summer stay-cation
pictures coming soon
This year we have taken a turn of decisions, drastic decisions, leaving the good ol' summer vacation to "not-gonna-happen."
Our first drastic decision was to pull out of our contract with our home that has been for sale for thirteen months. Crazy. Confusing, but I think we are finally settling in.
Second drastic decision, we put in a pool. Well, it's still in the process but if we were going to stay here we should make our permanence known! I will post more on that later.
We have truly enjoyed a nice, lazy summer with not much obligation to anything. It has been relaxing. Then school starts to creep in around the corner and we remember all the things we want to do and need to do before our time runs out. What to do?
Take a Staycation!
Jarom took the boys' last week of summer off from work. We sat down as a family and made a decision to do a variety of things around town each day. It was the best way to end the summer (in my opinon).
Day 1: Bright and early, too early, anything to catch a deal, we headed to the jump park. A world full of trampolines to jump to our hearts content. It was so much fun! It was something for the whole family.
When we got home we had to still do our weekly routine of "cleaning day." I'm such a vacation spoiler, I know, but what else where we going to do? Now the house was clean to enjoy for the rest of the week.
Then, late afternoon we scheduled to Skype our friends in England, Chris and Caroline. Jarom baptized Chris on his mission and it's a joy to still have contact with them. Even better, it's a great testimony to our boys. What a blessing modern technology can be and allowing us to keep in touch. It was very late their time but grateful that they stayed up to talk with us. We truly love that family. Someday we will take the boys there to visit. Some day.
To top the day off we went out to eat, Tipton's choice, Ruby Tuesday. The closest one to us is thirty minutes away. Jarom decided to let each of the boys have a turn in choosing a place to eat out and we would do that once a month. They were all game and eating out is such a treat for me! It's a win-win idea. I'm curious to see where our next eating treat will be. We ended the night with Sonic half off shakes.
This was a great day and pretty hard to top.
Day 2: Bowling. This is one of those activities that we enjoy doing but every time we get playing everyone is miserable because they aren't doing well and wonder why we are here. I should say, the boys (Liam, Tipton, and Hyrum) feel this way. The first game is always tears, pouting, and complaining. Marshall was actually having a great time! That competitive drive kicks in and none of them can handle losing or in this case just doing terrible. Let's face it, bowling is kind of hard. The concept seems fun but it's not easy to do when you are young. Jarom can congratulate my ability to lose well. I've learned to throw my competitiveness out the window with most things, but I will let it be known I won the first game. I'm just sayin'. The second game everyone improved, except me, the mom, whom I did two-times worse! My Las Vegas shirt did not turn out to be lucky. In the end, we still had a good time and I'm sure it will show up on our list another time to go and do.
Day 3: Hiking and Camping. By this day we were sore from all the jumping and attempted flips from the first day. Okay, maybe it was just me but I'm pretty sure I heard a few others mention it as well. Show must go on.
The hiking was-vaguely-discussed-never-really-planned, but when Jarom says, "Get ready. We are leaving." then we are leaving. We ended up at a trail not far from where I had grown up. It was a beautiful, simple hike for the family. Short and shady. That's how we like it. I would also add that the simple hikes are a great time to really appreciate the beautiful creation of this world. It is really hard to imagine things could be much more beautiful.
Camping. That took place on my parent's property. Cheap, close and easy. That's also how we like it. My brother Matt has, over time, built a cabin from all the scraps he has collected from his jobs. It's pretty cool. My kids love it and didn't want to camp anywhere else! Though no matter how close you camp, it's still a chore trying to get everything together.
This was Marshall's first time camping. I think he did well. I wouldn't really know. After roasting a few marshmallows with the boys I went back to my mom's house and stayed there with Bret. That helped making the camping experience much better. :)
Thankfully, no tics or poison ivy. One spider bite. . .or some kind of bite and one found scorpion. Liam was in charge of breakfast and he chose to cook pancakes. No one died or suffered from serious diarrhea. Jarom didn't strangle any of the boys from frustration. Dirty and stinky, we were ready to get home.
Camping is another one of those things I'm not sure exactly why we do it.
Day 4: The movies. This one was easy. Grandmother came and got them and Jarom and I relaxed. This was a happy day all around the board. When they got back she came with good tidings of left over pizza and our pool was officially open to swim. Other than Bret, Zach was the first to dive in.
Day 5: Let's swim. Our pool was finally ready to swim in and we love it! After a nice little fun in the sun we went to play some miniature golf and the arcade. Almost every vacation we take involves mini-golf and an arcade. It's not hard to please our kids, THANK GOODNESS. This was also Marshall's first time golfing. Mini-golfing can be hazardous with us. If only I could get half of their swings on film. Very entertaining. The icing on the cake: the final hole everyone missed, but Jarom said he would give $20 dollars to anyone who wanted to try again and get a hole-in-one on their first attempt. BUT they had to pay him a $100 if they missed. Jarom is always making deals. What seemed like an impossible challenge and unreasonable, Liam took the challenge anyway. HE GOT A HOLE IN ONE!
The arcade was. . .not that great but entertaining enough to blow lots of money on coins for rink-a-dink toys. It doesn't matter. It's good memories every time.
It was a fun and busy week and a great way to end the summer.
This year we have taken a turn of decisions, drastic decisions, leaving the good ol' summer vacation to "not-gonna-happen."
Our first drastic decision was to pull out of our contract with our home that has been for sale for thirteen months. Crazy. Confusing, but I think we are finally settling in.
Second drastic decision, we put in a pool. Well, it's still in the process but if we were going to stay here we should make our permanence known! I will post more on that later.
We have truly enjoyed a nice, lazy summer with not much obligation to anything. It has been relaxing. Then school starts to creep in around the corner and we remember all the things we want to do and need to do before our time runs out. What to do?
Take a Staycation!
Jarom took the boys' last week of summer off from work. We sat down as a family and made a decision to do a variety of things around town each day. It was the best way to end the summer (in my opinon).
Day 1: Bright and early, too early, anything to catch a deal, we headed to the jump park. A world full of trampolines to jump to our hearts content. It was so much fun! It was something for the whole family.
When we got home we had to still do our weekly routine of "cleaning day." I'm such a vacation spoiler, I know, but what else where we going to do? Now the house was clean to enjoy for the rest of the week.
Then, late afternoon we scheduled to Skype our friends in England, Chris and Caroline. Jarom baptized Chris on his mission and it's a joy to still have contact with them. Even better, it's a great testimony to our boys. What a blessing modern technology can be and allowing us to keep in touch. It was very late their time but grateful that they stayed up to talk with us. We truly love that family. Someday we will take the boys there to visit. Some day.
To top the day off we went out to eat, Tipton's choice, Ruby Tuesday. The closest one to us is thirty minutes away. Jarom decided to let each of the boys have a turn in choosing a place to eat out and we would do that once a month. They were all game and eating out is such a treat for me! It's a win-win idea. I'm curious to see where our next eating treat will be. We ended the night with Sonic half off shakes.
This was a great day and pretty hard to top.
Day 2: Bowling. This is one of those activities that we enjoy doing but every time we get playing everyone is miserable because they aren't doing well and wonder why we are here. I should say, the boys (Liam, Tipton, and Hyrum) feel this way. The first game is always tears, pouting, and complaining. Marshall was actually having a great time! That competitive drive kicks in and none of them can handle losing or in this case just doing terrible. Let's face it, bowling is kind of hard. The concept seems fun but it's not easy to do when you are young. Jarom can congratulate my ability to lose well. I've learned to throw my competitiveness out the window with most things, but I will let it be known I won the first game. I'm just sayin'. The second game everyone improved, except me, the mom, whom I did two-times worse! My Las Vegas shirt did not turn out to be lucky. In the end, we still had a good time and I'm sure it will show up on our list another time to go and do.
Day 3: Hiking and Camping. By this day we were sore from all the jumping and attempted flips from the first day. Okay, maybe it was just me but I'm pretty sure I heard a few others mention it as well. Show must go on.
The hiking was-vaguely-discussed-never-really-planned, but when Jarom says, "Get ready. We are leaving." then we are leaving. We ended up at a trail not far from where I had grown up. It was a beautiful, simple hike for the family. Short and shady. That's how we like it. I would also add that the simple hikes are a great time to really appreciate the beautiful creation of this world. It is really hard to imagine things could be much more beautiful.
Camping. That took place on my parent's property. Cheap, close and easy. That's also how we like it. My brother Matt has, over time, built a cabin from all the scraps he has collected from his jobs. It's pretty cool. My kids love it and didn't want to camp anywhere else! Though no matter how close you camp, it's still a chore trying to get everything together.
This was Marshall's first time camping. I think he did well. I wouldn't really know. After roasting a few marshmallows with the boys I went back to my mom's house and stayed there with Bret. That helped making the camping experience much better. :)
Thankfully, no tics or poison ivy. One spider bite. . .or some kind of bite and one found scorpion. Liam was in charge of breakfast and he chose to cook pancakes. No one died or suffered from serious diarrhea. Jarom didn't strangle any of the boys from frustration. Dirty and stinky, we were ready to get home.
Camping is another one of those things I'm not sure exactly why we do it.
Day 4: The movies. This one was easy. Grandmother came and got them and Jarom and I relaxed. This was a happy day all around the board. When they got back she came with good tidings of left over pizza and our pool was officially open to swim. Other than Bret, Zach was the first to dive in.
Day 5: Let's swim. Our pool was finally ready to swim in and we love it! After a nice little fun in the sun we went to play some miniature golf and the arcade. Almost every vacation we take involves mini-golf and an arcade. It's not hard to please our kids, THANK GOODNESS. This was also Marshall's first time golfing. Mini-golfing can be hazardous with us. If only I could get half of their swings on film. Very entertaining. The icing on the cake: the final hole everyone missed, but Jarom said he would give $20 dollars to anyone who wanted to try again and get a hole-in-one on their first attempt. BUT they had to pay him a $100 if they missed. Jarom is always making deals. What seemed like an impossible challenge and unreasonable, Liam took the challenge anyway. HE GOT A HOLE IN ONE!
The arcade was. . .not that great but entertaining enough to blow lots of money on coins for rink-a-dink toys. It doesn't matter. It's good memories every time.
It was a fun and busy week and a great way to end the summer.
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