Last weekend, we took our first weekend getaway as a family of four to Palm Springs! We went to the annual Crafting Community retreat at the Ace Hotel which is basically like summer camp for families who love the arts. There were craft activities galore, dance classes for the kids, workout classes for the parents, ice cream, snacks, and a ton of lazy times by the pool. It was a busy, but super fun weekend that really helped get us away from the daily grind and just focus on family time together (I even left my laptop at home!).
The craft workshops were insanely good with teachers that are some of my fellow colleagues and craft idols. We had never attended Crafting Community before because Ruby seemed too young previously to really enjoy it, but this year was the perfect year to come. While she was on the younger side of the crafting kids, she was just old enough to start enjoying it (with our help for some of the projects).
But when you're in Palm Springs, and the weather is like 100 degrees—the bonus is having a pool nearby which we spent a ton of time in. Ruby spent most of her non-crafting time in the pool, and Coco got in the pool for her first time EVER!
Having a concentrated weekend together away from everything else (I couldn't get distracted by dirty dishes, errands to run, or other daily life stuff) was so, so good for us. Bob has been crazy busy at work lately, and life with two kids has made us both a little more frazzled then usual. So, it was really a great way to reconnect as a family and reminded us how important these little getaways can be! I'm already looking forward to going back next year and figuring out how we can carve out more long weekends like this for our family this year.
P.S. For those of you in LA, Crafting Community's next big event will be a holiday craft day for families which is like a mini version of the Palm Springs retreat! Join the mailing list to be alerted when it's happening.
{Most photos above by Morgan Pansing for Crafting Community with a few of our personal photos sprinkled in.}
Oh my goodness, what a dream weekend! My family used to go over to Palm Springs a lot when I was a little girl. My mom was really good about getting out of the house for mini day trips so we could explore. I need to work on that–it’s so easy to let Saturday be another day of dishes and things to do! So glad you had a wonderful time. We need something like this in Portland. 🙂
Looks so fun! I’m so happy you left your laptop at home.
Looks like a really wonderful family time. Coco’s bathing suit is super adorable! And the pic of Ruby on the duck is beyond cute!
Looks like so much fun! It’s always nice to have time to get away from everything and reconnect as a family isn’t it?
Kristi
http://www.beloverly.com
Ha, yeah, I surprised myself! ;P
Joy
How fun!!! Family adventures are the best!
The pics look amazing! Sorry I missed you there. Would love to say hello in person. Your family looks beautiful! Love Morgan’s photography too. She’s a good friend.
Your family is the cutest Joy! It sounds like a wonderful weekend.
Weekend getaways are so good to freshen our minds, right? Beautiful pictures and congrats to Coco on her first pool dip! You left your laptop at home? Wow! Well done, Joy!
Alina
http://www.eclecticalu.blogspot.com
Beautiful, what great memories you made!
Beth
http://www.modernmotherblog.com
Great memories,keep it with you always.
http://soapagency.co.uk
That looks like so much fun! I love all the bright colors.
Oh my goodness!! This looks like soooo much fun, and those weavings turned out crazy cute! This is the first time I’ve heard of the Crafting Community! Thanks for sharing, I’m off to see if we can work out a collaboration of sorts!
Looks very cool!