earthyfamily Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 For those of you that have done or ever wanted to do a staycation and come up with ideas, what do you do to make it special? We've done staycations before, but they never seem much different than when we just have a day or two to hang out around the house and/or go out and do a couple of fun things. My family NEEEEEDS a vacation, but we can't afford to go away right now. Any ideas on how to make our time at home, especially, different, fun and stress-free? Thanks so so so so so so much! :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 We've done "stay-cations" where we camped out in the backyard (in tents) and cooked our meals on the grill, then at night we had candy and popcorn and used the extension cord to power the lap top so we could watch a movie in the tent. Make special foods and/or order take-out. Try out a new board game. (my library actually has games you can check-out) Walk to places in your neighborhood that you normally would drive to (if your kids can handle the distance). You notice a lot of little things about the landscape and neighborhood taking the slower pace. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 We try to act as if we're first-time tourists to the place we live. I look online for new ideas of things to see and do and sometimes we've bought tourist passes to several different attractions in the area. Also, try to get any cleaning, errands, and other jobs out of the way so you don't have to do the normal daily things. And don't answer the phone if you don't want to and say no to anything you don't want to do those days. Pretend like you really are out of town and tell people you won't be available if you don't want to be. And if at all possible, try to make the food fun and easy so that you don't have to worry about it. That means different things to different people, but it makes a huge difference for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 My kids love pajama days with movies and popcorn. If I had girls -- which I don't -- I'd do mani and pedi. (Please don't pm me that I'm sexist, folks, I've actually tried to do mani/pedis on my boys and they balked.) I might do something unusual like go to SkyZone and let them jump or take them to an indoor pool even if we had to drive. Depending on the age of your kids. . . you can go to Home Depot and get giant boxes and bring them home and let them play, make trains etc. Boxes are such a toy. . . Alley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 One year over the Christmas holidays, my children started holding a daily "Christmas Cafe" which was complete with menus and special food. Theirs was at breakfast, but it could be adapted. It was a fun memory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Do special food, eat out or go out for ice cream. Otherwise, I'd want the bulk of food prep done and waiting in the fridge to be reheated. Have meals well planned etc. That alone would be a vacation for me. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'd try for one night in a local hotel with a pool and wear out the pool by checking in as early as possible and check out as late as possible. Then, pizza in the room with movies (or cable, which we don't have). :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'd do some cheap touristy things near my own home. Go ahead and spring for admission to a museum or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I would think about how you define vacation. For me vacation means doing new things/seeing new places. If we have a staycation I find things that we've never done before. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 We ended up having a staycation last summer, when our car broke down at the very start of a planned "real" vacation. My husband and I have a tendency to just do chores when we are home, rather than anything fun, so we disciplined ourselves to get out of the house. There are plenty of local sights in our area that we haven't seen yet, so we chose several of those to visit. In our case, we had planned expenses for the trip we didn't take, so we decided we could spend up to the amount of our (cancelled) hotel reservations, though we ended up not even doing that. So, like happi duck, my suggestion is to look up local tourist sites, or historic sites, or whatever you like to see, and put them on the calendar during the vacation. Go to the beach, go hiking, go fishing, go to the art museum... whatever you all like to do but don't get to do often enough. If you don't agree on things, you can split up some of the time. One of the days our our vacation my husband and daughter when to see a photography exhibit at the art museum, while my son and I stayed home. Since the boy is a homebody, he was happy with books and computer games, and I forced myself to stay out of the kitchen - I lounged in the hammock with iced coffee and a book. You get the idea. We also watched a few movies; again, this is something we just don't seem to get to do very often. But you have to make it intentional. I hate to say it but it does take discipline for some of us. :001_huh: Maybe you are not like that though! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I love this idea and the suggestions! subbing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Backwards meal -- dessert first, followed by simple regular food of choice. My dc generally choose chips lol. Do anything you don't normally do. Stay up all night watching movie marathon. Get up early, go to a nature center and watch birds. Dine by candlelight. Have a backyard campfire, if allowed in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 For February break one year we went to a different museum or attraction every day. Zoo, aquarium, art museum, science museum, aquarium in city about 90 min away, Civil War history museum... We took lots of friends with us. We ate out lunch every day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthyfamily Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 There are so many great suggestions here!! I'm making a running list to show my dh later. :) So excited. You guys are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 For several years when our kids were little and we could not afford "real" vacations, we did "summer vacation" for one week every year. We planned in advance, just like we would if we were leaving home, and make an agenda for the week. We'd choose one or two local but reasonably priced touristy things we don't normally do on which to splurge (waterpark, arcades, etc.) and space those out during the week. Then we'd fill in the other days with free and very cheap stuff -- a day at the beach with a picnic, local museums on free or pay-what-you-will days, cool playgrounds at parks farther away than we would normally drive, etc. Even a longer-than-average outing to the pool in our apartment complex was special if Dad took the day off and swam with the kids. At home, we'd let the kids set up our small tent in the living room and have a "camp-in" every night. They used to love to sit inside the tent, with the open entrance flap facing the TV, and watch movies. I used to do silly stuff like color their popcorn to match the movie they watched. (I dyed it green once as a surprise when they were watching Shrek, and they loved it so much that I was forced to figure out how to make other colors. It worked best if I used liquid food coloring in melted margarine, and, of course, if the color had yellow undertones.) We kept meals simple, got cheap take-out a few times, and ate mostly off paper plates so that no one had to do dishes. And, as others have said, we would indulge in more junk food and treats than we normally kept on hand. I baked a couple of batches of cookies ahead of time, and we would make a special run to the grocery store to stock up on whatever treats our budget allowed. Sometimes, we would buy a new toy or other item to start using during the staycation. One year, for example, we happened to find a good sale price on a decent-sized inflatable pool. We had only recently moved into a house with a backyard (and lost access to the apartment complex pool). So, we surprised the kids with that one day. They used it all summer. Another year, we bought an inexpensive badminton/volleyball set. Other times, it would be something like a big Lego kit. In the years that we could afford it, we would book one or two nights at a hotel with a fancy pool or other fun amenities. For a lot of those years, either my husband or I worked for Disney, and as cast members, we got nice discounts on the WDW resorts. As a previous poster said, we would check in as early as we were allowed and make full use of the amenities for as long as we could stay. Usually, at the WDW resorts, you are welcome to stay on the property and use the pool(s) until midnight on the day you check out. So, if we arrived mid-morning on the day we checked in, for the price of a one-night stay, we could have two full days of play time. We never managed to do a staycation that cost us no money, but this basic plan allowed us to scale the expenditure according to what we could manage each year. The kids never seemed bothered if we did a two-night hotel stay one year and either one night or none another, if one year included a waterpark and another had trips to two different beaches. Basically, they liked having us spending a concentrated amount of time together planning and doing fun, different things as a family. That's what made it special. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Our last staycation we ate out for lunch & dinner every day, same as we would if we were on vacation. We went bowling. We did a nature walk at one of the state parks. We went to the neighborhood pool as a family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 A while ago we lost power to the house on the weekend and opted not to have an electrician in until Monday, to save the after-hours charge. It turned out to be an amazing weekend, so I'd definitely consider switching off power for a few hours in the evening during a staycation. We had to cook outside on the barbecue and camping gas stove. We ate dinner by candlelight. We huddled together on the bed while I read to the family on the Kindle, and we watched a movie together on the iPad, then went to bed early. The next day we took a long drive and used the time to charge our electronic gadgets, with the added bonus of discovering amazing coastal suburbs we'd never visited within 30 minutes drive of our home. Another thing ds8 particularly loves is if we all sleep in the same room. On his birthday we pull mattresses into his room and the whole family sleeps there. Every inch of floor is used! We do the same for one night over the Christmas period, sleeping together in front of the tree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 For several years when our kids were little and we could not afford "real" vacations, we did "summer vacation" for one week every year. We planned in advance, just like we would if we were leaving home, and make an agenda for the week. We'd choose one or two local but reasonably priced touristy things we don't normally do on which to splurge (waterpark, arcades, etc.) and space those out during the week. Then we'd fill in the other days with free and very cheap stuff -- a day at the beach with a picnic, local museums on free or pay-what-you-will days, cool playgrounds at parks farther away than we would normally drive, etc. Even a longer-than-average outing to the pool in our apartment complex was special if Dad took the day off and swam with the kids. At home, we'd let the kids set up our small tent in the living room and have a "camp-in" every night. They used to love to sit inside the tent, with the open entrance flap facing the TV, and watch movies. I used to do silly stuff like color their popcorn to match the movie they watched. (I dyed it green once as a surprise when they were watching Shrek, and they loved it so much that I was forced to figure out how to make other colors. It worked best if I used liquid food coloring in melted margarine, and, of course, if the color had yellow undertones.) We kept meals simple, got cheap take-out a few times, and ate mostly off paper plates so that no one had to do dishes. And, as others have said, we would indulge in more junk food and treats than we normally kept on hand. I baked a couple of batches of cookies ahead of time, and we would make a special run to the grocery store to stock up on whatever treats our budget allowed. Sometimes, we would buy a new toy or other item to start using during the staycation. One year, for example, we happened to find a good sale price on a decent-sized inflatable pool. We had only recently moved into a house with a backyard (and lost access to the apartment complex pool). So, we surprised the kids with that one day. They used it all summer. Another year, we bought an inexpensive badminton/volleyball set. Other times, it would be something like a big Lego kit. In the years that we could afford it, we would book one or two nights at a hotel with a fancy pool or other fun amenities. For a lot of those years, either my husband or I worked for Disney, and as cast members, we got nice discounts on the WDW resorts. As a previous poster said, we would check in as early as we were allowed and make full use of the amenities for as long as we could stay. Usually, at the WDW resorts, you are welcome to stay on the property and use the pool(s) until midnight on the day you check out. So, if we arrived mid-morning on the day we checked in, for the price of a one-night stay, we could have two full days of play time. We never managed to do a staycation that cost us no money, but this basic plan allowed us to scale the expenditure according to what we could manage each year. The kids never seemed bothered if we did a two-night hotel stay one year and either one night or none another, if one year included a waterpark and another had trips to two different beaches. Basically, they liked having us spending a concentrated amount of time together planning and doing fun, different things as a family. That's what made it special. I love, love, love your ideas! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocassie Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Last year we did not have a vacation away, but we did a few special things the week DH was off of work. We took three different day trips, and we were usually home by dinner. One to the zoo, another to the hands-on-science, museum, and the last to visit some relatives. We did already have memberships to the zoo and hands-on-museum so it was just gas and time. One day we went to the local beach/lake to swim, but the other days we stayed home. No chores beyond basics, lots of outdoor time (DH slept out in our tent with the kids in the backyard several nights), messy craft projects, and simple meals (even a few take out and bring home meal since eating out was to much with the other things we were doing.) We roasted hot dogs over the fire, stayed up late telling stories around the fire, and didn't hurry out of the house in the morning. Other years we have taken a scenic drive to someplace "we've always been meaning to go there" and have lunch or dinner. Or pack a picnic and do one of the touristy things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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