Staycation Swap

We are so blessed to have wonderful friends in Michigan.  They really have become our "framily" (friends + family).  Well, one of our framily members is Laura and she is having a baby boy in March.  I told her I wanted her and Steve to go on a babymoon before they are trapped in "postpartum prison".  She agreed, but only if she could return the favor for us (*twisting my arm* ok fine!).  Instead of a big weekend away, we just did staycations.  There was little stress since we were just down the street if anything happened.  But it was 24 hours without our kids.  That's all the vacation we need!

First the Sawayas dropped their girls off at our house.  That week I had a terrible cold.  All 5 of the kids had it too, but they were on the mend.  I just couldn't shake it.  Luckily I had time earlier in the week to run to Target and buy a bunch of stuff to keep the girls entertained.  It was a freezing cold weekend so I knew we would be stuck inside and needed lots to do.  And yes, I took lots of pictures (in case you were worried that I forgot to document one second of our lives!)

It was a princess weekend, starting with crowns and pigs-in-a-blanket on Frozen plates.

Laura brought the girls these color wonder books (with the clear markers).  They were a huge hit!

We did bath time in 2 shifts.  I took the twirls up first, Jaide went straight for the stander, like I was going to wrap up her cast again.  Funny!  I wonder how long she'll keep that habit...

Bath time and chocolate milk for all the girls:

Amber liked "watching dwert bikes" with Mr. Jake.  She was being so cute!  I just happened to snap the photo the exact moment she was taking care of a little itch...  Kaylie and Scarlett are just so sweet together!  Scarlett put on her princess dress to match the Kaylie.  Well, Amber overheard Scarlett telling Kaylie all about how her dress has Cinderella, not Elsa (for the record it doesn't).  Amber instantly wanted to wear the Cinderella dress (she's her fave).  I had to bargain with her by telling her we would find the pretty blue Cinderella dress right when she woke up in the morning.  That seemed to be ok but I had to remind her of our plan a few times.

Story time with Mr. Jake:

Amber and the twirls went to sleep without a problem.

Kaylie and Scarlett on the other hand... let's just say it was an eventful hour before they fell asleep.  I would check on them via the dropcam app on my phone.  I turned the screen shots into a 10 second .gif file for you (or "jif" file if you're Jake and insist on pronouncing it correctly).  I think it's funny how they ended up in different beds than they began.  They all slept pretty well too... only Scarlett woke up at 3:30 cause she was cold (kicked off her covers). 

I opened the door to get Amber out of bed in the morning and the first thing she said was "I wear Cinderella dress?"  haha!  That girl doesn't miss a beat!  So we went downstairs and found the Cinderella dress in the dress-up box.

I bought a bunch of Frozen hair bands to put in all their hair (Scarlett was Kaylie's puppy, hence the leash):

Toothpick lunch (My mom taught me this one.  Same lunch just served with toothpicks.  Except for the toddlers who would turn them into weapons).  While they were eating I made cupcakes.  It called for 3 eggs but one of the eggs had 2 yolks - TWINS!

Then we decorated the cupcakes.  I regretted the blue frosting about 10 seconds after I opened it - so messy!

While the 3 youngest girls took naps, Scarlett and Kaylie had quiet time.  A movie and makeup.

Painting.  The twirls just used water on colored paper.  I was so impressed with how Kaylie colored in the lines.

We survived!  And it was really fun!  Exhausting, but so fun!  It was great to spend more time with those girls.  I got to know them so much better that weekend.  (and I know what you're thinking Mom: "Looks like you guys can handle 5 kids no problem.  You should get working on that."  Don't deny it, you totally went there in your head. Let's just end that conversation before it starts.)

A few weeks later it was our turn to drop our girls off and run away as fast as possible have a little staycation.  We went to dinner but I told Laura that I had no problem picking the twirls up afterwards if they weren't going to sleep.

Mr. Steve told Siena not to get into a cupboard.  I think she was embarrassed or maybe just shocked that she got caught, but for whatever reason she just stood next to the cupboard and stared up at him for several minutes.  Long enough that he grabbed his camera to video her little expression.  I love the little look on her face!  I don't think I've seen her stand that still ever - thank goodness we have this video as evidence that she can!

All bathed and ready for bed time (Jake told me to pack non-identical clothes for the twirls cause it's easier to keep them straight - good thinkin', Lincoln):

Jake and I went to Bagger Dave's for dinner.  It was so tasty!  But on the drive home I started having an asthma attack and my stomach hurt really bad.  I have no idea what I had a reaction to that night, but we drove straight home and I took a handful of pills and used my inhaler.  It took about 30 min for the severe pain to stop and everything to calm down (when the meds finally kicked in).  Luckily we were planning on watching a movie at home (nothing in the theater) so our evening wasn't ruined.  But I don't want to repeat it.  I am in the process of investigating their ingredients - (I'm guessing it's a food coloring or a flavoring.  I'm pretty sure I had a similar reaction, though less severe, after drinking a flavored lemonade at Chilis once).  Man, I'm done with allergies.  Can't my body accept that it has to live on this planet and just calm down?!?  Luckily allergic reactions don't scare me and I ALWAYS have an epi pen, inhaler, benadryl, etc with me.  I'm just glad that none of the girls seem to have the issues as I did at their age (I was 6 months old when I had my first asthma attack).

Anyways, Laura texted me and said she put the twirls in their pea pod tents at 8:30pm and didn't hear from them.  In fact they slept all the way til 8:30am!  Rock stars!  The older girls were giggly.  They got to sleep in the guest bed together, feet to feet.  I think they really had fun.  Laura said they had to go potty 4 times in 1 hour!  Finally they went to sleep!

The twirls just loved coloring with the markers and chalk!  Siena really loves art, I mean they both do, but she will just sit and color way longer than Jaide.  But they switch when it comes to reading books.

During nap time Scarlett and Kaylie got to play in the snow.  Scarlett was in heaven!

Dance Party!

Bubbles from the rafters:

Food - Laura's homemade rolls.  Yum!

Saturday morning when we woke up it was soooo quiet!  We got ready and went to the Detroit temple with another couple in our ward, the Allens.  It was such a lovely session.  So good to be there and able to enjoy the peace.  We had lunch with the Allens before heading home (for the hour drive we listened to a Brian Regan CD Snort got us for Christmas - he's so dang funny!)  When we got home I told Jake we had time to do a few quick errands before we had to get the girls.  He said he was tired.  And you know what?  So was I!  So we took a nap.  In the middle of the day!  What a luxury!!!

We went to get the girls that night and when we were walking up the sidewalk Siena saw us through the window and came running to the door screaming and yelling!  It was nice to be missed.  For the next few days though they would get really upset if it seemed like I was leaving them.  But now they're back to normal and I am looking forward to our next Staycation Swap!  (Baby Boy Sawaya will bring a new element to our princess party!)