Our Boring Staycation

My parents took the boys camping. They left Saturday for 5 days in Branson, MO.

5 wonderful days of just me, Turbo, & Lucy.

Don't get me wrong, I started to miss the boys before they even left the driveway. I have to resist the urge to call everyday and make sure they are well and having fun. It is horribly difficult to see them load up in the car and travel miles and miles without me there to see all of the sights and feel all of the excitement with them. I hate that part every time they leave.

However, I relish in the few days without them here just as much. A bit of 'free time' without someone constantly asking, needing, fighting. Not that Lucy doesn't, but it's a different kind of needing. She's a baby, kind of easy to entertain and manage, just barely mobile and still can't talk. Trust me, that makes the world of difference.

With the boys gone I have a bit less to do. I have extra time to clean, sew, and (heaven forbid) take a nap. I can start some of those projects I was talking about, take my time at the store picking out paints, work on some organizing I desperately need to do in one particularly mess-prone boys bedroom.

Turbo and I enjoy a few 'luxuries' with them gone too.

We went to the grocery store and bought stuff we usually forgo because the price tag for 6 people is way too high. We filled up our cart with all of the food we need for 5 days, including steaks, seafood, and beer for $50. (Compared to the $175 we usually spend, we were amazed. Then we decided we never should have had 3 kids. Damn them for being so cute and awesome.) We went to the drive in, put Lucy to bed before the first show and watched both movies (Up & Land of the Lost. See Up asap, wait for LotL on dvd) without ever having to get up and go to concessions, use the bathroom mid movie, or threaten to take anyone home.

We went out for coffee (sans donuts) and made huge omelette's for breakfast at home on Sunday without any restraints on what we put in them. We watched more movies, made spicy quesadillas for dinner, did laundry, went to bed early.

Today I'm going to clean & sew, go for a walk, buy some paint. Tonight we're making tuna steaks on the grill.

I don't know what' I'll do tomorrow, maybe watch movies and sleep on the couch with Lucy. Maybe we'll go for another walk. Or I could paint.

I'm sure you're thinking this is no way to spend our little 'staycation' without the big kids. That we are horribly boring people, in desperate need of something fun to do.

Well, you are wrong. Way wrong. We have so much to do when the kids are here. So many things to see, places to visit, day trips, practices, games, go, go, go, go ,go. All of the time, every day, rain or shine. We never stop.

For us, boring is better than a vacation.