Staycation.

Where to begin?! We had a four day mini staycation which spanned from Friday-Monday. Throughout those four days, I planned various activities for Emerson and I around our city. It was really nice, but exhausting! I think I wore Emerson out to the point of him becoming miserable by the end of our last day. Note to self: leave some room for down time!

Day #1: We started the day off at home with a big breakfast. Emerson slept in until about 7am, which was nice for me. We headed out of the house around 10:30am and went to a local dairy place that makes its own ice cream. They also have a small petting zoo with goats/lambs that you can feed, a playground, and mini golf. We utilized all and had a nice time. No, Emerson didn’t really golf. Instead, he tossed his ball into one of the water features they had set up throughout the golf course. He still had a good time running around though.

Afterwards, we headed over to my parent’s house to swim for a while. After an hour, or so, we headed home, so that Emerson could take a late nap. When he awoke, we headed over to the fair, which was set up for our community day. My sister came with us. Emerson rode all of the rides, had a slushy, and I even won him a stuffed animal. He was pretty worn out by the time we got home. I let him stay up later than usual because we were on vacation.

Day #2: Emerson slept until about 8:30am! It was nice because we had all day plans at the water park (Sandcastle). We picked my sister up around 10:45am, then headed down to the park. The gates opened at 11. The weather was already so hot. We had a blast! Season passes was definitely the right way to go. We also bought a parking pass, so now, anytime we go, it is completely FREE. We swam in all of the pools. Emerson went down a few water slides and loved the wave pool! We were there for about 4 hours from 11am-4pm. We certainly got our money’s worth. Afterwards, we headed to my parent’s house. Emerson snoozed on the couch for a bit before we headed home. I let him stay up late again too. We watched a movie and hung out until bath and bedtime. We were both exhausted after a long day in the sun.

Day #3: I wanted to take Emerson around Pittsburgh for a day of fun. My sister came with us. We parked in my old neighborhood in Mt. Washington, then walked up to the overlook to see the entire city. It was awesome. Afterwards, we stopped at little dairy place to get Emerson an ice cream, then headed down to South Side where Emerson played in one of the fountains. He was soaked!  We stopped for lunch on the way home, then headed to my parent’s house to swim. It was so hot out! Em was beat by the time we got home.

Day #4: Emerson slept in until well after 8am. I could tell when he woke up that the exhaustion was really creeping up on him. We had one more day planned of fun. We went back to Sandcastle! We were there for about three hours. Both of us were just absolutely exhausted. We ended up going home where Emerson napped for over two hours. I even laid down for a bit. We finished the day in the yard. I filled Em’s pool up and we just hung out. I put Emerson to bed earlier than usual because he was grouchy from exhaustion.

Overall, it was a really nice break for the both of us. We’re doing this again next month and will be taking two days off during the week (a Tuesday and Wednesday). I think that’ll be a bit more manageable than taking time off with the weekend. It was a lot of days and I crammed in a lot of stuff. I’ll tone it down a bit next time.

This week, we are just getting back into the swing of things. We’re going to the spray park on Saturday and doing Sandcastle on Sunday. The 4th is on Monday, so we’ll be heading to my parent’s to cook out, swim, and do fireworks. Other than that, I just want to save our dollars. We didn’t spend much money over the weekend. Our Pittsburgh day was 100% free outside of paying for ice cream and lunch. Sandcastle has already paid for itself. Swimming at my parents was no cost. I spent $11 the day we went to the creamery for ice cream and golf. I planned pretty well. I am savvy with a dollar. LOL

My nephew comes back from California next month. We’re saving all of our excursions for that time. I’m excited. I have it all planned out. I just want to give Emerson a nice summer. He has been driving me crazy lately though. I’m not sure what is up with him. With a flip of a switch, he will just start crying and screaming. The smallest things upset him. Yesterday, he was upset that I wouldn’t let him drive my car. Really?! You’re 2! No, you can’t sit in the front seat and pretend drive! He flipped for about 15 minutes in the backseat until I finally yelled at him to cut it out. I hate when he brings me out of character and I have to seriously YELL. After 15 minutes of wailing though, I had reached my breaking point. He stopped the second I raised my voice, but I feel bad now. I don’t like that feeling. Granted, I know he can’t be an angel all of the time, but DANG! I think by the end of the four days, we both just needed space from one another. I’ll chalk it up to that. This morning, he wigged out when I left him at daycare though, so of course, I felt even worse.

Alright, guys. I am gonna finish up. have a super week!