Staycationing

We love to hear fun ideas from families about them spending time together without spending a fortune. We know there are many who love to hang out together but are on a tight budget. Last year we were trying to figure out what to do on Spring Break and wanted it to be amazing but had little money to work with at the time.

I saw someone talking about staycations on the news and googled it. From there the ideas started flowing, and we ended up having what my girls say is "the greatest vacation ever." We wanted to share some of the ideas with you and hope that it spurs new ideas in you that you will share on our blog (www.highergroundfamily.blogspot.com) or on here. We're working on some for 2010 right now, because Spring Break is only 3 weeks away! We thought we'd be filming our children's DVD, but since that's not happening until July we are going to surprise the girls with a few special days. I'll share those days later, but here's a glimpse of 2009's Staycation.

Last year's journey around the world (the key to each day is the costumes and characters you create complete with fictional names):

Day one (or the nicest day): Camping at Yellowstone National Park
Restaurant called the "Canteen"
Cereal in a box for breakfast and fruit
Free exploring time in the am; lay and read; Google Yellowstone and identify the various animals living on our campgrounds
Hotdogs and chips for picnic lunch
Fishing-afternoon activity and bike ride to search for "footprints"
Go Fishing
Freshly caught fish for dinner (have back up fish if needed)-serve on tins and in thermoses
Build a fire, roast marshmallows/smores, sing campfire songs & tell stories
Sleep in sleeping bags in the family room-everyone!-or borrow a large tent
Buy glowsticks and play hide-and-seek or tag with them

Day two: Hawaii
Restaurant called the Copa Cabana
Buy leis and have a few decorations (shell centerpieces)
Breakfast is coconuts, bananas, and Hawaiian sweet bread french toast
Morning activity-make a lei or fly a kite
Lunch-ham sandwiches and pineapple
Afternoon activity-free time then make your grass skirt with paper strips…, watch a movie set in Hawaii
Dinner is build your own grilled skewers and grilled corn on the cob
Have a luau party with dancing, grass skirts and umbrella drinks and invite a few friends to join you

Day three: Wild West party
Restaurant called the Chuck Wagon
Buy red bandanas, gingham checked cloths and burlap sacks for decorations; make a horse with 2 sawhorses and a long broom covered with a big blanket and a horse head taped to the front
Breakfast-eggs and bacon
Morning activity-Go to the “Sheriff’s office” and make wanted posters-dress up with vests, cowboy hats or bonnet, frilly dress, etc; take picture & put picture on brown paper bag paper, print out “Wanted! And Big Reward” with a statement at the bottom “If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of this despicable criminal, please call the Local Sheriff.”
Lunch is sloppy joes and fries
Afternoon activity-barrel racing outside with trash cans; lasso stuff; horseshoes
Dinner-b’bque ribs, chicken, mac n cheese, salad, and horseshoe biscuits, root beer or other bottled drinks-sassafras
Play card games

Day four: Kids plan
They loved getting involved and making the plans
Ours ended up being the Indianapolis Children's Museum (where grandma is a member and got us all in free)
Make your own pizzas for dinner

Day five: Spa Day
Relax at home
Take baths while reading books
Do nails, hair, makeup (probably won't work with the boys :)
Stay in robes all day
Order dinner in and ice cream for dessert
Finish with a movie


I hope this gets you started on your own creative staycation experience!