Monday, January 23, 2012

A Surprise Holiday

When Brad realized the kids had no school last Monday, he planned a small surprise for me--Sunday night, he took all five of them to a hotel for the night, with grand plans to not return until Monday evening.
The adventure began (all photos from Dad's phone):
Video games in the hotel until 11 pm.
What was Mom doing?  Sleeping, of course!

Monday morning and there was complimentary breakfast.
Mom cleaned the house for three hours--uninterrupted and no tornadoes undoing my work in my wake.

They had to take advantage of the heated pool and jacuzzi, of course.

Mom ran a few errands and got her favorite sandwich (turkey medley on croissant) at Sweet Cakes, a local bakery.

Here is where the adventure got a little crazy.  According to eyewitness reports, Dad was tickling Lily under the water in the pool.  She lost her air, came up for a breath, misjudged the distance to the side, and did this:

Dad called a good friend/doctor (Dr. P, Micah's cast doctor), who worked Lily in for four stitches.

Mom heard she was pretty brave, but no one told Mom until later that night, thinking Mom would worry.  In Mom's defense, stitches and Dr. P would not have freaked me out.  Still, glad it's all fine.

Dad picked up a picnic lunch, and the troop headed to Fountain Hills for lunch:

Where was Mom?  In her peaceful, clean, quiet house, working on Light room and laundry.  Sigh.  It was as good as it sounds.

Dad had another surprise up his sleeve: 

 A little target practice in the desert.  Hyrum even shot Dad's gun.  Mom was a little surprised by that.

Can you see the band aid on Lily's lip?  Dr. P thought it would be funny to cut it in the shape of a handlebar mustache.  Guess Lily didn't really mind being mustachioed for a day.  What girl can say that?
Where was Mom?  Still home, enjoying the quiet.

Final stop on their adventure--movie theater to see "We Bought a Zoo."

Around 7:15 pm, the troops ran back in, Subway sandwiches in hand, ready to regale me with stories from their adventure.

Mom was ready and happy to have them all back home.

Dad?  First thing out of is mouth was, "You owe me."  The second?  "It was more fun than any of us thought it would be."

What a treat.  Thanks for the break, Hon.  I owe you one.

20 comments:

  1. What a sweet hubby!!!!! Good for him. That does sound like 24 hours of pure bliss!
    Glad you enjoyed clean house, laundry, lightroom.
    I can't think of anything more absolutely awesomely wonderful than that!

    Love the pictures.

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  2. That.is.AWESOME! Lucky you, and really, lucky kids.

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  3. What a great husband and father. I don't think I have known a dad to willing take all the kids overnight unless it was an emergency. Glad you enjoyed your well-deserved time off. xo

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  4. Sweet day, sweet husband, sweet memory.

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  5. (forwards post on to my hubs)

    and i loved his reply....mine would say that...but that would be with just hanging with our lily alone....she is like a toddler on 50 shots of espresso from the moment her eyes open until they close at night)

    loved ur time away....twirls...

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  6. Dad is on a cruise this week. . .my car has died on the side of the road twice. . .I think he owes me!

    It sounds like an absolutely divine day!

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  7. When my sons were small I often thought I wanted to just escape to a hotel for a night just to read and rest. But I like the idea of the Dad taking all the kids and leaving the Mom at home. Why didn't I ever think of that???? What a fabulous idea! So did they like the Zoo movie. I'm thinking of taking my grandkids to that. Not sure I would have felt good about the shooting though. Loved seeing Fountain Hills. I have many great memories there since my sons' grandparents live there.

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  8. Wow! What a day for all of you! Go Brad!!!

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  9. you lived my dream day, jenny! 24 hours of staycation in my own EMPTY home is what I seem to need about every 6 months or so ... just to get caught up adn feel like I'm above water ... what a gift (well, minus the split lip!) - fabulous!

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  10. Truly, you have a night in shining armor. I think this is a great gift for either parent. And each one is getting the gift. And kind of a gift for the kids too. This is something I think will be adopted by the Bungalows. Thank hubs for thinking of this. How are you finding lightroom?
    Dana

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  11. oh poor Lily! But man! that is one awesome husband!! you lucky lucky girl!!

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  12. How wonderful for you to enjoy some nice quiet time alone in your home! I bet the kids enjoyed their adventure with dad too!

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  13. Brad is just way too cool :) What a wonderful husband and dad! Glad you got some alone time and that the kids had fun!

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  14. Is Brad reading all these comments and getting a BIG head? I LOVE the way you spent your "time off" and what a blessing that he was willing and able to do such a fun thing on such short notice :)

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  15. Oh, that man is a saint! Stitches and he didn't even call you?! Amazing and sweet!

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  16. How awesome is that!! My husband is great and entertains the kids but i don't think he would ever take them all to a hotel- how totally awesome for you!
    Just next time tell him no stitches as part of the fun :)

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