Staycation. It's a word that Steven and I always sort of laughed at. But I guess when you don't take a lot of vacations or travel often, staycations are where it is at. Plus, we live in the place where other people vacation. I offer you this conversation as evidence...
When we got married we went to Hawaii. While in Waikiki, we were in a gift shop and the cashier asked us where we were from. This was how it went:
Cashier: Where are you guys from?
Us: Florida. (Big smiles... we were newlyweds after all.)
Cashier: Oh!!!! This is where you guys go on vacation.
Us: Yeah. Ummm.... where do you go?
Cashier: (beat) Florida.
So, there's that. Anyway, we have our Keys trip coming up in less than 6 weeks now (so excited!!!) but this week we are sort of on a staycation. My parents own a couple of timeshares. One particular one they have is based out of Orlando (technically Clermont, I think) and it is probably the coolest. Instead of a typical timeshare unit, they can get a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house every 2 years complete with a pool (and this year, a hot tub). So, this year they planned it around Kenzie's school schedule so that we could spend as much time during the week sharing the house with them.
My parents got in on Saturday afternoon and we met them at the house. There are two master bedrooms and one room with two twin beds. Kenzie ran right in and set up all of her stuffed animals as well as her shoes and toys. Super cute. Both kids noticed the pool right away. After getting the lay of the land a bit in the house, we let them sit outside. Initially we told them just to put their feet in the pool. We should have known that would never actually work. Next thing we knew, they were both standing on the top step and Will pretty much sat down in his clothes right in the pool. We told them to just go ahead and get in. The bonus to a timeshare is that there is a washer and dryer so we weren't worried about the clothes being wet or anything. They had a blast playing around in the pool for a while. Eventually it was time for dinner. Much to their chagrin, we couldn't serve them anything in the pool so they got out and got changed. We all headed over to Cici's. We wanted something easy and inexpensive that everyone could agree on. Pizza, it is. Maybe not the highest quality out there, but the kids love that place. Everyone ate more than necessary, I think. When we got back to the house we let them put on bathing suits and play in the pool a while. Steven and I got in, as well. We had a great time. Will hung out mostly on the stairs but Kenzie made her way around the pool. She went underwater and everything but wouldn't "swim" really. (Ms. Shunda is going to have a field day with these kids next week when they start lessons again. They definitely need refreshers.) This house is one of the few with a hot tub as well which the kids basically just referred to as a "baby pool" and they went from the big pool to the baby pool over and over again. We thought they would be super tired (and they were) but when we went to put them to bed, Will LOST it. He screamed. He cried. We initially tried to set up one of the twin beds on the floor for him but he wasn't having it. We (luckily) also brought his pack n play. He is over the height limit by quite a lot but he still sleeps mostly in a ball. He is within the weight limit still though so we figured he would be okay. We had upset him so much though that he fought us at bedtime. Eventually he tired out and fell asleep. We then put Kenzie in the room with him. She was out pretty quickly. He rolled around a bit and called us in periodically. Okay, he was mainly calling for Mommy. He wasn't having it with anyone else. We think a major issue with Will was likely that he was super unsure. Our Keys trip doesn't worry us because we know the kids will sleep on sofa beds together in the same room as us. He is perfectly fine with that. Actually, he even asked if he could sleep in the living room on the sofa bed because that it what he was used to. Either way, he at least finally went to sleep. The adults sat outside around the pool listening to the rain on the water and drinking wine for a while before calling it a night.
Sunday morning started super early. Will called me in for the first time at 4:30. He wanted covers. At 5, he wanted covers again. At 5:30 he wanted to go to Nana's bed. I said no and eventually ended up falling asleep on the twin bed on the floor while he rolled around until about 6. Kenzie slept through all of this. I removed him from the room at 6 and brought him to bed with Steven and me. He laid with us a while and then choked. I thought he was going to be sick, but he never was. He eventually asked to go back to his bed. I put him in and about 10 minutes later he called crying (Kenzie was up and in our bed by then). He had gotten sick in his bed. It wasn't bad and we wondered if maybe his crying and carrying on the night before had messed with him. We got him cleaned up and I decided to go run my mile. I left him in Nana and Daddy's capable hands. As I was returning, I saw them holding him over a towel and realized he had gotten sick again shortly after being given milk. Great. We then wondered if he had a bug and we might be taking him home for the week (and likely eventually removing Kenzie too since she was going to get it if he had something as that is how it usually goes). He ended up getting sick one more time. We decided to stick it out a while at the timeshare to see because we were starting to wonder if he drank pool water or something the night before. After his third time getting sick, he ate. And ate. And ate. Nana, Kenzie, and I were at the grocery store and the boys' club at the house ate breakfast and watched the boats on the lakes behind the house. He seemed perfectly fine and never got sick again. We then wondered if he craziness the night before was somehow related. We may never know. Shortly after we returned from Publix, Rick and Danielle made it to the house. They came in just for the day to have a barbecue and spend some time with everyone. We spent the entire day just about in the pool. The fish kids spent hours upon hours in the pool. Luckily, it was super cloudy and not too hot. Nana, Danielle, and I got in the pool with the kids and we all had fun. We had burgers and hot dogs for lunch. After lunch we put Will in the room for a nap and about 2.5 hours later he finally woke up from that. He was tired. When he woke up everyone went over to the tiki bar by the pool and the kids played in the kiddie pool near the main pool. They had a blast. We let them play a while and decided to call it a day when we started to hear thunder. We made it back to the house just as the rain started. Joe and Steven had remained at the tiki bar (Rick and Danielle had gone home a while earlier) and they were caught until the rain slacked up. We got cleaned up and went to Ale House. It was pretty good. Both kids helped us devour the calamari. Will ate half of my salad and chili as well as a chicken tender and fries. So, I would say he was doing better. Kenzie polished off a bunch of tenders and fries so she didn't seem any worse for the wear. We then went home and used the big Jacuzzi tub to bathe the kids. Will freaked out when I turned on the jets so that wasn't good. He was so happy though that we hoped bedtime would be easier... and it was. He still called us some and we waited to put Kenzie in the room too but he went to bed so much easier than the night before. Steven and I got in a night swim after everyone else in the house went to bed (Momma and Joe went to bed early) and then we called it a night.
Monday morning didn't start nearly as early as Sunday. Steven turned down the air conditioner at about 1:30 in the morning and almost immediately Will called for covers but he went right back to sleep. I think he did it again around 5:30. This is actually pretty normal as of late and it isn't a huge deal and we are used to it. I think both kids got up for the day around 6:30 but overall the night was much better (and more normal). We are going to leave him in the pack n play for the duration of this trip but we aren't even taking it to the Keys because we know the situation is slightly different and everyone will be fine. We lounged around a while and had breakfast before heading over to Parrot's Landing. This is a splash pad type thing for kids. Two years ago, Kenzie LOVED it. In the 2 years since she has developed some fears. She wasn't having it. (Add this to the "fear" of heights. And crabs on the beach... thanks a lot for that one, Grandma.) Yet she went in the "carwash" thing at the kiddie pool the day before and loves the sprinkler in the front yard and fountains in Winter Garden. I don't get her. Will doesn't like water in his eyes a lot of the time so he mainly hung out in the less water splashing areas though Steven did carry him up the thing in the middle once. Kenzie went up once and we tried to convince her to go down the slide (Steven and I both went down it with no issues) but she hit her head on one of the steering wheel things and that set her off. Nana had to carry her down and she was never really right after that. She wouldn't get back in the water. At all. It got crowded after that too and we think she was somewhat embarrassed. Eventually we called it and went back to the house to use our own pool. That's where the kids stayed for the next 2 hours. Steven and Joe went up to the bar when it opened and then came back for lunch. Really, the only way we got the kids out of the pool was to promise ice cream after lunch. It's good we don't have a pool at home. The kids would get waterlogged. After lunch we went over to Twistee Treat for ice cream. Kenzie chose strawberry and vanilla swirl in a cone. Will got vanilla in a cup. Steven got a waffle cone with chocolate and I got one with vanilla and rainbow sprinkles. Nana got a cake cone with chocolate and chocolate sprinkles. I had this grand idea in my head of how much fun getting ice cream would be and while it was good, it melted super fast and I got sort of annoyed. Oh well. Kenzie then decided she didn't like her vanilla and strawberry but we switched hers with Will's. He wanted a cone anyway. Daddy shared some of his cone with Kenzie and we ended up taking the cup of vanilla back to the house. After ice cream we put Will down for his nap and "the girls" as Kenzie calls us headed out to get pedicures. This was Kenzie's first ever pedicure and she. loved. it. Such a girly girl. She chatted with the tech doing her nails and just loved all of it. It was so cute. The nail techs were all cracking up with her. She just chatted away. We had to explain that this is a special thing. When we first walked in we had to deter her from choosing the brightest red she could find. We eventually settled on a purple that she liked. I don't know that Daddy would have liked the bright red much. It was a bit... mature. While we were gone apparently Steven and Joe sat on the porch and watched the beach ball roll around the pool. I'm not kidding. It was quite entertaining trying to guess what it would do next. Or so I was told. Before we knew it, it was time to head out with Kenzie to dance. The great thing about a staycation is that we were close enough to make it to dance. This was important because there are only a few classes before the recital. Plus, we had to go back to the house and pick up Jack in my car and take Steven home. Unfortunately, Steven has to work a few days before he takes Friday off again to come down for our final day here. He has a ton going on at work (as usual) and he couldn't take all week since Monday starts his traveling bonanza over the next month or so. Also, boarding Jack gets pricey and we needed someone home to do that. I elected to stay with the kids at the timeshare instead of leaving Nana and Papa to deal with them alone. Nana and Papa took Will to Bob Evans and then they went back to the house to play in the pool which Will loved (of course). Dance was great! Kenzie did super well, as usual and they practiced their recital dance. We also signed her up for the 2017/18 season. She is moving up another level and will be in a combo ballet/jazz class next season. She is super excited to try jazz. Bonus was that her current teacher that she LOVES is teaching this class next year and it is a bit later on Monday so we should be better with dinner time and everything. We were also able to pick up her dance pictures. Super cute. They were only $10 and we got about 100 pics on a CD. Many are very, very similar and the editing is minimal but they are awesome because they get to remind us of her year of dance. We have to find some time to go through them and pick out our favorite to print. After dance we went to Taco Bell (Kenzie's choice) before Steven headed home and we went back to the timeshare. Once back it was bedtime which was rougher than the night before. Will protested. He didn't cry but he refused to sleep and kept Kenzie up. Eventually we pulled her from the room and she basically fell asleep on the couch with Nana because she was so tired. She woke up before we took her back to the room when Will eventually chilled out. After both kids were quiet, Momma and I went over to the fitness center to check it out and let me run my mile for the streak. The center is nice and part of a bigger activity center. We might try to go back and let the kids play legos, pool, or board games later this week sometime (and let me run.) Momma rode the stationary bike while I ran. We were both tired so we got ready to turn in after that. I'm writing this and I think everyone else in the house is probably asleep.
Our first few days have been a lot of fun. I'm sad that Steven has to work for the next few days. I know we will enjoy our time with Nana and Papa. I just wish he could be here too and I know he wishes the same but we know that sometimes other things need to get done. He is going to be travelling so much that he had to work. Luckily, he will join us again before Nana and Papa have to head back to Palatka. The rest of this week will be filled with more pool time, relaxing, and enjoying the amenities of the timeshare. The kids are going to have a blast this week.
When we got married we went to Hawaii. While in Waikiki, we were in a gift shop and the cashier asked us where we were from. This was how it went:
Cashier: Where are you guys from?
Us: Florida. (Big smiles... we were newlyweds after all.)
Cashier: Oh!!!! This is where you guys go on vacation.
Us: Yeah. Ummm.... where do you go?
Cashier: (beat) Florida.
So, there's that. Anyway, we have our Keys trip coming up in less than 6 weeks now (so excited!!!) but this week we are sort of on a staycation. My parents own a couple of timeshares. One particular one they have is based out of Orlando (technically Clermont, I think) and it is probably the coolest. Instead of a typical timeshare unit, they can get a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house every 2 years complete with a pool (and this year, a hot tub). So, this year they planned it around Kenzie's school schedule so that we could spend as much time during the week sharing the house with them.
My parents got in on Saturday afternoon and we met them at the house. There are two master bedrooms and one room with two twin beds. Kenzie ran right in and set up all of her stuffed animals as well as her shoes and toys. Super cute. Both kids noticed the pool right away. After getting the lay of the land a bit in the house, we let them sit outside. Initially we told them just to put their feet in the pool. We should have known that would never actually work. Next thing we knew, they were both standing on the top step and Will pretty much sat down in his clothes right in the pool. We told them to just go ahead and get in. The bonus to a timeshare is that there is a washer and dryer so we weren't worried about the clothes being wet or anything. They had a blast playing around in the pool for a while. Eventually it was time for dinner. Much to their chagrin, we couldn't serve them anything in the pool so they got out and got changed. We all headed over to Cici's. We wanted something easy and inexpensive that everyone could agree on. Pizza, it is. Maybe not the highest quality out there, but the kids love that place. Everyone ate more than necessary, I think. When we got back to the house we let them put on bathing suits and play in the pool a while. Steven and I got in, as well. We had a great time. Will hung out mostly on the stairs but Kenzie made her way around the pool. She went underwater and everything but wouldn't "swim" really. (Ms. Shunda is going to have a field day with these kids next week when they start lessons again. They definitely need refreshers.) This house is one of the few with a hot tub as well which the kids basically just referred to as a "baby pool" and they went from the big pool to the baby pool over and over again. We thought they would be super tired (and they were) but when we went to put them to bed, Will LOST it. He screamed. He cried. We initially tried to set up one of the twin beds on the floor for him but he wasn't having it. We (luckily) also brought his pack n play. He is over the height limit by quite a lot but he still sleeps mostly in a ball. He is within the weight limit still though so we figured he would be okay. We had upset him so much though that he fought us at bedtime. Eventually he tired out and fell asleep. We then put Kenzie in the room with him. She was out pretty quickly. He rolled around a bit and called us in periodically. Okay, he was mainly calling for Mommy. He wasn't having it with anyone else. We think a major issue with Will was likely that he was super unsure. Our Keys trip doesn't worry us because we know the kids will sleep on sofa beds together in the same room as us. He is perfectly fine with that. Actually, he even asked if he could sleep in the living room on the sofa bed because that it what he was used to. Either way, he at least finally went to sleep. The adults sat outside around the pool listening to the rain on the water and drinking wine for a while before calling it a night.
Monday morning didn't start nearly as early as Sunday. Steven turned down the air conditioner at about 1:30 in the morning and almost immediately Will called for covers but he went right back to sleep. I think he did it again around 5:30. This is actually pretty normal as of late and it isn't a huge deal and we are used to it. I think both kids got up for the day around 6:30 but overall the night was much better (and more normal). We are going to leave him in the pack n play for the duration of this trip but we aren't even taking it to the Keys because we know the situation is slightly different and everyone will be fine. We lounged around a while and had breakfast before heading over to Parrot's Landing. This is a splash pad type thing for kids. Two years ago, Kenzie LOVED it. In the 2 years since she has developed some fears. She wasn't having it. (Add this to the "fear" of heights. And crabs on the beach... thanks a lot for that one, Grandma.) Yet she went in the "carwash" thing at the kiddie pool the day before and loves the sprinkler in the front yard and fountains in Winter Garden. I don't get her. Will doesn't like water in his eyes a lot of the time so he mainly hung out in the less water splashing areas though Steven did carry him up the thing in the middle once. Kenzie went up once and we tried to convince her to go down the slide (Steven and I both went down it with no issues) but she hit her head on one of the steering wheel things and that set her off. Nana had to carry her down and she was never really right after that. She wouldn't get back in the water. At all. It got crowded after that too and we think she was somewhat embarrassed. Eventually we called it and went back to the house to use our own pool. That's where the kids stayed for the next 2 hours. Steven and Joe went up to the bar when it opened and then came back for lunch. Really, the only way we got the kids out of the pool was to promise ice cream after lunch. It's good we don't have a pool at home. The kids would get waterlogged. After lunch we went over to Twistee Treat for ice cream. Kenzie chose strawberry and vanilla swirl in a cone. Will got vanilla in a cup. Steven got a waffle cone with chocolate and I got one with vanilla and rainbow sprinkles. Nana got a cake cone with chocolate and chocolate sprinkles. I had this grand idea in my head of how much fun getting ice cream would be and while it was good, it melted super fast and I got sort of annoyed. Oh well. Kenzie then decided she didn't like her vanilla and strawberry but we switched hers with Will's. He wanted a cone anyway. Daddy shared some of his cone with Kenzie and we ended up taking the cup of vanilla back to the house. After ice cream we put Will down for his nap and "the girls" as Kenzie calls us headed out to get pedicures. This was Kenzie's first ever pedicure and she. loved. it. Such a girly girl. She chatted with the tech doing her nails and just loved all of it. It was so cute. The nail techs were all cracking up with her. She just chatted away. We had to explain that this is a special thing. When we first walked in we had to deter her from choosing the brightest red she could find. We eventually settled on a purple that she liked. I don't know that Daddy would have liked the bright red much. It was a bit... mature. While we were gone apparently Steven and Joe sat on the porch and watched the beach ball roll around the pool. I'm not kidding. It was quite entertaining trying to guess what it would do next. Or so I was told. Before we knew it, it was time to head out with Kenzie to dance. The great thing about a staycation is that we were close enough to make it to dance. This was important because there are only a few classes before the recital. Plus, we had to go back to the house and pick up Jack in my car and take Steven home. Unfortunately, Steven has to work a few days before he takes Friday off again to come down for our final day here. He has a ton going on at work (as usual) and he couldn't take all week since Monday starts his traveling bonanza over the next month or so. Also, boarding Jack gets pricey and we needed someone home to do that. I elected to stay with the kids at the timeshare instead of leaving Nana and Papa to deal with them alone. Nana and Papa took Will to Bob Evans and then they went back to the house to play in the pool which Will loved (of course). Dance was great! Kenzie did super well, as usual and they practiced their recital dance. We also signed her up for the 2017/18 season. She is moving up another level and will be in a combo ballet/jazz class next season. She is super excited to try jazz. Bonus was that her current teacher that she LOVES is teaching this class next year and it is a bit later on Monday so we should be better with dinner time and everything. We were also able to pick up her dance pictures. Super cute. They were only $10 and we got about 100 pics on a CD. Many are very, very similar and the editing is minimal but they are awesome because they get to remind us of her year of dance. We have to find some time to go through them and pick out our favorite to print. After dance we went to Taco Bell (Kenzie's choice) before Steven headed home and we went back to the timeshare. Once back it was bedtime which was rougher than the night before. Will protested. He didn't cry but he refused to sleep and kept Kenzie up. Eventually we pulled her from the room and she basically fell asleep on the couch with Nana because she was so tired. She woke up before we took her back to the room when Will eventually chilled out. After both kids were quiet, Momma and I went over to the fitness center to check it out and let me run my mile for the streak. The center is nice and part of a bigger activity center. We might try to go back and let the kids play legos, pool, or board games later this week sometime (and let me run.) Momma rode the stationary bike while I ran. We were both tired so we got ready to turn in after that. I'm writing this and I think everyone else in the house is probably asleep.
Our first few days have been a lot of fun. I'm sad that Steven has to work for the next few days. I know we will enjoy our time with Nana and Papa. I just wish he could be here too and I know he wishes the same but we know that sometimes other things need to get done. He is going to be travelling so much that he had to work. Luckily, he will join us again before Nana and Papa have to head back to Palatka. The rest of this week will be filled with more pool time, relaxing, and enjoying the amenities of the timeshare. The kids are going to have a blast this week.
Comments
Post a Comment