Staycation 2015

Soooo… school starts Monday. Isn’t that bananas? Like, b-a-n-a-n-a-s?! Total nanners for sure. But yes, back to school for the two olders, and back to a different kind of normal for the fam. So why on earth wouldn’t we have chosen the month of July for a trip to total crazytown? 

July was a bit of a whirlwind. Between buying a new home and getting our existing one ready for the market, life was already a little bit of a wild ride but we like to live on the edge around these parts so we added in Camp Grandma, Staycation, and a move. Because again, I ask, why not? YOLO, right?

So the third week of July my insanely incredible in-laws took the trio for a week. YES. A WEEK, people. And in that week, we were able to keep the house in tip top shape and I got to volunteer for a night with my old co-workers and see some familiar faces… and have far too much fun. 

Once the boys returned home, we hosted an open house over the weekend and then the following day, loaded up the fam, and all of our belongings {sans kitchen sink, obv} and headed to the popular staycay destination that is WILBER, NEBRASKA. 

{I’ve talked of this in the past but for about the past decade, we’ve been meeting up with my sibs+their kiddos+my parents for an extended stay in the summer. The first year, we did Des Moines, a couple years in Breckenridge, a year in St Louis, a year in AMI Florida, and a few years in Wilber — my idyllically fabulous hometown and homebase for moms and pops E. And yes. It is odd but we all get along and no one has ever killed anyone yet.}

Here are a few bits of our week in photos…  

The boys packed in for our short roadtrip. Look at those smiling faces. Those are the faces of children ecstatic over busting out of a pristinely kept show house. 

Happy hour. Every day. Because the children request it. For real. And I am all about giving the kids what they want. Especially when what they want is food and ice cold beverages.

Communal sleeping arrangements tend to work out pretty well. It should be also noted that there are children shoved in any dark, quiet space that can be found. Including pack n plays in closets. Or next to a treadmill. 

These two even managed to cozy up next to each other for a couple of nights.

Some of the gentlemen were able to get away for 18 holes one day and that meant pedis for the ladies the next. That smiling face with the top knot is none other than Jackie, our former foreign exchange student who lived with us in 1995. She and her husband, Robert, traveled all the way from The Netherlands {or Holland, if you’d rather;)} and stayed the entire week in Wilber with our circus. Also, of note, she informed us that it is rather uncommon for non-celebs to get their feetsies done in The Netherlands so basically, we are celebrities in this photo.

There was plenty of outdoor time including ball, swinging, and one night of sleeping under the stars.

And plenty of time for swimming and sun. 

The whole E clan+Jackie and Robert {photo cred goes to the fabulous: PamAndie Photography who, as it turns out, also used to change my diapers.}

We had our second annual “Mohawk Fun Run” which is basically the children schooling us around the 1 mile lap of the development.

LOOK! I was beating them! Actually, this was their second time around. And I am pretty sure these crazies passed me… but whatever.

Pre-mohawk shaving for the four oldest boys… {8, 7, 6, 5}

During mohawk shaving for this kid. And no. That’s not the hubs. It’s my brother. And no, I don’t think they resemble each other. But thanks for making it awkward for me. 

Pops E rented a bounce house for one of the days. I have a whole reel of video footage from this affair. And it’s basically all of the adults. Because staycation.

We had some pseudo-extended fam around as well which made the week even better.

And allllll of us survived the week. And outside of a rambling tummy bug, there were no real issues to report. And the kiddos had a grand ol’ time. From S’mores to snores and everything in between, it once again proved that it doesn’t really matter where you are… when you’re with people you like, good times always come!

Stay tuned later today for part II {which is really just the Czech Days portion of Staycation 2015}…