We recently received the greatest gift — the grandparents offered to take our kids for the weekend! After looking for a hotel or cabin to rent and finding them all really expensive, we decided to save money and do a staycation instead. We ended up having a great, relaxing time close to home. Here are some things that worked for us. Maybe it will inspire you to plan a date staycation in Lansing, too!
Get ready to go…nowhere
Getting time away from your kids is a vacation in itself. Still, I spent some time the week before preparing for our staycation, just to make it feel a little bit special to be at home.
I cleaned our room and bedroom and the kitchen thoroughly, so it felt more like a little suite. I got fresh flowers for the table and caught up on laundry so I wouldn’t have to do it during the weekend. We bought candy and treats we don’t usually have in the house. It worked! The house stayed tidy all weekend, and the flowers made me smile every time I walked by the table.
This may not be for everyone, but I made up an itinerary for our weekend. Having a tentative schedule outlined for each day helped my husband and I fit in our favorite things and gave us something to look forward to.
Visit all your favorite local spots
We tried to spend a lot of time over the weekend resting, relaxing and reading. But we also enjoyed the thrill of shopping, eating out and even just getting out of the car with no carseats to unbuckle.
We got coffee at Strange Matter Coffee one morning, and at Blue Owl Coffee the other. One day we stayed mostly at home, driving through Olympic Broil for lunch and then eating The Cosmos pizza takeout in our sweat pants for dinner. The next day we put together a delicious picnic lunch in the Horrocks Beer Garden greenhouse. It was so warm and sunny, surrounded by plants — we felt like we were on a tropical vacation!
There are so many great options for food, coffee and drinks across Lansing. We need to schedule another staycation or two in order to visit them all!
Make the most of your time
There is nothing like parenthood to make you appreciate free time. Sleeping in (even though I only made it to 7:30am each morning), savoring a cup of coffee, watching a show without singing puppets, all of these felt amazing. We also tried to have intentional conversations and unplug from our phones. With time to talk and dream together, uninterrupted, we ended up designing our future laundry room renovation!
I will say we missed the novelty of traveling somewhere new. I did go grocery shopping on the last day, which doesn’t feel very much like a vacation. But, overall we had a great time reveling in our quiet, clean house and enjoying what our hometown has to offer. I’m already working on our itinerary for next time.
