Labor Day Stay-cation

After sitting in my sunshine-filled kitchen this morning, debating if I should try to find some semblance of a picnic lunch and rush off to the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, IN or try to race down to Fort Wayne, IN and see the giraffes and other animals at their zoo, I decided that I needed to ask the person I was interested in entertaining because it was her first "vacation" from school.

Zoë's respone to my "What do you want to do today?":

I want you to not work. I want you to play hide-and-seek... and then take us for a walk to the candy store. Then, after that, maybe we can have a bike ride.

Ahh, yes, humbled by my sweet five-year-old daughter. She didn't care about festivals, parades, or a long drive to a zoo this day. She understood what Labor day was all about. Taking a break from our labors, and appreciating what working people do by playing for a while.

And, so, we did exactly as she planned. No fuss, no picnics, no productions. No more cost than $1.50 at the "candy" store to buy sodas and suckers for the older girls (Miranda was thoroughly treated with a ride in the stroller).




No more work than the sweat of the bike ride to Notre Dame where we enjoyed feeding the swans and their cignets. Lots of brain use with creating a Princess story to entertain the girls as we rode our bikes around the lakes. A quick "hello" visit to see Travis at work.
And, the treat of the afternoon (after "rest" time), was playing on the splash pool and the slip-n-slide.

Yes, a "stay-cation", as Travis calls it, was exactly the type of adventure we needed.