oh yeah, our STAYcation!

It's been a week now, and I was just thinking about our fun little "mini-vacation" that we took last friday. We don't have a lot of extra money but we thought it would be fun to take a little trip with the kids. Friday, after John got off work, we packed up our stuff and headed for the far away land of Lehi, Utah! We got a room at the Best Western; just off of main street. It was pretty inexpensive, plus we booked the room online so we got an even better price. I wanted to go somewhere that had a pool and a free (real) breakfast, and the Best Western worked just fine for that. Our basic plan was to get a room, go out to a nice place for dinner, swim, and then have a nice breakfast in the morning.
It ended up being a really nice, fun little trip. It was especially nice because we didn't have to drive very far, or pack a ton of stuff; and most importantly it was cheap! (well, except for dinner, yikes) We went to Tepanyaki in Lehi, a Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi bar. We were a little uncertain if it would be "kid-friendly", but it turned out to be a fabulous idea! The kids loved it, and it was a lot of fun. The food was delicious, even though it turned out to be really expensive; so, it was a once in a blue moon type of thing. The kids thought it was neat to have the food cooked right at the table; after they got over the initial shock of the massive fire ball that came at us when the chef lit the oil on fire! I think the fire was a little bigger than he was planning, and it caught us all off guard. Eli started screaming and freaking out. He struggled his way out of his highchair and was trying to get as far from the table as possible. When he started wandering around the restaurant I put him back in his seat and he was mostly ok, just a little concerned. Malachi was also freaked out by the fire and he started screaming. We had to get him out of his car seat and hold him, which ended up being a disaster for me; he is very grabby and tried to get my bowl of soup. I ended up wearing half a bowl of soup, in my lap and all down my leg. Luckily it was a clear broth, and not too hot at that time, but I was pretty soaked.
The kids had fun trying to use chop sticks, and were given some with rubber bands that made them easier for little fingers. Eli liked the regular ones, he used them as swords. It was funny when he first got them separated and was saying "fight me, fight me", in his little midget language (which kinda sounded like “eat me”). It's fun when they are learning to talk and they come up with such random things.
After dinner we got settled in our room and ready to go swimming. Of course, I forgot to pack swimming diapers (who can remember swimming diapers?!), so John ran over to Albertson's to pick some up; it was nice that it was just across the street. We had a fun time swimming and Malachi was so super cute in his little swimming-floaty-boat-thingy. I’m sad I didn’t get any pictures, but our camera had a dead battery and was charging. He was really good and just sat there and "chilled" the whole time. I think he liked the plastic, he was licking it.
It was nice to relax, and swim, and sit in the hot tub for a little while. The pool was indoor and heated and it actually wasn’t too bad, except for Eli was shivering most of the time. I kept trying to get him to go in the hot tub, but he refused. I finally ended up carrying him into it, and when it was time to go he refused to get out!
After swimming we went back to the room and got ready for bed, and then relaxed for a while in front of the tv. John went to Albertson's (again) to buy us some tasty treats. You can't have a fun vacation without some tasty treats! So, we filled the kids with lots of sugar, and then told them to go to sleep, haha. Surprisingly, it actually wasn't too bad getting them to sleep; the trick is that we ALL have to go to sleep at the same time. When we first started taking family trips staying in a hotel was a horrendous experience, but we seem to be slowly figuring things out.
I was up several times during the night with Malachi, but everyone else slept pretty good. It was nice to have a comfy chair and foot stool to recline in while I took care of him in the night. There was also a little fridge in the room to store our leftovers from dinner, and the rest of our tasty treats.
We took our time in the morning and went down to breakfast before we packed up our stuff. It was a pretty nice little breakfast, pancakes and eggs and other stuff; and a good way to relax and end our little trip.


Eli, getting into stuff, and wearing John's shoes

Ati and Malachi ready to swim

Kids relaxing, watching tv (Eli pouting because he didn't want to be in the picture)