Overnight 'Cation {Truman Field Trip + Boxcar Children + Hotel}

Last Christmas Lauren and Lance gave our family a gift certificate for the theater that was a couple of hours away from where we lived in Missouri.  Then we moved and the theater got farther away from us, but we already had plans for plays we wanted to see, and so.....
Theater tickets turned into an overnight away and it became just what we all needed to unwind after the stress and sadness of moving.

We started Thursday morning out with a field trip to the University farm back in Missouri.  We've done this field trip 3 years in a row and it's always a hit.  We left the house at around 6:45 to get there on time.  Evalynn traveled fine but when we arrived I discovered she'd had a messy diaper and was through her onesie and outfit.  Happy 'cation, mom.  By the time I got her cleaned up and nursed, the field trip was well started.

Thankfully Mike was along and took the other kids.  I ended up not dressing her in her warm stuff that I'd brought and instead stayed in the farm office sitting room out of the cold wind with her.  Mike and I switched off a couple times so we both could enjoy the field trip and the company of our friends that we miss.

 

The field trip lasted a couple of hours and was a success.  The kids enjoyed a hay bale obstacle course, seeing the horses, riding the hay wagon, going through the corn maze, picking a pumpkin, and being with their friends.

When it was over we loaded back up and drove a couple more hours in a different direction to the town the play was in.

Roadschool - we got through the whole book in our drive time!

Our tickets weren't until 7:30 Thursday night so we killed a little time at a thrift store and then checked into our hotel to swim.

Stretching out after the drive...

While we were at the thrift store Zayden saw this new (in the box) super soaker water gun similar to what Xavier got for his birthday and said, "I'd sure love to have that for my birthday."  Since his birthday actually is coming up, we got it and he was one happy little dude to have such a big boy toy!

Ev and I supervised the swimming from the comfy chairs at the side.  Mike got in for awhile but the water must have been colder than the kids cared to admit because he didn't choose to stay in very long. 

After a solid couple hours of swimming, everyone was chilled and hungry so we got them out, showered everyone, and got dressed for supper and the play.  We filled everyone's tummies as full as we could and then headed to The Boxcar Children play.

Our big kids were especially excited about the play, and we all enjoyed it.  I was sure Zayden would fall asleep (swimming and late night) but he made it through the whole play!

We got back to the hotel a little before 10 and let everyone get a snack, get in PJs, and just veg out for awhile.  The room had a king bed, twin over full bunks, and a full pull out sofa, which meant beds enough for everyone!

Except I'd forgotten a playpen and it never dawned on me to ask the hotel for one (my cousin pointed that out after I sent her this picture) so Ev slept in a drawer.  LOL.  But we did take it out of the dresser 😉.

We all had gooooood sleeps and woke up rested.  The kids put on suits and we headed for breakfast.

After breakfast they swam for another hour and a half or so before we pulled them out to get showered and dressed for the drive home.

 
While the other's showered...Natalee doesn't like to be idle.

Ready to head out, although we all would have been content to stay another night!

Our drive home was just under 3 hours, but the kids alternated between coloring, resting, eating, and listening to our audio book.

I didn't realize how much stress had built, especially on the big kids' shoulders, from the move and the last few weeks, until I watched it roll off a little while we were relaxing for a couple days.  It was good to see them be carefree kids.  We all very much needed this break!