUL massages).

That night we had dinner, and took a walk. It was beautiful, but really buggy! We headed back to the cabin and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Long shadows in the evening...

Pimm's Cups...

On Sunday, we all slept in (especially glorious for the mamas in the group!). Jackie and I went for a bike ride, and then we all had breakfast together (a new recipe that I made - another one towards my 20 new recipes this year!). The weather was nice again, so we decided we wanted to try stand-up paddleboarding! (#14 from my 14 in 2014 list!)

We got ready and headed out to a rental place, and soon after were out on the river. All of us were a little nervous to try paddleboarding, but it didn't take long before we got a hang of it. It was really fun! We all agreed that it was like kayaking or canoeing, but nicer because you can switch from standing to kneeling to sitting.

Headed out to the river!

Practically a professional...

Paddleboarding selfie!

 I did have one little "incident." I was not great at paddling (forgetting all of my camp skills), and had a tendency to get swept towards the downed trees at the edge of the river. In the stretch of the river that was the fastest, I got pushed towards a big tree. My board hit hard, and flipped me over. Because we were tethered to the boards, I got pulled under, and tangled up, and had a hard time getting myself back up. After a bit of panicking, I managed to undo my tether, and get back on the board (which was still flipped). Thanks to Kirstyn (my hero!), we managed to flip my board right side up, and I was back on my way (a little shaken and battered from the rocks, but okay).

We made it back to the outfitters, and enjoyed an ice cream

We got home and cleaned up, made and ate dinner, and watched Hitch on TV before turning in for the night.

On Monday we decided to take a day trip to Duluth (just an hour and a half away). We got up and managed to get out around 10:00. We got to Duluth around lunch time, so we stopped to grab a quick bite at Little Angie's, a yummy Mexican place right in Canal Park. It was nice enough that we got to eat out on the patio. Hooray!

Margarita on the patio

We putzed around the shops in Canal Park for the next few hours, and enjoyed a bit of time by the lake. It was another GORGEOUS day, so it was all just wonderful! I was happy because I was able to snag a few geocaches while we were there. All in all, it was perfect!

Sarah and Me in Canal Park

Being tourists... :-)

Love this shot!

Dipping our toes in the lake - chilly, but not too bad considering there was still ice on the lake less than a month ago!

Perfect day!

Later in the afternoon, we moseyed our way down the lakewalk to Fitger's, a group favorite! I had my favorite dish there - the wild rice burger with fries, and an Apricot Wheat beer. Awesome! By the time dinner was done, it was time to make our way back to the car and head back to the cabin. Even though we were super tired after our fun day, we managed to watch MOST of Bridesmaids before heading to bed.

Tuesday it was time to head home. After breakfast, Jackie and I took another bike ride before coming back to clean up and pack up the car.

We relaxed a bit more, had a light lunch, and said our goodbyes. Thankfully, all of these ladies are local to the Twin Cities, so it wasn't really goodbye. Although we see each other pretty regularly, it's still SO nice (and needed) to have some one on one time, just us girls.

It was such a perfect weekend, with 4 of my favorite women (we missed you, Bethany, Rachel, and LeElla!). Until next time, WOWZAs!