Last week Mark and I celebrated our 4th anniversary and reflected on how much has happened in our first four years of marriage: a puppy, a house, a baby, a home building process, another baby, a move into that new house, a departure from my job, a miscarriage and now the anticipation of baby #3 later this year. Phew. I don’t think it could have been any more full, any more fun or any more filled with love. ❤️
We had gone back and forth about taking a trip somewhere to celebrate, then life happened and just didn’t allow us to get out of town. BUT we didn’t want to let that stop us, so we planned our very first staycation. Mark’s parents graciously watched the girls last Friday – Saturday and freed us up to focus on one another. We have tried to live by the talk daily, date weekly, retreat yearly philosophy + now I think I’m going to add a regularly stay at home with one another category because this staycation was just. that. great.
Day 1
Mark dropped the girls off in the morning and I went to a dentist appointment. We convened at home, went over our family budget, planned some spending and saving and got a little organized (seriously, things that don’t always happen when you have your two toddlers around!), then headed out to The Original Pancake House to celebrate 20 weeks of pregnancy with Baby #3. This is a tradition of ours to eat here each pregnancy at 20 weeks. I’m not quite sure why or how that started, but may I suggest to Mark we continue that at each pregnancy milestone because the BACON IS SO GOOD.
After, we went dishwasher shopping, which is so not romantic at all. If you follow along on Instagram, you are aware that we had a major mishap with a vegetable peeler that literally fried our dishwasher to a capacity of no longer being able to use it. After only a year and a half in our brand new house, I was not happy to have to spend the money on such appliance. But, such is life and it’s a major first world problem to have to handwash my dishes every day. ?(Literally, we must use a record number of dishes and utensils.)
I definitely earned myself a nap from that shopping and Mark continued to research dishwashers online + through Consumer Reports because we were not convinced of price or selection, or maybe that was just my indecisiveness and unwillingness to part with money. Either way, he complied to shop around more. So I slept and he researched. (Side note: If you do not have a subscription to CR, get one! We use the information in ours ALL the time and are so grateful that Mark’s dad continues to renew the subscription for us.)
We rounded out the afternoon by working out TOGETHER (used to happen all the time, not so much anymore) and got ready to go out for the evening.
Lemme tell you the best part: Mark told me to change into comfortable pants and grab my flipflops because we were going to get pedicures before going to our f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e Mexican restaurant. This is like every (pregnant) woman’s dream, right?! What a guy.
Between getting our feet pampered and eating, we did finish up our dishwasher shopping and I’m so glad we held out. We ended up getting a deal at Best Buy, where we have purchased all of our appliances from in the past. Highly recommend shopping here, as they have great options and price match too! Also, make sure you sign up for their rewards program because we get store gift cards on top of it all.
I was totally hangry by the time we left Best Buy, but when we arrived to our old Mexican restaurant stomping grounds (within walking distance of where we used to live) and our regular waitress greeted us saying, “No kids this time?!”, all was well. We went to bed that night with happy hearts and tummies.
Day 2
We woke up without alarms or children. Enough said, right? ?? We cooked breakfast and ate outside under our newly built pergola because it was such a beautiful morning. We putsed around at home, tackled some laundry and cleaned a bit. There was absolutely no pressure to get going and it was relaxing to be accomplishing things at home. We then left and went hiking at Lapham Peak. It’s so close in proximity and definitely something we should do so much more often. We enjoyed the activity (took the hilly route, that’s for sure!), fresh air and good conversation together.
We went out to lunch at a local shop across from Pewaukee Lake. We got to sit outside and enjoy each other’s company while enjoying another uninterrupted meal. I felt spoiled. We treated ourselves to ice cream and then Mark convinced me he missed the girls so much that he wanted to do something special for them…
Everyone who saw us leaving the store had the reaction ohhh boy, someone is going to have a LOT of fun. And they were not wrong. The girls were so surprised and so excited. And this is the current favorite activity in our yard. (Me: You are the sweetest dad in the world ?? / how much is that?! ??)
While Mark assembled the Peg Perego John Deere Gator, I cleaned out drawers and cupboards and spaces that had been neglected. The organization fanatic in me felt AMAZING. It’s always a good feeling when I see the clean up result of what I’m doing. (#totalnerd)
End of Day 2
Mark’s parents drove the girls back home for us. So when they arrived, both girls ran in the house with the biggest smiles and gave the best hugs and kisses. It was the sweetest way to reunite and we were SO excited to see them. None of us could stop smiling – plus I felt like a refreshed mama. Which is something I think I desperately needed.
We invited Mark’s parents to stay for a dinner of gratitude for taking the girls. We grilled kabobs and sat outside. The girls drove their new prized possession around the yard and it was absolutely perfect.
As Mark and I went to bed that night, we agreed we should really take advantage of the staycation far more often. There were so many benefits for us as a couple, and perks to being AT HOME rather than away to spend time together. Need convincing?
10 Reasons to Plan A Staycation
- You can sleep in your own bed.
- You don’t have to think about packing and can touch base at home to regroup throughout the day or time you have together.
- Local restaurants that you love or want to try are available to you WITHOUT children.
- There’s the ability to get things done around your house without kiddos around.
- Similarly, you can run errands without kids in tow.
- You can even just stay home, cook at home, watch a movie and enjoy each other’s company without spending a great deal of money to go out.
- You have the opportunity to explore around your own town or surrounding town, which sometimes gets overlooked if you’re planning a vacation.
- It’s easy to stay active and keep up your workout routines.
- You won’t feel bad if you want to take a nap or go to bed early to catch up on some sleep.
- You will save so much money by not having airfare or hotel rooms.
Though I’m looking forward to the weekend ahead as a complete family, there’s a part in me that will miss our uninterruped meals and opportunity to get a little extra sleep. Until next time, staycation…
XO
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