Spring Break Part II

Years ago my in laws gave us Steven Coveys, "7 habits of highly effective families" to listen to. It was a great gift and I learned so much from it. One of the things that really stuck with me is that as a family we should always be planning and looking forward to something. We've had some great experiences and everyone has gotten involved in helping us plan. Between holidays, birthdays, and seasons there is always something to be planning and looking forward to.

Most of the time when I sit down for a planning session with the kids I'll ask them for their input, and almost always they have big plans that I know won't be practical or possible, but I go ahead and write them down and tell them I'll consider it. Then I come back and try to incorporate some of their ideas into what I know we can handle.

As I mentioned earlier, I love spring break. A few weeks before I sat down with the kids and asked them what they would love to do during the break. Logan said "go to disneyland" (I think a few classmates were heading there), and Mariah wanted to stay in a hotel.

So this is what we came up with. The kids helped me plan the entire thing and ran the errands with me. It was work, but it was fun work!

Spring Break Hotel:

Wednesday was the big day. Our guests checked in at 3:00 pm in the lobby with suitcases packed for a late night pajama party.






At check in they received a lei, got their hotel keys, and selected a snack (mini pb sandwhich, or mini nutella sandwhich) and a drink (fruit smoothie or chocolate milk.)



(looks like Logan has had 1 too many smoothies)



Once they took their luggage to their rooms, it was time to hit the "arcade" where they bowled, played a dart game and went on a treasure hunt.

side note: I enlisted the help of 2 awesome neighbor girls, Sara and Ashley. They are 12 and were totally involved with helping and making posters.

To make the treasure hunt even more magical, Ashley had brought some toys that she and her brother don't use anymore for the prize at the end. The kids were ecstatic! They donated some pretty awesome toys!!



After the treasure hunt, our guests were off to the "recreation" room to make a craft. They made these cute bunny mobiles which they enjoyed later for a snack.












Next, we loaded the buses and we were off to "Disneyland" (McDonald's Playland). I don't have any pictures of that because Laura and I were kinda busy chasing 11 kids!



This perhaps may have been the most exciting part of the trip. Our little guests went to their rooms and changed into their pajamas. (no, I think packing their bags for this trip was the highlight!) - When they came up, there was a concession stand in the "theatre room" where they could use tokens earned from the arcade games to purchase popcorn, juice and candy for movie time.

At the end of the movie, our friends packed up and went home. Logan and Mariah got to have a sleepover in our guest room and enjoyed chocolates on their pillows and fresh clean sheets!

Definately a fun time we won't forget!