Staycation Destinations that Never Get Old (for My Kids)

 

A couple of months ago, Eric told that well-known knock-knock joke that ends in "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" 

 

Alaina laughed heartily and said, earnestly, "That one never gets old, right, Mom?"

 

I laughed, too, but it was because I KNOW I've won the lottery when it comes to having kids who are easily entertained (well . . . at least three of them).

 

This is fortunate, because--with Jason being a self-employed landscaper--we spend most of our summer vacation here at home.  Every year.

 

Since we're kind of limited to day trips, we end up making some of the same ones every year--or even more often. 

 

The wonderful thing is, my kids still LOVE these places!

 

Take this week for example.  On Monday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to pick blueberries.  Alaina made herself a pair of "leaf earrings" and Eric explored the backyard.  When it was time to go home, nobody wanted to leave.

 

 

 I know--no-one ever wants to leave their grandma's house.

 

But then there was Tuesday.  Ben worked with Jason, and it was scorching hot outside, but I took Janae, Alaina, and Eric to Fort Langley.  A place with no water, no shade, and nothing we haven't seen before.  (No grandparents, either.)

 

Even though they have pounded this mallet,

 

 

fed these animals,

 

 

arranged this fake food,

 

 

walked across this wall,

 

 

and found gold in this bin

 

 

COUNTLESS times,

 

they ALL had a great time.

 

Even I didn't mind the heat so much, watching them have so much fun.

 

So, then Wednesday.  Another hot day . . . what did we do?

 

We are nearing the end of our annual zoo membership, so I suggested we go take another look.  Janae normally HATES the zoo, but even she was willing to give it a try.

 

And--once again--a great time was had by all.

 

 

We fed hay to some cute sheep,

 

 

saw the lions up close,

 

 

had one of our best-ever hippo-viewing experiences,

 

 

and--Eric's favorite--rode the train.

 

 

Happy children=happy mom.

 

Now today--Thursday.  You might be thinking we just stayed home.  If that's the case, you have not been to our house during the summer.  As Janae might quote, "Our house is so hot two hobbits just threw a ring into our living room."

 

In other words, we're better off almost anywhere else.

 

So . . . Othello Tunnels?  Why not!

 

Although our children have been here many, many times, it has been a while . . . and they were bursting with excitement as we approached.

 

 

With flashlights in hand (or--in Ben's case--on head), they explored the tunnels (jumping out to scare each other at least twenty times in about twenty minutes).

 

 

And since this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited, I never tired of lining up the kids for pictures :)

 

 

 

After we'd been through all the tunnels, Eric asked, "What exciting place are we going to next?"  So, I told him about a place where we could climb down the cliff and put our feet in the icy cold water.  He could not have been more enthusiastic about getting there . . . or about the mountains of rocks he found to throw. 

 

 

Alaina even found one shaped like a heart.

 

 

And Ben had a great attitude about carrying his little brother whenever he got tired.

 

 

Tomorrow, we will visit our local library for a science show . . . . and more books--which the kids are also looking forward to, even though we've been doing the summer reading club since Ben was about Eric's age.

 

Eric reacting to a tarantula at last week's animal show.

It's true that none of these are boring places, and that a person could visit them many times without the experiences "getting old," but even at home in the yard, these guys think it's exciting to watch our zucchinis grow,

 

 

 or think up funny ways to go down the slip and slide.

 

 

We really don't have to go far for summer to feel like a holiday (In fact--as I'm writing this--Jason just texted me from a hardware store to say the kids are having a great time there, too!). 

 

 

 

I wonder what will happen in a couple of weeks when we really do take them on a vacation. . . .

 

It will just be camping, but I'm pretty sure they will love it! 

All Made Possible By. . . .

Today I decided to take my kids to White Rock beach.  It was supposed to be really hot here, so we were looking forward to the sea breeze, the cool water, and the long stretches of sand to play in. 

With four kids, preparing for the beach is not quick or easy, but--with the kids' help--I made sandwiches (particular to each picky eater) and packed snacks, filled water bottles, gathered towels, put sunscreen on everyone, remembered hats and sunglasses, and packed up the trunk with boogie boards.

I even remembered my phone cord so we could use Google maps and not get (too badly) lost.

With construction on the roads, it took just over an hour to get to White Rock, but everyone was in good spirits, listening to The Wiggles and Elton John (the only two CDs in our car), and pretending to be characters from Lord of the Rings.  We drove past the places where I grew up, and I repeated the stories I tell the kids every time we go to White Rock.

When we got to the actual beach parking, we opted not to take the stroller--this was our first time being so brave, but as everyone grabbed the backpacks and boogie boards, beach towels and water bottles, I couldn't help thinking this was the smoothest trip we'd ever taken to the beach.

We'd parked close to the pay station, so we all headed over . . . and that's when I realized I'd forgotten my purse--and WALLET--at home.

I noticed that the pay station had an option to pay with a cell phone, but I didn't have a credit card with me--or any other kind of card.  I called Jason, and while I was talking to him came up with the solution that I'd just take the kids to another beach--one that the kids didn't like as much but that might have still had free parking. (Jason was more worried about how much gas we had in the van, but luckily it was almost full).

A woman was standing nearby, waiting to pay for her parking, so I told her to go ahead of us and laughingly said I'd forgotten my wallet at home.

But when I was buckling Eric back into his car seat, she came up to me and asked if she could pay for our parking.  I told her no--we would go somewhere else--but she insisted repeatedly that she wanted to do this for us.

Finally, I just thanked her, and let the kids come back out and enjoy a day at the beach.

(As much as that is possible, knowing I didn't have their care cards if they got hurt, or a credit card if we overstayed and had to have our car towed, a debit card/cash to pay for our traditional ice creams, or my driver's license if we got pulled over for any reason on the way home!)

But it was truly a wonderful day of playing in the sand,

 

splashing in the warm, shallow water (since the tide was way out!),

Eric was singing songs from "Moana"

pulling Eric around on a boogie board,

laughing and having fun together--

really one of the best times we'd ever had at the beach. . . .

all made possible by a stranger's kindness to us. 

Hopefully we can do the same for someone else one day!