For New Year's week, my family and I took a mini-vacation to a log cabin resort that had an indoor water park. The inside of the cabin wasn't as furnished as I was expecting, but there was a fireplace and a cute upstairs loft...so what more could you need? The first night was just super chill; we went grocery shopping and played some poker. My poker skills are definitely a little rusty, being that I haven't played since grade school.

Bright and early, we went to the water park the next morning. My niece was attached to my hip the whole time. And let me tell you, she has so much energy! Her routine consisted of  relaxing on an inner-tube on the lazy river, going down the water-slides, and then running to the hot-tub to have tickle fights. At first, I was the victim of these tickle fights, but then she transitioned into making my boyfriend the victim. It was so cute seeing them interact for the first time; there's nothing more attractive or heartwarming  than that.

We then discovered there was an outdoor hot tub. Since it was snowing and freezing, my niece was a little hesitant, but after she discovered snow balls could be thrown at my boyfriend, she was all for it! With the steam rising in the air, snow falling in our hair, and the warmth of my boyfriend's arms wrapped around me, there's nothing more romantic than that.  

The next morning we were snowed in! It was so magical seeing the trees covered in snow. It definitely completed the log cabin atmosphere.  Though, it was quite the experience helping my boyfriend shovel his car out with a broom and dust pan! But as a reward, he let me take pictures of him. I splurged and bought a 50 mm lens because of the great reviews it has for portraits. It's different being that it doesn't have a zoom, but I love how easily it blurs the background! I even thought ahead and brought a tripod and remote, so we could have a little "photo-shoot" together!

It was kind of bittersweet saying goodbye to him that day knowing that I wouldn't see him for almost a month until we go back to school. At the same time though, I knew it would be nice to hang out with my niece just the two of us. And that's exactly what we did the next two days. We played a whole bunch of board games, made some more splashes at the water-park, and watched Home Alone not once, but twice!