So, I jumped on the wagon and decided we would go on a staycation. You know, we'd stay somewhere close to home, but far enough away that it felt like a vacation.
I had a gift certificate to a hotel in Dallas. Scott won this at some golf tournament he played in and it expired in October. Yea me, I think. Saving money AND having a staycation.
I coordinated with Scott's business partner so that his schedule would be clear on Friday afternoon. Schedule cleared. The girls and I show up at his office and surprise him. Which was more embarrassing for ME because I had only been to his office ONCE since he changed jobs this past February. ONCE. The kids had to show me where to go. Eeek.
I told the girls we were going to kidnap Daddy this weekend and they thought that was a great idea! I even brought Scott a bottle of Corona to drink on the way to the hotel. You know, like the commercial where the guy is sitting on the beach and playing paper football? That was the vacation Scott REALLY wanted, but just not possible right now. I was trying!! He at least had a beer. Which turned out to be a good thing. I should've brought more than just one.
Scott was surprised and off we went to Dallas. I was even nice enough to drive. We didn't tell him where we were going, but I finally caved in to the pressure and told him. His first response? "I don't mind paying for the Westin or Four Seasons."
Mind you, neither of those were the hotel we were going to. So, not starting off on a great note. Then, we battled our way through Dallas traffic at 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. I do not like traffic and I was a mess.
We get to the hotel, and it was a dump. We check in, go to our room, pass the pool and notice it is full of creepy old men. Get in our room, and it has not been cleaned. Ever had that happen? One of the beds was mussed and there were dirty towels in the bathroom. YUK. Again, this is not shaping up to be the fun getaway I had planned in my mind. Not even coming close. I was doing my best not to cry.
We haul all of stuff back to the car, Scott tells the lady at the front desk that we're not staying here since it's not as "family oriented" as we thought. Something to do with the fact that there was a check in line dedicated to airline employees. And the creepy guys by the pool.
We call the Westin Stonebriar and get their last room (so they say) and we zoom across town, again. Actually, it was more of a crawl. And I made Scott drive.
Finally, we get there. We check in. We go to our room, lay down, and sigh. THIS was what we had in mind. And after all that, we had a really good time!
We went swimming, saw Despicable Me, did a lot of laying around, did some shopping (got the kids their school backpacks, with matching lunch boxes, because really, everyone needs a matching lunch box, right?!), more swimming, room service, peeked in on the wedding reception being held at the hotel and got to see the bride. She was beautiful.
It was a great change in the weekend for us. And the girls will always remember the weekend we kidnapped Daddy! At least, I hope they do.
.JPG)
