Our Staycation

Jimmy was off work last Thursday through yesterday (Monday). We have known about this little block of time off for a year (he has to request his days off one year in advance), but we had changed our plans for this vacation time more than once. As it finally turned out, we chose to stay home, but still treat the time as a vacation. We called it a staycation. We would stay at home, but we would not do school or go to any activities, and purpose to make it fun and different from our regular days.

Our local church congregation hosted Wilson Adams as the guest speaker for a Gospel Meeting all last week, so we had something on our calendars for the Thursday and Friday night of our staycation. (By the way, the series of lessons he presented was excellent!--I was convicted, encouraged, and motivated each night.) We decided to pick one fun/different-than-normal activity to do each day.

On Thursday, Jimmy took Sam fishing that morning. Then they came home for a quick lunch and also to get Leah and our tiny house pop-up camper. Spontaneous camping trip! They spent the early afternoon setting up the camper while I ran to the grocery store for camping groceries. We went to the 4:00 showing of A Wrinkle in Time (a theater movie is a rare treat for us....we go to the movies about once or maybe twice a year). A Wrinkle in Time was very weird and strange, and I loved it! I have read the book aloud to the children, and we listened to it a second time on Audible. Jimmy has not read the book, so he had no idea of the story line (and he may have napped on and off during the movie). After the movie we ate at the food court of the mall and then went on to our evening church service. Later we went to our camper, cooked smores over the campfire that Sam built, and turned in for the night.

On Friday, we spent most of the day at our campsite. Leah painted scenery, Sam fished, and they both explored the campground. I read a new cookbook (100 Days of Real Food) and made a weekly grocery list. It was relaxing to be outside (or inside the camper when it got too windy/chilly for me) and away from my home and my regular housework and chores. We ended our day by attending the last night of our Gospel Meeting.

On Saturday, I bought groceries at both Sam's and Kroger (in the rain!), and then we went to Corinth to work on Jimmy's parents' house. This was not exactly a fun staycation activity, but the day was pleasant--getting to spend time with Jimmy's siblings and their spouses. We got a lot of work done, and then we all enjoyed a meal together at Pepper's.

On Sunday afternoon, Sam attended a play with a friend, and Leah and I had the privilege of babysitting a sweet, precious 20 month old! She is our preacher and his wife's little girl, and we had a delightful time playing with her. (I can't wait to be a grandmother!)

And yesterday, we ended our staycation by going to Memphis for the day. Our first stop was Air Memphis, which is a trampoline/jumping kind of place. Leah and Sam jumped for a solid hour, while Jimmy and I watched them and did some reading. Next we ate lunch at the Whole Foods buffet, then we went to the Pink Palace Museum. We toured the museum and watched an IMAX movie (except it's not called IMAX anymore, and I can't remember the new name) about engineering.

We arrived home in time to eat a supper of whatever you kind find in the refrigerator or pantry, tidy up the house, and get ready for bed. I read a chapter of Little Women to Leah and Sam, Jimmy read a chapter of Proverbs to them, and we were ready for bed!

We start back to school today along with a week full of activities. The break was nice!