"Staycation" in Lexington!

This weekend we were going a little stir crazy (that seems to be a theme in the winter. haha), so we decided to head over to Lexington, KY, for a quick night away! Finding a cheap hotel with a pool and free breakfast is one of our favorite things to do to mix things up. It doesn't have to be anything glamorous or far away, and our kids absolutely LOVE it. And since we were already planning to go to Lexington for a missionary farewell on Sunday, we thought hey! Let's make a weekend of it!

So we packed up the car, threw in the kids, and we were off.

^Sweetest boy ever. And yes...he still has a bottle for nap time. We're working on that one! haha^

^Watching Space Jam on the drive^

It was pretty chilly and rainy when we got to Lexington, so we headed to the giant mall in the center of town to let the kids get wiggles out! The first stop was obviously the massive sports store, because #momofboys. It's pretty much like Disneyland to our kids. Haha!

Holland was really getting into the baseball spirit. Just look at his face in these next photos. So good!!Oh man, I will never get over him and his cheeks.

The boys tried their hand at modeling some hats at H&M before we headed over to the playplace. These two, I'll tell you what. They have enough personality to fill a stadium!! They never stop cracking me up.

^Hey there, baby bump! (32 weeks along in this photo)^

Play place time!! (I have to just close my eyes sometimes so that I don't think about all of the germs in these places. Oh man. I do it for the children!)

Even though there were a billion kids there, the boys had an absolute blast.

^I spy a Holland boy^

^JUMP!^

^Dear Holland, you are really, really cute. Love, mom.^

I caught Camden mid-fall in this next photo, and I was worried that he was hurt. But he immediately came running over saying, "Did you SEE DAT, mom?? It was awesome!" and then giggled uncontrollably for like five minutes when he saw the photo. It was hilarious.

After the boys had run around for a bit, we loaded back into the car to get some dinner. But first, we had to make a quick stop by our old house to say hello! We lived here for two years while Jordan was going to grad school at UK, and it was so fun to think of all of the memories this little town home held for us. Watching the kids scooter in the parking lot, playing baseball on the grass next to the house, going trick-or-treating around to our neighbors, celebrating the fourth of July with fireworks and a BBQ out back, and bringing little Holland home here when he was born.

SO many good memories. Read about how miraculous it was that we found this place, here. (Crazy that we've almost been moved out of this place for two years!)

^The duck pond. The boys and I spent about a zillion afternoons over here, feeding the birds.^

Then we went to grab some dinner! At one point, Boston said to me, "Mom, I wish we could go to an eating place every night. Then we would never have to clean up, and we could always pick anything we wanted for dinner!" Haha. I love that kid.

^My cute Camden date!^

^FOOOOOD. The best thing in the world (when you're pregnant)(and always).^

^You get that corn, buddy!^

After dinner, we headed over to check into our hotel. I don't know what it is about hotels, but man. Every time we stay in one, my kids just think it is pure magic. We opened up the door to our room, which was anything but fancy, and Boston yelled, "Mom! You've gotta see this room! It's incredible! Just look how nice it is!" haha. I've said it once and I'll say it a zillion more times: Kids make everything SO fun. They really do.

The boys hopped into their swimming suits almost immediately after we got there, and we headed straight to the pool!

^Nakie Holland Beckster boy!^

Pool time!!!

And as usual, Camden jumped right in and started swimming his heart out, and Boston took a good twenty minutes to warm up to the idea. I love how different those two little boys can be!

 

^Niiiiice belly, Holland.^

^"But mom, it's too FREEZING to get in!" (it wasn't.)^

^This kid and his crazy faces. Haha!^

^This is one of those times when I thought, "How are we going to handle FOUR kids?? We can barely keep track of three! haha^

Holland was such a brave little swimmer, too.

He jumped off the side of the pool to Jordan a dozen times, and was just as happy as can be in the water. He got tuckered out a little quicker than the older boys, though, so I took him back to the room to get him washed up and ready for bed. He is just the best little buddy to have around. (I can't believe he's going to be a big brother soon. Whaaaaat?!)

^Heart-melter.^

^He is too big.^

After some tubs and jammies, we snuggled up and watched cartoons for a bit, and Jord snuck out to grab everyone some ice cream. (Is anything better than a Wendy's frosty??)

At one point, Camden just looked over at Jord with the biggest grin. He had his own ice cream, he was watching cartoons, and he was up past his bed time. Jord said, "Is this your dream, Cam? Are you loving it?" and he just nodded. He was the happiest kid on the block.

^Kid heaven.^

^I think these boys kind of love their daddy.^

The next day, we woke up bright and early to get to church on time. Jordan was in the Stake Young Men's presidency when we lived in Lexington, and he got really close with some of the boys. One of his favorites was giving a farewell talk before he left on his mission to Mexico, so we knew we had to make the drive to Lexington to hear him speak one last time. Such a great young man! I'm sure he will be a stellar missionary in Mexico.

^Rainy Sunday morning^

^Good luck, Elder Diuguid!!^

After church, we drove past UK's campus for old time's sake. Jordan spent a lot of hours on that campus, and it was fun to reminisce. So much had already changed!

His MBA building got a complete facelift, and it was fun to see how amazing it looked.

^The UK football stadium. Go Cats!^

^My handsome grad in front of the Gatton School of Business!^

After our mini-campus tour, we started the drive home to Elizabethtown. I had to snap some photos of the horse farms as we left Lexington, because man. I love them. (Just use your imagination as to how gorgeous these horse farms really are. Because obviously my crooked/blurry/through the car window photos are not super high quality! haha)

I love Lexington, and it will always have a special place in my heart!!

We had such a fun, low-key staycation as a family.

I love weekends like this one!