Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Thankful for another early spring break this year, we planned a little getaway.

In years past, we have stayed near home and enjoyed the activities around town while the other school-age students were in school.

In 2012, we spent time entertaining, playing, jumping and visiting.

Then in 2013, we played arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese, jumped, met friends at the park, colored Easter eggs, and hunted eggs.

This year, we started our spring break as soon as school let out.

Friday: Preparing for our Getaway

With our children getting bigger and ready for more adventure, we planned a weekend trip up to Charlotte, NC. When school let out early on Friday, March 7, we headed home to finish packing for our weekend trip.

Saturday: Travel and Visiting Two Science Museums

On Saturday morning, we headed to Charlotte to visit the Charlotte Nature Museum and Discovery Place using our favorite history and science museum membership.

Getting FREE admission to both venues, we enjoyed the displays, activities, and programs. Both museums were in close proximity, and we had packed our lunch to cut down on time away from playing.

Though we ended up staying longer at the Nature Museum to see the showing of Grandpa Tree, we had about 1.5 hours to find our favorite activities at Discovery Place before they closed at 6:00 p.m.

At closing time, we headed to our friends’ home in the area. We were fed a delicious meal and enjoyed talking the night away with them.

Sunday: Daylight Savings Time, Church, and the Great Wolf Lodge

It was a short night as Daylight Savings sprung us forward an hour, so we were yawning a bit in church the next morning.

After church, we said our thank yous and goodbyes, and headed to the Great Wolf Lodge.

We stopped by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for our FREE original glazed doughnuts and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Wendy’s getting our $1 key tags for this spring and summer.

We then arrived at the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte/Concord, NC. To read more about our wonderful stay and adventure, check out this series recap for all my tips and tricks for a fun visit.

Monday: Day 2 at the Great Wolf Lodge

We continued our two-day stay at the lodge with lots of waterpark fun.

After leaving the lodge in the early evening, we stopped by Chick-fil-A for dinner where we used our Chick-fil-A calendar cards for FREE Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Yum!

With full tummies and worn out from the busy weekend, we all relaxed as Paul drove us home.

Ah! Home . . . it was a nice getaway, but getting back home was really nice.

Tuesday: Recovery Day

We spent the day relaxing, unpacking, and working on the piles of laundry while we recovered from the great weekend.

It was really nice to have no place to go and no schedule to follow.

The girls were fun to watch as they rediscovered their toys. They missed playing with their favorites while we were away.

Wednesday: Crafts

With the weather getting a bit chilly, we had another day at home with the girls painting a craft and asking for more projects.

Getting a little restless after being home for 2 days, we planned an outing for Thursday.

Thursday: Jump Zone

Needing to work out their stored up energy, my children jumped all morning and afternoon at our local jump zone.

By early evening, they were ready to head home for dinner, baths, and movie night.

Friday: Outing with Grandparents

Taking up my in-laws’ offer to watch their grandchildren on Friday, I dropped them off and ran some errands alone before heading home.

After Paul finished work, he picked them up and brought them home.

They had learned to whittle with Grandpa and were working on their blocks of wood until dinner was ready.

Saturday: Bonding Time

As our spring break was coming to an end, we were gearing up to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

For a little mother-daughter bonding time, Miss 6 and I painted our nails for the Irish holiday.

Kicking off our spring break with a getaway and then taking the week to recover worked well for us. My children enjoyed their time off but were not exhausted when heading back to the school routine on Monday morning.

As the school year is winding down and schedules are ramping up, recovery days are necessary in our home for a bit of calm. Finding a balance takes time, but the recovery days allow us to rest which is keeping us healthy this allergy season. Happy spring break!

Question: What do you have planned, or did you do on your spring break?