hot springs.

i headed to breitenbush hot springs with 3 other friends from parks & rec this week... it was a january birthday celebration getaway! (elvira's birthday is on the 4th and mine this weekend) elvira and i drove up early to do a hike in the mountains near the resort before checking in, and kelly and her baby, aldo, and autumn and her baby, eman, drove in a separate car.

it was a great getaway... i got some good time with friends from parks who i haven't seen much lately, and lots of baby time! i love baby time. plus it was relaxing to hang out in the hot springs under the billion stars in the meadow and also take the babies in to the soaking pools the next day.

we tried to go on our hike, but the bridges were washed out in two directions, so we didn't get very far. we explored a little by the river and then stopped and ate lunch and relaxed for a while...
we made it across one bridge, but when we got to the other, it was impassable.
the ice on everything was beautiful. then we found this cool piece of bark that had been chewed by beetles. the eggs are laid under the bark when it's still on the tree, and then when the larvae hatch, they literally chew their way through the bark, getting larger and making bigger and bigger trails. when they are adults they chew through the wood and climb out! very cool.
after hiking and lounging in the frosty sun, we headed to breitenbush! we checked out our cabin and the lodge and all the buildings.
here's our little cabin...
we had to haul our stuff in little carts because you have to park in the parking lot and the rest is walking trails.


here's one of the sets of soaking tubs... we actually liked the other ones better. they were out in an open meadow. we went there after dark and the stars were amazing! the tubs are all mixed with cold water to make them different temperatures. we chose the medium tubs usually. the ones in the meadow were really natural looking, built into the earth with rocks and cool wood pieces as railings.
the whole resort is on a river, so we also explored down there...
and of course, there was plenty of time to hang out with the babies!!!! aldo and eman were born on the same day - and they are 11 months right now. it's just a few weeks until their 1st birthday! and they are cute, cute, cute!
here's aldo!
he and elvira did some yoga.
and here's eman!
aldo was really into clapping so teacher chrissy led some singing with the group!
here's autumn and eman.
eman is a waver and hand shaker!
aldo is super observant of everything around him. but in this moment he was chewing on an orange peel, which turned out not to taste so good. cutie-patooties!
it was a super fun couple days, and i would totally go back!