Stay-Cation 2012

This year, we decided to take a "STAY-CATION"....a vacation at home sweet home. It took a little convincing Ryan, but after a bit he was on board, as long as we had an iternerary so we didn't sit around and waste quality family time that we had! Please enjoy IPHONE only photos, as we didn't feel like carrying the big camera around!

Day 1:
After breakfast, while it was still nice outside we took the boys to Legacy Play Village. It was fun and FREE! That's always a good combo! The boys had a blast and played and played until they were exhausted. Once it got pretty hot we decided we'd had enough but it was definitely a fun time with the fam!

After lunch and naps (we had something planned for the afternoon, but that morning wore everyone out, mom and dad included!) we ate some delish dinner at One Guy's and headed to Joyland! Before you knock it, TRY IT! I hadn't been in several (okay, at least 15 or 20) years, but it was SO much fun. As we were driving up to the parking lot, Braidy said, "This place is AMAZING!" They thought we had just arrived at Disney World...and for all they know, we did! Ha! They rode ride after ride after ride, never waiting in a line...that's my kind of amusement park. John was super brave and rode all kinds of rides...even the big roller coaster about 10 times in a row! Our fearless child, Braidy, would NOT get on the Carousel, but rode the huge water slide too many times to count. Quin rode in the stroller most of the time, but he did get to go on a few rides and enjoyed them a lot! We stayed until about 9:30, and the boys were NOT ready to go home. They could have stayed all night. We will be going back, it was alot of fun for all!

Day 2: We woke up and went to eat breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and then headed out to Buffalo Lake to go fishing! We have some friends that live on the lake, so we actually got to fish in their backyard, and it was fun for the boys. John caught a BIG catfish and a little catfish, and Braidy caught a little one. They had fun fishing and playing in the water, too!

After lunch and naps and rest time (mom's nap happened in the pool on a raft this day, sweet!) we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. This would be the least enjoyable part of our few days together, by far. Ryan and I would have enjoyed gauging our eyes out with the steak knives more than sit at that table with our 3 boys. Love them more than life itself, but they were miserable. They were all so tired they could hardly see straight, dinner time is always a battle anyways, and let's just face it, eating out is NOT FUN with little kids! Anywho, we survived and got out of there as quick as possible. Our waitress probably thought we were nuts. 

 After dinner we went to Adrenaline City! It's a newer place in Lubbock at Body Works where they have a ropes course, wall-to-wall trampolines, laser tag, etc. The Touchstone's were there that night to, so it was extra fun! Tabor and Quin were too little to do anything so we played in the turf area with balls, a giant tire, and a bouncer. They had a blast and didn't know they were missing out on anything! John and daddy went on the ropes course, and then afterwards, ALL the big boys went on the trampolines for an hour. They had a blast, it looked like so much fun. Aunt D and I took the littles to Target for some late-night, way-past-your-bedtime shopping! We were one of those people you wonder, "WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR BABY OUT AT TARGET SO LATE"? Well, we wanted to and they were having so much fun together. They each got a ball, and ate about a full bag of yogurt bites while we were there. John, Braidy and daddy got home a little after 10:30 and they were WORN OUT. I know everyone slept good this night!

We had a great 2 days together as a family. Really, we learned it's not about where you go, how much money you spend, what you get to eat, it's about making memories with your family and kids, and we definitely succeeded in that!