I decided to take a staycation.
I have honestly been feeling worn out this year. Our days have been full, our work is steadily picking up and we’ve been sick a lot, which is not like us. I felt something needed to shift. I felt like a break was needed, but I also didn’t want to go anywhere. I like home. I’m a homebody, we work from home, we have two littles and we host often in our home. Staying home just felt right, in my heart and it’s what my body was craving.
Vacationing at home ended up being exactly what my soul and mind and family needed. I slept in, I was rarely on my phone, I planned fun things with each kid and I was able to slow down long enough to feel relaxed and renewed. Before beginning my staycation I processed how I wanted to come out of this time of rest and renewal. I wrote down words like: ready, eager, focused, intentional.
And that’s how I feel today, on my first day getting back into the swings of things. I didn’t have any huge awakening or eye-opening experience. I was just longing for slowness, so I made sure to move slowly throughout my week. Besides sleeping in, making bread and other meals from scratch, here are a few other things we did.
We started off the staycation by taking a road trip to visit family for a long weekend. It was my nephew’s third birthday and we met our newest nephews/cousin, two twin boys! Liliana is surrounded by boys haha, but I think she enjoys being the only girly girl! All the kids are 2-4 months apart and it’s just the sweetest! They’ll always have a playmate during holidays and family gatherings.
After we got back home, we spent a lot of time at home during the week, which is exactly how I envisioned this staycation! We watched movies, went on a couple walks when the weather allowed, baked yummy bread and food, and took lotsa naps!
I made sure to plan a few things outside of the home, so the kids could each interact with other kids and I also got a break. The kids and I took trips to the library, once to read some books on a cloudy day and another time for story hour, we danced and sang and listened to Easter stories! And we went on family dates, one night we went out for ice cream and burgers! I had a coffee date with a friend and Liliana and I went on our weekly date. It’s so fun watching her grow up, her maturity is inspiring. She orders her own drink and tells the baristas which treat she wants. I listened to this podcast one of the days last week, it was convicting and such a good reminder that it’s good to let our kids grow up, we need to, as parents, let go in a godly manner.
Every week Alexander and I go on a date, it’s a fun and needed weekly rhythm. Most weeks we dress up, I wear heels and he wears a bowtie, we put our phones away and sip our wine very slowly over good conversation and usually good food. But instead of going out we decided to put the kids to bed early, pour a glass of whiskey and watch a movie. It was cozy and lowkey, and again, created space for me to feel rested and renewed.
Before we knew it, it was Friday. Which means two things in our home: 1. Open Gym 2. Friday Night Pizza Night. Alexander took Liliana to open gym at a local gymnastics place — he left his phone in the car and they had a blast together – running and jumping and climbing. And later that evening we made our famous pizza dough and made individual pizzas, and we watched a movie!
The week was relaxing, which made me feel ready to conquer the weekend because it was full! It was Easter weekend, so our days consisted of cooking, baking, hosting and visiting family, celebrating at church, painting eggs, egg hunts and eating lotsa good food and sweets! Our Easter was special and I hope yours was too.
Lots of sweet memories were made on this little staycation of mine! Although we love to travel, there was something special about being more intentional with our time as a family and staying home. I feel rested, eager, ready and more focused, coming out of a place of rest and renewal and into a new week with grace and ease.