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Tag Archives: staycation

S’mores

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Summer fun in our family includes camping. I know I usually post about staycations and 4 star hotels, but I know my way around a campsite. And what would camping be without a campfire and some S’mores.

smores

Mmmmmmmm

But you want to know a secret? You don’t need to have a campfire to make s’mores.

What you need:

– 10 Marshmallows
– 20 graham crackers
– 2 bars of milk chocolate

What you do (the easy version):

Melt a marshmallow. You can do this on a poker stick over a campfire or over a stovetop burner. (You can even cheat like crazy and just microwave to melt it, 20-30 seconds should do the trick.)

Put melty molten marshmallow on a graham cracker. Put 1 or 2 squares of chocolate onto the hot marshmallow so it melts.

Place a second graham cracker on top to make a sandwich. Let it cool for a second so you don’t scald the inside of your mouth.

Tell me that’s not what camping tastes like!

What you do (The authentic version):

Sandwich 2 pieces of chocolate and one marshmallow between two graham crackers. Wrap like a packet in tinfoil, making sure the edges are sealed well. Place packet into the campfire – not on the fire, but near enough to cook it through. Give it about 1.5 to 2 minutes there. Check on contents. They should be melted and gooey. If not, replace in the campfire and gauge how much additional time you’ll need. If you’ve got a good set of tongs or fire utensils you can try holding the packet over the fire to grill it. But that trick takes skill.

The cooked graham crackers have a different texture and flavour. This is definitely for the purist. If you want to get a bit creative, you can try adding bits of fruit – bananas and strawberries work well. You can add in nuts – peanuts or almonds. You can add in some caramel, use different kinds of chocolate bars, add trail mix or anything else you want that you think would taste good covered in chocolate and wrapped in warm marshmallow.

 

Tags: campfire, camping, chocolate, graham crackers, marshamallow, nom, nom nom, recipe, staycation, yum .

When my summer went up in smoke

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in The Struggle is Real .

I’ve agonized over writing this. I promised the editors that I was going to submit an article about my favourite “staycation” moments. I had an outline about ice cream hunts, day trips and movie nights. There would be a humorous twist, of course, a sardonic angle ending in an inclusive, collective sigh of “ahhh, parenting, amiright?”

And then there was a fire.

up in smoke

We were spending the week with my parents at a cottage in Haliburton. About three days in, we got a voicemail from the fire department, saying there was a fire and our front door was compromised. It turns out that our neighbours two houses down caught fire, and the house beside them – which attaches to us – caught fire as well.

We’ve incurred a lot of smoke and smoulder and the house is unlivable right now, but we are safe and I thank god we weren’t there. Living out of suitcases and temporary apartments can put a cramp in anyone’s summer. Here’s how I managed to salvage it:

I became my own portable office: I’ve dealt with insurance companies before, and the one thing I know is that I am my own best advocate. While our adjustor initially took the reigns and made sure that we had the bare necessities, insurance companies have many moving parts and are sometimes short on details. Armed with a tiny notebook, a binder clip of business cards and my cell phone, I have spent hours followingupfollowingupfollowingup with cleaning crews, relocation companies and engineers. Staying on top of business allowed me to carve out some quality time with my kids.

I started accepting help. People are awesome. I have an incredible village of family and friends. As soon as word got out about our situation, we were been invited to sleepovers, pool days, meals, you name it. When we were in between residences my parents let us all sleep over at their place. I don’t accept help very often, but this time I allowed myself to say yes because it’s not just about me anymore.

I didn’t let our situation affect the kids’ summer. I haven’t told our oldest about the fire specifically. I’ve positioned the rest of the summer as a great “adventure”. We did the ice cream crawl (Ed’s Real Scoop, Hollywood Gelato and Sweet Jesus, anyone?), a trip to Centre Island, movies and so many pool days my boys resemble prunes. Of course, I’m tempering all of this with the knowledge that my kids are smart and can tell when I’m being insincere.

When my boy asks me why he can’t go home and get his treasure box I tell him (after dying inside) that there are people fixing up our house so it will be fresh and new and clean. It’s all I can do right now.

I’ve found silver linings everywhere. We’ve been inconvenienced, but our neighbours literally lost everything. We didn’t have to experience firemen kicking our door down in the middle of the night. Our house is secure and has a million people cleaning and fixing it.

Most importantly, we are safe and my kids are having a kick-ass summer.

4 Comments .
Tags: centre island, fire, fire damage, house fire, ice cream, ice cream crawl, kick-ass summer, silver lining, smoke damage, staycation .

Another great getaway

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Bon Voyage .

Upgrade!

Upgrade!

Recently, my husband was on a job  out of town and had to spend two weeks living in a hotel. Not getting to see their dad nightly was hard on the boys. Dad’s hours are insanely long – he’s not a 9-to-5er and he’s only occasionally home for dinner during the week – but a whole 2 weeks with little more than a few Facetime sessions just wasn’t working for us.

Now we love a good hotel stay – and I’ve written about our staycations before – so the boys and I turned it into a good time. I was able to take some vacation time each Friday, and drive us out to spend some time together.

I did not have to make this bed

I did not have to make this bed

I can’t recommend staycations highly enough. You may think “Why on earth would I ever spend money on a room when I already have a home that I pay for, and it’s only a few miles away?”

Think about it differently. If you take a day off and spend it at home, do you really take a day off? Or do you use it to catch up on chores. Do you see the cobwebs in the corner and think “Wow, I have the time to take care of that!” Or get to the little reno/repair/redecorate project that you’ve been putting off. And at home, do the kids expect you to make dinner? Get them stuff? Are they feeling the fun?

Nope.

Screen Shot 2016-07-14 at 3.35.43 PM

The Doubletree gave us cookies when we checked in (and then more cookies when we went late-night exploring)

Hotels don’t have to be expensive. Hotwire.com, Hotels.com, Trivago.ca, Expedia.ca – and a ton of others, from Groupon to WagJag have offers and deals galore. And you might be surprised to find that big cities and airport strips are especially full of empty rooms on weekends that no big events are taking place. They’d rather get something than nothing, and some of the deals I’ve enjoyed have been crazy. My best find was a 4-star hotel with breakfast, parking and free Internet for $72.

The fun of a hotel lays with the amenities. Room service. Breakfast in PJs. Late-night hotel exploring. Swimming pools. Games rooms. Having the whole family snuggling in front of one TV watching a movie – and many hotels have a movie service that offers movies still playing in theatres. A new release for a family of 4 $12 in the room as opposed to $50 at the theatre – what a steal! If you’re celebrating something and you let them know, they often offer you an upgrade or send a treat to your room. Even if you’re not celebrating, always ask about upgrades. If there really are a lot of vacancies they may try to win your love with a special suite. We’ve had huge jacuzzi rooms, double rooms, palatial rooms, dessert sent up and even wine brought to our room with the hotel’s compliments.

Just be nice.

And remember to tip.

The Sheraton
The Raddisson
The Best Western Plus

The Westin Bristol Place

Just goofing at the Hilton

Just goofing at the Hilton

Nobody expects you to make dinner. Nobody expects you to make a bed. Nobody expects anything! Turn off the cell phone, shut down the laptop and just relax, nobody can find you, nobody can bother you, and the kids are mesmerized by the different environment.

I love hotels. I always have – and they’re magical to kids. It’s fancy. It’s rich. It’s a treat-and-a-half. Remember jumping bed to bed, thinking that the complimentary soaps, potions and lotions were treasure, that having your parents’ full attention was the happiest time of your life?

Yep.

Late night at The Raddisson

Late night at The Raddisson

Staycate. Try it. It’s the most amazing family getaway because it’s easy, convenient and really requires no planning. In fact, we’ve had completely unplanned staycations where we’ve been out and decided to just find a room. There’s an app for that, you know. A quick stop for bathing suits and toothbrushes were all we needed. I would never say no.

Tags: best western, explore, family, Fun, hotel, Movie, raddisson, sheraton, staycation, treat, upgrade, vacation, Westin Bristol Place .

Maxing out in Mexico

Posted on April 15, 2016 by urbansuburbanmommy Posted in Bon Voyage .
FEATURE shane and sullivan pool oasis mexico

You always hear about people taking last-minute vacations – well Saturday my husband and I went into a travel agency with the muppets in tow, and asked to book whatever was leaving the next morning.

I will definitely try that again, because it worked out so well. There was no anticipation with the kids. there was no build-up. There was just 4 plane tickets to Cancun, Mexico with an all-inclusive 4.5 star resort at the other end.

mexico grand oasis palm

My husband often works 16-18 hour days and my 9-to-5 grind starts at 6.30 am and ends after the kids are in bed, the clothes are put away and the dishes are done. The days merge into weeks and into months. Spending time in an all-inclusive resort where the biggest decision is “beach or pool” was absolutely heavenly! Good food and bottomless tropical drinks were just a bonus, time with the family was all I wanted.

Time with the family and a swim-up bar.

shane and sullivan pool oasis mexico

We stayed at The Grand Oasis Palm. As far as luxury resort chains go, it was nice. Numerous restaurants, a few different pools, a decent beach and spotlessly clean. I couldn’t believe how we’d lucked out.

On day 3 we decided to check out Kids Club.

Kids Club!

I never knew that such a thing existed, but when it comes to all-inclusive resorts, you HAVE TO check out the Kids Club. It was definitely the most spectacular surprise.

Now maybe this shows how little we travel. We go to Great Wolf Lodge a lot, and we stay in nice hotels around the city for staycations, but we’ve never been to a resort as a family, and we had no clue!

Kids Club at The Grand Oasis Palm was a child’s dream come true. A big pool with two waterslides, a room complete with a dozen gaming systems – Wii, PlayStation, XBOX – and beanbag chairs for the kids to veg out on, an arts and crafts room, games room, theatre, a playground with climbers and a trampoline with harness, movie nights, a nap room and a huge staff of childcare providers to watch over the ensuing madness.

The boys couldn’t wait to go to Kids Club and hang out with their friends. They thought they’d found the best place on earth! And while we wanted to spend time with them, it was nice to take a quiet break by the pool and have a little bit of adult time. We even did a romantic dinner one evening at the fine dining restaurant on site. The boys went a few times over the rest of the week and have been telling endless stories about friends they made.

And to whomever invented Kids Club, thank you, you’re a genius.

Cancun is nice because the flight to Mexico from Toronto is about 4 hours. The hotels are under 25 minutes from the airport and, surprisingly, the boys handled the travel quite well. I think it has something to do with the in-seat personal screen with movies, shows and games for entertainment. They certainly didn’t have those when I was a kid!

We were even able to rent a car for the day and drive to Tulum to see the ancient Mayan ruins and go to the market. And because the Oasis is a chain, with a location in Tulum, we were able to visit the Grand Oasis Tulum and enjoy the facilities and our all-inclusive privileges there for the day instead of wasting the sunshine on the 2 hour drive back to Cancun.

View this post on Instagram

Sunkissed and relaxed, a week away was just what we needed. We’re already dreaming about the next destination. What’s your dream vacation?

View this post on Instagram

 

Tags: all-inclusive, dream vacation, featuredxx, Grand Oasis Palm, Great Wolf Lodge, kids club, mexico, oasis, staycation, travel, tulum, vacation .

Staycation elation

Posted on November 11, 2015 by urbansuburbanmommy Posted in Bon Voyage .

I staycate. It’s in my DNA. My mother was a staycater too.

We didn’t go to a cottage in the summer or spend one week a year at an all-inclusive, The Holiday Inn in Grand Island was her cottage and cross-border shopping was her big indulgence.

While we didn’t do too many big trips, we did do a lot of regular get-aways to hotels. Sometimes we didn’t even leave the city, we just checked into a 4-star a couple of miles from home for a weekend.

Now that I’ve got a family of my own, I get the appeal. We are all about last-minute hotel bookings and staycations. Last birthday when we asked my son what he wanted to do for his big day, he asked to go to a hotel. The kids love it as much as we do.

staycation - hotel roomThere’s no major packing, no great anticipation and no planning. Expenses are pretty minimal. On weekends where we don’t have crazy complicated playdates/commitments/arrangements we pick a 4-star hotel with a great rate and we go. We throw bathingsuits, stuffies and jammies into a bag and just go.

The kids love it. We let them stay up late and watch movies. We always pick a place with nice rooms and a pool. We stop for provisions like jerky and pop and chips and cereal and milk and bananas and we treat ourselves to a weekend of no responsibility.

If you haven’t tried a local hotel staycation, I highly recommend it.

Things I’ve learned:

  • It’s often cheaper to pick a place with free parking and free breakfast, even if the list price is a bit higher.
  • It doesn’t matter where we stay, so long as it’s no more than a half-hour drive from our home.
  • Often the best deals are at suburban hotels, which is fine, because we aren’t there for the sightseeing. Sometimes we don’t even leave the hotel from check-in until checkout.
  • If you’re supremely nice to the staff they will upgrade you, offer you free breakfast, drink vouchers or give you a late check-out. We’ve had some pretty sweet suites!
  • Always ask if the freebies aren’t offered.
  • Always check what currency the booking site is using. Sometimes it’s CAD, sometimes it’s USD. The exchange rate can make a huge difference on price.

While we book through a variety of websites – Groupon, WagJag, Hotels.com, the booking website we love best is Hotwire.com. It’s not just because that’s the cheapest way to staycate (Hotwire.com always has the lowest prices), it’s because it’s really fun to be surprised by the hotel that you’ve picked. You can select the location, the amenities and the star level, and you know the price you’ll be charged, but you won’t know the hotel chain until your payment is completed. That reveal screen is way more fun than any reality show I’ve ever watched!

I know, little thrills – gotta take ’em where you get ’em!

Everyone needs a break. If you think about it, we actually need more breaks than we take. A week away at an all-inclusive is nice, but lets face it – how often do you make that happen and how many road blocks are in your way? Give yourself the breaks you deserve. Crisp clean sheets, room service, movie service, great restaurants and a full staff whose only concern is your comfort and satisfaction.

My mother was definitely right about this one!

Tags: hotel, my mother, staycation, travel, weekend .

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