STAYCATION TIME AGAIN!

 

On my last blog post I wrote about the Staycation invitations that you see below for our 2nd annual Staycation this year.

And, if you read it you’ll know that inside these wine boxes were some invitations that had little keys attached to each one with a word on it. 

They were supposed to bring the key (I got these at Hobby Lobby, by the way) so they could find out which room they were staying in….

Because, on each door I created a small sign reflecting the word designated on each key to show them which “room at the inn” was theirs ….

I glued these little chalkboards onto some burlap fabric (to match the invitations)

And, and added the little pumpkins – courtesy of my friend, Kathy!  On each chalkboard I wrote the word matching the word on their key…..

Only I completely messed up on this one and put the wrong word…UGH!….go figure.  I put “treasure” and the word was actually “memory”.  Obviously my memory ain’t so good!

Inside each room was a welcome bag filled with goodies including one of my corny little poems centered around the word that was on the door and on the key.

Daniel and Melissa’s room (aka D and Mo)….

Ryan and Katie’s room….

And, Alyssa and Kaisley’s room. 

Since I haven’t redecorated my college daughter’s room since she moved out this year we thought we’d surprise my granddaughter, Kaisley, with this tent.  She’s a nut about building forts now so we thought she would get a kick out of this.  And, she did, by the way! Her Aunt Aly, spent the night in here with her.  (Of course we added the bedding before they went to sleep.)  If you look inside you can see a goodie bag for each of them here, too.

When it was time for the evening to begin I set up my kitchen with a little welcome sign….

An autumn tablescape for our Mexican feast…

Which consisted of burritos, taco’s, taco salad, queso, guacamole, stuffed jalapeno peppers and all the fixin’s….

Then we hung out back in our outdoor living area by the fire eating dinner and enjoying the evening.  Fortunately for us the Texas weather was picture perfect for a night like this.

Of course we had to make time for smore’s….

And cuddle time with Aunt Mo and Uncle D…..

After dinner and dessert the ladies went inside to make Mo’s birthday cake for her birthday celebration the following night.  I got each of the girl’s matching aprons like mine and Kaisley’s courtesy of my friend, Shirley.  Each apron has their nickname that Kaisley calls them embroidered on it in lime green.  You can’t see it but, they say:  Mo, Aly, Mimi J, Mommy.  That was a surprise for Kaisley more than anyone, because she loves, loves, loves to bake. And, she loved seeing us all in matching aprons.

So after everyone donned their aprons we got right to work.  Mo and Katie worked on the giant cookies we were going to use for ice cream sandwiches the next day…..

And, Kaisley, Aly and Mimi J got busy on the cake batter for the birthday cake…..

When all was ready KK got to decorate the cake just the way she wanted – with lots and lots of sprinkles and my left over pumpkin picks from Halloween to create a “punkin’ patch”.  Not bad, huh!

After our “Doogimi-licious Breakfast” the next morning – consisting of pancakes, bacon and eggs – it was time for the kid’s treasure hunt.  (I forgot to print this off so I had to whip it up in my own hand writing at the last minute which is why it looks a bit hokey.) Oh well…she didn’t care…

To make it easy for her I printed out pictures of where the clues were hidden so she would know where to find each one.  First, the chaise lounge pictured above…..which took her to the next clue…

 

This bar stool which took her to….

The coffee table pictured here….

She was quite proud to find them on her own…..

Little brother followed along with the help of his Uncle D…..

She found the next clue here which finally lead her to….

Their treasure!

They were a little excited to say the least.

When the kid’s treasure hunt was over it was time for the grown up version.

They each read their first clue which read:

To start today with your surprise….

You must learn to find your way —

To prepare for your excursion

You must now agree to play…

And, even as experienced

As each of you now are –

This time the game requires

That you get into the car.

Each stop requires a picture

And the first is blocks away…

To our friend’s house on the corner….

Where Dan-Man used to play.

Their first clue led them to our good friend’s home where they found the second clue.  Daniel snapped a picture (just as they were supposed to) then headed to their next stop….

Which was at their grandmother, Mimi J’s, house.  There they found the clue that led them to the next stop…..

And, that’s where they found their surprise…..Tickets to a dine-in movie theater for lunch and movie of choice Saturday afternoon.

A fun, little afternoon, especially for mama, Katie, who had yet to venture out without her new bambino.

While they were away and the little ones were napping, Kaisley and I finished our Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Yummo!  You can see she’s quite proud once again. 

When everyone returned from lunch and movie’s we hung out, had Doogie’s delicious Pasta Fa-Doogie (Pasta Fagioli – Doogie style) for dinner, celebrated Mo’s birthday and hung out back till 1:00am in the morning watching a movie.  (Failed to get pictures of any of that! I guess we were just having too much fun!)

Sunday morning, after we had breakfast burritos courtesy of Doogie, it was picture time.  So I set up some of my indoor furniture out in the back yard to create a cozy little vignette for family photo’s….

Just to record the memories….

And, the fun……

And, all the cuteness……

 

 

In a world of constant “busy-ness” it’s nice to just stop in our tracks and enjoy spending time together. 

Lastly we ended the weekend, as promised, with the kid’s picnic in the back yard….

And, even though we laugh about one of Daniel’s friends who simply cannot fathom why in the world the whole family would want to hang out together for an entire weekend (Completely perplexed at the idea, he asked Daniel if we were going to play Chutes and Ladders and eat Fiddle Faddles…..hahaha) we do have lots of laughs and lots of fun even if it is a simple “vacation” at our house and not somewhere fancy-schmancy.

When it was all over and they’d all gone home my son, Ryan, texted us to say that when he put Kaisley to bed that Sunday night she said, “I wish we could stay at Mimi and Doogie’s six more nights…..no….fifty more nights!” 

And, that’s what it’s all about.

Happy Decorating!