Staycation!

What does our family do that has the summer off together, likes to maintain a perfect blend of relaxation and activity - though not want to continuously spend a fortune for air travel, gas, lodging, and hiring people to take care of the lawn and pet?

We take a STAYCATION!

We are having a most delightful vacation 25 minutes from our home in the town of Park City. Rents are super cheap during the summer in this resort town - home of world class skiing and the Sundance Film Festival. We rented a condo for one month with two other families. Splitting it up, we have ended up paying just over $30 a night for our 12 night stint. Best yet, taking a trip down to the valley to check on the home/pet every few days feels perfectly doable.

What do you get for $30 a night in Park City in the summer? You get a fully stocked 3 bedroom/2 bath condo with a loft, two pools/hot tubs and 4 new tennis courts within a stone's throw from our front door, and property that backs up to an amazing view of The Canyon's ski slopes. As if this could not get better, it does. We have a large lawn out the back door (perfect for a mean game of baseball) and biking/hiking trails leading off the property. Walking up a trail for 10 minutes, we can catch one of the many free nightly concerts or hop on a free gondola to take us down the mountain where there is a farmer's market on Wednesdays and a free shuttle to shopping, outlets, and old town. Not only are there concerts and markets where we are at, there is a good chance that there is a concert and/or market going on somewhere in town at any given time. And let's not forget the children's parks. GORGEOUS! One could eat off the floor in the bathrooms. Seriously.

We agreed today that a good different to a staycation is that we don't feel pressured to do a lot of stuff. If we were to have traveled to an area far and new, we would feel like we would have to get out, spend money, and see new things every day. Here we can either do that, or just spend days on end at the pool guilt free. Nothing lost, but a lot to gain; much needed stress free RELAXATION!

Because our poor son is just "so bored with hanging with just his old parents all the time", we sent out a ton of emails to our friends with an open invitation to come on up. On our first day here, we got what we asked for and were thrilled with the outcome! My friend, Cori, and her two kids came up to swim and hike. They were having so much fun, we ended up picking some toothbrushes and had an impromptu sleepover! The Kid and his little friend, Rosie, had their first sleep over in the loft. They giggled themselves to sleep while the adults had a rare opportunity to drink a glass (or two) of wine on the porch and reminisce of life before kids ... and our plans after the kids flee the nest (tee-hee).

The most important outcome of our staycation surely will be what is happening right now. As I am up in the loft writing this post, I hear my husband and son downstairs playing checkers and talking about what to go and pick up at the store for the makings of great breakfast in the morning and then their plan for us to either go biking or kayaking after that - ending the day at the pool to practice the Kid's new back floating skills. When I am done writing this, I will continue reading reviews to decide what my next cheesy poolside romance read will be. I might then even slip away to swim a few laps before bed. Even though we have this time together at home, this summer has proven too easy to take on ambitious home projects - like painting, building a fence, landscaping, etc. Exhausting! We don't have that here... just minutes away. Our only ambitious project is some serious family time! WOOHOO!
(warning: photo overload to come)