On the schedule for our final day of staycation was a trip to our local water park. Our sitter for BB offered to watch her for us so we could go without a toddler. She is at peak toddler - into EVERYTHING and climbing on everything. She runs away from us, climbs out of her crib, can get herself off the toilet, and if you say "No" she just laughs. Peak toddler and water park do not mix well in my book. Drowning accident waiting to happen. No thanks. So when Mzz Bzzz (as BB calls her beloved Ms. B) offered we jumped at the opportunity.
We've never been to the water park because we wanted to wait until the older kids were big enough and also strong enough swimmers to go. A couple summers ago they mastered swimming and are total fish. Especially my tiny S. At 36 pounds and just barely 42 inches, she was just big enough to go on the majority of the water slides. Even the big ones that T was tall enough to enjoy, he still did not want to go on them which was helpful for not making her feel sad about that. They would try to race each other down the slides but he could win every time because weight is a big factor. He was a sweet big brother and would try to give her a head start so she could win.
There was on big slide we could all go on together as a family. That was great fun and we went a couple of times. There was another that we could go in twos which was also fun, especially since the tubes were pitch black. The kids did great and had just the best time. The great thing, too, was that Hubby and I had fun so not just a labor of love.
Highlights by person:
T - Raft slide together as a family
S - Two person slides which she did with her dad and with me
Hubby - Raft slide together as a family
Me - a brief quiet moment on the lazy river, wave pool, and the first slide I did with S; neither of us was prepared for the rush for that first slide in the dark.
Our little BB went with Mzz Bzz to her local pool which has a kiddie slide of its own and she had a great time with her there today.
T earned one of our passes with his reading. While we were in line to buy the others (which are not cheap - we were expecting to spend $100 today), someone gave us one of their day passes. It was a wonderful treat. T's pass also came with a coupon for pizza. That kid has eaten a lot of pizza on this staycation.
It was a great staycation and a great day to wrap things up.
Big Sis has said since she could speak (which was at a quite young age) that she wants to be a nurse practitioner. It may have something to do with her having been with me the entire journey through grad school or maybe she genuinely wants to be a NP or a little of both. With that being said, I took my time off to take her into my work.
We were at work for a while where she watched me practice some IV starts (we rarely do IVs in the office so I like to regularly practice so that when I do need to do one things go smoothly with little discomfort to the patient). Lil S was worried about the pain but she did great.
Then onto shopping to spend my Christmas gift card Hubby gave me last year followed by smoothies.
We also took some time on these days to just rest and organize around the house. Both kids' rooms had thorough cleaning and organizing.
For our activity on day 4, I took the kids on a hike with their beloved kindergarten teacher - Mrs. T - (she taught T two years previous, and will hopefully be teaching S this fall). They adore her and we have just adopted her into our lives because, well, she's wonderful and we have to keep her in our lives even if we don't have her for a teacher.
It was the hottest day we've had here this year - over 100 degrees. Since it was the only time we could coordinate all the schedules we proceeded but because of the heat we left BB behind with Hubby. It just would have been too hot for her and he would have been packing her on his back the whole time which we did not think she would like. As it was Mrs. T took turns packing both the kids up when they would get tired. Last year neither of them needed help on this hike but because of the heat they needed a boost here and there. We kept telling the kids we would go for ice cream and fries when they were all done.
We did achieve success.
We canceled our vacation. Initially I was pretty sad about it but we're turning lemons into lemonade. It's hard when you've saved up all year, deferred a vacation the previous year because you had a baby, just to find out you need to take that money to pay for something. Fortunately, we never told our kids the vacation plans so they aren't disappointed. Still, they keep asking when they get to go fly on an airplane or when they get to go to Legoland, etc. We just tell them some day our turn will come.
With that being said, Hubby and I wanted to do something for the kids during the week we took off work when we were supposed to be gone. Thus far it's mostly been a labor of love but Hubby and I did sneak off to do a triple date on day one.
Highlights thus far - Days 1-3
- Lots of pool time, some with the toddler and some while she was napping. We ride our bikes to and from the pool so the kids have been enjoying their bicycles very much.
- Desserts - I've been trying to make special meals and desserts. The photo of the chocolate cake makes me laugh because T is forcing himself to smile (he will not eat chocolate and he does not like cake). I'll be making sugar cookies (definitely not frosted) for him soon.
- A home in our neighborhood caught on fire - we had 7 fire engines (including the hook and ladder truck), 6 police cars, and 3 ambulances. The owners were not even home so no one was hurt but the last time we had a fire in our neck of the woods several homes burned down and many of us were evacuated for a day. So for a moment, we thought we might have to leave.
- Visit to our tiny local aquarium - the last time I went I was in labor with BB. Things haven't changed too much but it's not surprising the she loves the aquarium so much since it motivated her to come out! I love the photo of Big Sis making faces at the fish (I used to do the exact same thing). T badly wanted a photo with a hammerhead shark (his favorite). He loves sharks and even did a power point presentation on them this past year. He had all sorts of facts for us and was even excited there were some pilot fish. We let the older kids pick out a souvenir from their visit which we never let them buy stuff at the zoo or aquarium. It's vacation!
- Special lunch at a fancy Italian place - Hubby and I wanted to take the kids somewhere special since it was our 14th wedding anniversary.
