Staycation - Part One

So I guess we're doing something that's trendy this year:
The "STAY-CATION".
For those of you who are unaware of this gas-price-induced phenomenon,
it means STAYing at home during your vaCATION
and having adventures from there.
Since when have the Clays been so happenin'? :)

We'll just pretend we were being "in" rather than the reality
of vacation for us being
"With-five-adult-sized-bodies-appetites-and-personalities-it-
wouldn't-be-a-good-idea-for-us-to-stay-somewhere-all-together-
for-any-length-of-time".
We all really like each other and want to keep it that way.

So here's how our stay-cation has looked.

Sunday morning:
Get packed up. Make a family trip to the grocery store for snacks.
Drive to Canada (about an hour total). Nice meal at White Spot.
Check in at Harrison Hot Springs Resort.
Sun conveniently comes out upon our arrival.
Lounge in pools. Late dinner. Ice cream at Baskin-Robbins.
Jim and the older two explore.
Nate plays in sand at the lake-beach until sundown.
I don't have a book along and am not dressed for the sand, so I sit.
I DO nothing.
I watch Nate build what's in his mind.
I look at the ridges and ridges of hills running down to the lake -
layer upon layer of blue-shadowed-evergreened ridges.
Water, sand, sky, clouds.
I watch a spunky two-year-old beach neighbor chase her siblings
and eat her sand-covered ice cream cone.
I laugh at a smart-aleck Jack Russell Terrier playing fetch with his owner.
I watch the created things and think of the Creator.
I am always close to Him here..."here" being "out in His handiwork".
I watch the sun set and walk with my son back to the hotel.
THIS is glorious. THIS is vacation.

We all watch TV together until midnight.
Sleep - sort-of - between rounds of the duvet
getting snatched by my 12 year-old.

(Sidebar: Sleeping arrangements in hotels or the trailer are always...ummm...challenging.
"X breathes too loud. Y steals the blankets. Z snores. Etc." Mom rolls her eyes and fits
the pieces together like a puzzle until everyone stands a reasonable chance of sleeping. Now that all my children can swallow pills, I resort to a half-dose of Nyquil for all willing participants in order to aid the sleeping process. It works.)

Monday:
Get up and out for breakfast around 10 AM. Sean has vowed to eat as much bacon as is humanly possible on this trip (since mom doesn't make it often enough at home). So as a follow-up to his BACON burger at White Spot and his BACON club sandwich for Sunday dinner, he eats another dozen slices from the breakfast buffet.
All-you-can-eat is a good thing for 14 year-old boys.

More pool time for the boys. Reading time outdoors for mom.
Reading/alone time indoors for Cami.
I join Jim and the boys in the pool eventually.

47 minutes after the breakfast buffet, give-or-take a few minutes,
Sean begins asking what's for dinner and when. Oh boy.
Dinner at the hole-in-the-wall pizza place we always visit when we're at Harrison.
Delicious food. The owner is a sassy East Indian
who keeps a running conversation with us
and gives Cami "the business".
He knows who the sassy one is in the family.
She dishes as much as she takes.

Stop at the mini-mart for treats.
Tennis...more laughing than actual playing, although we improved.
Watch the Bachelorette and other TV. Swim until late.
Rearrange sleeping assignments. Read. Sleep.
My 16 year-old did NOT steal the duvet.

Tuesday:
Cereal from home for breakfast (much cheaper than a restaurant).
Showers and packing up.
More time at the pool. Best weather of the trip. Bright sun. Beautiful.
63 minutes after entrance to the pool,
Sean is asking what's for lunch and when. Surprise, surprise.
The kids decide that the Taco Bell/KFC they discovered next
to White Spot would be just the thing.
Get dried and dressed. Load in the car and bid farewell to the hotel.
Good times. Two nights is just right.

We get our Taco Bell/KFC fix,
although Sean cannot seem to locate a dish with bacon.

We go back to the place where we can sleep in our own beds, check e-mail,
and be in cell phone range again sans roaming charges
(three guesses who that was important to!).
We go where we can spread out and love each other at arms length again.
This may sound mercenary, but it works for us.
And we love each other very, very much.

We've had a good time together.
Good laughing and wrestling
and Mad-Libbing and reading
and swimming and sunning and eating.
Good memories.
Good vacation.

To be continued...