Today marks the first day of our family’s stay-cation! We’ve never actually taken a “vacation” where you drive around your house looking for interesting things to do. All of our car trips usually land us in the Costco parking lot, so I’m not sure if I’m capable of planning this right. Here’s what I have so far:

Day 1: Car shopping for Brian.

Day 2: We’ll strip the kids of all electronics, watch the detox set in, then send them on an 8 hr. tour of a working Amish farm.

Day 3: Visit local pet shops instead of the zoo because the zoo is too far and I have an eyelash extension appointment at 6:30 pm.

Day 4: Hershey Park. We’ll eat our weight in chocolate then blissfully throw it up on various rides.

Day 5: Pitch a tent and camp in our yard…specifically in the part of our yard occupied by the family room. And by “tent” I mean pillow fort.

Day 6: Clean up the yard day. This is where they can really show off some of those awesome agricultural skills they learned on Day 2!

I’m still finalizing our matching stay-cation outfits which are totally necessary, they make it easier to find one another in a crowd, like at the car dealership’s “Fall Back Into Savings” sale event.

As Brian and I were preparing for Day 1 (car shopping), my “Try It Before You Buy It” tip came to mind. So today, I’m re-sharing it with you! Oh, and please leave me some stay-cation ideas of your own as we don’t have Day 7 planned yet. Trust me, my kids would be ever so grateful.

_____________________________________________________________

I’m a firm believer of the old adage “try it before you buy it”, and I don’t care what it is. Ice cream shop, ask for a spoon. A wine bar, ask for a sip. A book store, read a chapter while sitting in their bathroom stall. A restaurant,…well, you can’t really ask the chef to prepare a bite for you (that would be weird), but what you can do is look around the restaurant for someone eating what you’re thinking of ordering, and ask for a taste. However, DO NOT take more than 1 bite, people get all possessive about their food.

Yesterday, I decided to head out to research some of our upcoming household purchases. We’re currently in need of a stainless steel refrigerator, some outdoor furniture, and a new toilet for the upstairs bathroom. By the way, Brian won’t agree with any of this. His motto is: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if it is broke, learn to live without it.

So I bribed Ana with the promise of purchasing a “cooperation” toy, and we drove out toward Lowes. On our way there, I called Dominoes and ordered a pizza for delivery.

Pizza Guy: Your address?

Me: Lowes, the Outdoor Living department. Second table on your left.

That’s right, I ordered a pizza. Why, you ask? Because we love to spend our summer evenings eating outdoors, I rarely cook, and TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT!

Ana and I both loved the look and feel of the tiles, however, I found that the uneven surface made my wine glass wobble a little bit, making me extremely uncomfortable. Granted, the customers gawking at us didn’t help. I bet this is how celebrities feel when they’re eating out.

After lunch we walked over to the appliance section to see if the leftover pizza and wine would fit in the stainless steel refrigerator that I had my eye on.

Damn it, the wine won’t fit. I guess it’s not meant to be GE.

HOLY SHIT! A dedicated wine holder! Wrap it up!

After eating and storing our food (and my wine) in our new fridge, it was time to check out the toilets.

Ana says “Urine for a real treat with this toilet seat! It’s Craptastic!”

It took her 5 toilets before she finally settled on this one- So remember, TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT!

Could you give me a little click on the banner below to vote? It’ll provide me with the validation I need:) Thanks!