Rusnak Retreat

Noa & Bailey

I wasn't sure what to expect. One house. One weekend. One dog. Fifteen Rusnak's. We had decided a few days together was more appropriate than giving gifts this year, so we pooh-poohed consumerism for forty-eight hours in a rented Chalet a few minutes walk from the charming Blue Mountain Village and smack dab at the base of naked ski hills.

Hot tubbing with Aunt Steph & Aunt Patty

The website didn't do the place justice. I was not excited about being crammed into a tight yellow house with the in-laws. Turns out, 3000 square feet is a whole lot of space. Everyone got their own room. The cousins all camped out on a king-sized bed. (Aunt Salina warned them that the first time she had to come in to tell them to be quiet and go to sleep they would be separated. I had pulled Zander aside earlier and told him that as long as they whispered they could stay up as late as they wanted. This was a vacation. This was not about school night bedtimes. So he glanced at me as she dictated her warning. I winked. He grinned.)

We battled it out on a Wii American Idol game. (It wasn't until the second verse of "I Kissed A Girl," when my eight-year-old nephew starting singing along with me, that I thought maybe that hadn't been the best song choice.) Poker. Settlers of Catan. That Mexican Train game which has got to be the stupidest game ever invented. Hot tub. Sauna. Cranium. Pool. Table hockey. Walks in the cold. Hot chocolate and more snacks than a frat house with the munchies could consume. I don't think we stopped eating the whole time.

Zander & the Pool Table

We split up the meal responsibility. Each couple

cooked, served and cleaned up two meals. It was nice to work in the kitchen beside Scott. Nice to have to squeeze by each other around the kitchen island. Nice to set a table together and nice to clean it off together. That doesn't happen at home. I relished it.

We had fun. I would do it again. It was definitely worth giving up the yearly Christmas gifts that never fit and end up being returned anyway.