I hope I didn’t scare you…
We are not breaking from HowDoesShe? Oh my…I need my daily dose of it!
A break from laundry, cooking, chores, dishes, dusting… (I am sure you can fill in the rest of the dots!).
Our family just needed a break.
We wanted to go swimming, eat out, lay around, play games and hang out with each other.
(Wait...I want to hear what you do for cheap vacations too. It’s always good to have the next idea in mind!)
We wanted/needed to get out, but we didn’t have a ton of cash…so we set out with a goal to vacation for under $60! (Staying at the in-laws was not allowed either).
After a bit of ‘googling’ we found:
a budget perfect vacation!
- First and foremost. A Hotel Scavenger Hunt. $5 for the hotel lobby candy prize. Here is a pdf to the FREE Hotel Scavenger Hunt. There really are a lot of fire extinguishers in a hotel!
- Priceline Hotels We managed to get a 5 star hotel for $35 (that is really a fun site) in down town! January and February have some sweet deals! (I just put in what I would pay and one took my $35 bid).
- Restaurant.com
Hello…cheap dinner! We paid $2.00 for our dinner coupon making our dinner ticket to be around $10 for the 6 of us (**note 2 are under the age of 2…so they really don’t count when it comes to a ‘meal’)
We planned on getting there at 5pm. Our goals were to swim in a heated pool, enjoy our wonderfully cheap dinner, jump on the bed, have a hotel scavenger hunt, and laugh together. Oh ya, watching a movie and sleeping in were 2 huge goals on our list! Family time in the middle of winter for under $60!
REALITY:
We got to the hotel at 6:30…no biggie, only 1 1/2 hours late. The swimming pool was closed for the winter, humm I guess I should have called on that before hand! I forgot the restaurant coupon so we had to pay $42 for burgers and french fries (that were burnt).
BUT, we did jump on the beds and the kids had ‘a rockin’ time with the scavenger hunt.
Did we get to the watch a movie…nope. Our little squirts decided to start screaming and wake each other up. There was no sleep happening. After 4 hours of battling 2 screaming kids out in the parking lot because we were afraid we were going to wake up the other vacationers, we decided it was time to pack up and head home. After loading all the kids in the car and pulling out of the hotel parking lot at 1 am, our oldest girl said half way asleep, “There is no place like home. I’m glad we are going home.”
In the morning at breakfast, our other daughter sleepily said that it was one of her best vacations.
Ha! To think a vacation that my husband and I thought was the pits was one of their favorite memories.
We didn’t make the budget, but had I remembered to pack my brain…we might have!
So why am I telling you this story for one of my posts?
Umm…to show you the cute kids jumping on the bed?
No, it’s so you can get out and take a break! For cheap! Hey, Valentine’s Day is coming up. That would be a huge surprise for the family…or for the hubby(YAY!!)
I would LOVE to hear what vacations you’ve done for cheap.
I think I need another!
Holly says
I love this. I read it wondering in the back of my mind if ours would work out so sweet… To continue reading and hear your story made me giggle. We can always try 🙂
Peggy says
Hmm… this sounds like a great idea! Our children are all between the ages of 11 and 16 so something like this could definitely work!!! Or maybe just a night away for mom and dad!! Of course it would mean having pizza on hand at home already for the guys! A definite idea!
Chelle says
We found that “hotel swimming pool in the winter” to be a great birthday party idea. ‘Round here if you rent a room you can invite your friends to come swim with you. No need to actually stay at the hotel overnight, just a fun way to splash and play when it’s so cold outside.
Missy says
How fun!! Love the pic of the girls jumping on the bed:)
Marcie says
We found a great deal in Utah … the Cache Valley Getaway deal… and we do it every year! We live about two hours from Logan so it makes a great getaway : Dinner for two at a nice restaurant AND a nights stay at the Econo Lodge (with heated pool) for $50! We just bring the kiddos and get dinner for them and then catch a movie at the cheap theater the next day. It’s one of our favorite traditions for February 🙂
Shelley says
These pictures make me smile. 🙂 Family time at it’s best. 🙂
Mindy says
ha, love the honesty and happy ending of this silly story 🙂
Caley says
I needed this post! We’ve been needing a break too but just don’t have the funds…but I think we can do it under $100 too! I’m talking to the hubby tonight! hehe
Heather says
Great ideas. We are having a hotel party for my tween daughters birthday. I will have to check out priceline. I would love to do the hotel scavenger hunt, the link that is on this site for the pdf isn’t working. Can you try to repost it. Thanks!
Heather says
These are some great ideas. We are having a Hotel party for our tween. I will check out priceline.com. Also the Hotel scavenger hunt would be a lot of fun for them but I can’t get the link to work. Can you try to repost it? Thanks
Alison says
AHH…Darn linking:) It’s good to go now. Thank you so much for letting me know! Have a fun time at your hotel party.
Thanks again
Summer says
Oh ALISON! You just need the Huber hotel!
Julie says
Seriously, my most favorite post EVER!!! Thanks for the laugh Allison. I loved the “reality” of it all but even more I loved that despite what you as parents thought was torture the girls only saw as their best vacation ever… pricless!!! We love and miss your cute family 🙂
Makinzee says
lol, that’d be my luck too:)
Julie Goodson says
We’ve packed up our whole camping trailer and all that goes with it at 2 in the morning because we had a little one that wouldn’t sleep! Being a parent is SO FUN!!
Andrea says
This really sounds like a FUN idea!! Thanks for sharing. We do need to get out and do something fun. It’s hard to do that in the winter.
Maybe you better plan this vacation AGAIN for just you and the hubby 😉 Doesn’t sound like much of a break.
Iris {Sweet Metel Moments} says
So cute!! Thanks for making me smile and to help me remember how important it is to cherish the moments we have while our kids are still young and when jumping on the bed still makes them happy! For a vacation on a budget, we take our kids camping at a campsite about 10 minutes away from our house (just in case we can’t make it through the night!) We’ve only done it once and we made it through the night but we’re trying again in a few weeks. My kids are almost 5 and almost 2 and they love getting dirty and eating snacks by the fire and hanging out in a tent. And I don’t have to worry about keeping the site or my kids clean. 🙂
aj says
Thanks for reminding me of this! We did this a couple of years ago, although it was prompted by the fact that I was actually doing a mystery shop that would reimburse me for the hotel stay & some of the food. It was fun for the kids to go swimming in the middle of winter.
I never thought of just renting the room to get to go swimming, and not even stay there, lol! Duh!
I think we will plan a stay (I do love Priceline!) at a nearby city soon. Go for a little shopping and then stay in hotel that night…Swim, soak in the hot tub, sit in the sauna, jump on the bed and relax. It sounds great! Even if it isn’t perfect 😉
Jessica H says
Such a fun idea! I really love it! I’m glad your girls had a fun time even if you got to stay up all night. I think the idea is so great, though. I’m going to remember it and look into some a cheap vacay for hubby and I soon {our six month old probably wouldn’t care if she got left behind! 😉 }.
knuckstermom says
When my kiddos were smaller we took the Amtrak train from one city in our state to another. It was very cheap to ride the Amtrak for a short ways. Check Amtrak.com to see if the train goes near you! Then we stayed at a motel in the city and took the train back the next day. Love the Priceline name your own price feature!! You really can get a super deal!
Dawn says
we always do hotel scavenger hunts-the kids love them-sometimes we just make up a list of things for them to find, sometimes we give them the camera and the list and they have to take a picture of each thing with one person in each picture and last year, we gave them the camera, they had to take the pictures but instead of a list, my friend went around and took pictures and then the kids had to find where she took the picture or of what she took and then snap their picture-the kids love it! we do scavenger hunts everywhere we go.
Maggie @ Home Decorators Outlet says
Sounds great idea!! our 11th year anniversary is
coming. why not to take a break..thanks for sharing.
saniel says
so you checked in a local hotel and didn’t stay the whole night? the room was only $35 but what about the incidental deposit..always required at most hotels. you wasted good money.
Missy says
Thank you for posting this. I am an avid couponer and spend VERY little $ on ANYTHING, but from time to time I screw up. It’s very refreshing to hear of others’ “screw ups” once in a while – even better when you THINK they are screw ups, and they aren’t really……only memories in the making.
Kirsten says
How cool is that!? Reminds me of how surprised my own parents are at our favourite childhood memories. 🙂
Johnson @ Best Laptop says
My family usually went during summer to my hubbys
hometown. the beach there is so relaxing and the kids
really enjoying the vacation.. nice blog!
Jennifer says
Fabulous ideas! Thanks for sharing, and I love that they thought it was the best time ever when you were afraid it was a flop.
Maren says
You’re so CUTE! I love your honesty! AND what a fun idea!