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In March of 2021, Mr. Farmhouse and I made the decision to schedule a surprise road trip for the girls. The tail end of their spring break aligned with the beginning of mine, so we took advantage of this and planned a little mini-vacation. We used AirBNB for the first time and booked our stay at The Old Riverton Post in Riverton, Kansas.
There were a few things that really made this trip fun. First of all, the girls had no idea we had anything planned until the morning that we were getting ready to head out. I still had to work that day, so to build their anticipation, I hid bags with clues in them around the house. The clues gave them a little bit of information about the upcoming trip and also had a surprise inside...road trip snacks, a game to play, a small piece of jewelry to wear on the trip, a photograph of some friends we were going to visit...you get the idea. Secondly, the best part of the scavenger hunt (for Mr. Farmhouse and myself) is that there were chores tied to each of the clues. So once they found a bag containing a clue and some sort of little surprise, they also found a short list of things that needed to be completed before we could leave. By the time I got home from work that day, the house was picked up, the girls were packed, and we could jump in the car and head out! Finally, we decided to visit little "hole-in-the-wall" joints for meals and we didn't do anything really "touristy" (except for maybe visiting Big Brutus in West Mineral, Kansas). We spent most of our time at the AirBNB, playing board games, reading, and watching movies. We had such a great time on that trip, that I immediately scheduled another similar getaway for March of 2022. This time, we visited a cabin in Greenfield, Missouri -- on an unexpected cold and snowy weekend! The girls were off school on the day we left, so again, I had clues set up and ready for them to find throughout the day! It was a fun and relaxing trip, filled with lots of cozy family time in this beautiful cabin.
One of our family goals that we have set for ourselves is to have lots of experiences for our girls to look back on, especially since our oldest will be graduating in just a few years. With this in mind, I scheduled a little summer getaway and we ended up in Phillipsburg, Missouri just a few weeks ago. This stay was super-unique -- we slept in a converted grain bin! It was so much fun! We did have a few more experiences outside of the airBNB during this trip and they were all well-worth the cost!
We have decided that booking a bed & breakfast through AirBNB or VRBO is the way to go for lodging when we travel.
Mr. Farmhouse and the girls love to cook, so they prepare a lot of our meals wherever we travel. We take board games and our books and spend a lot of time just being together. One of my favorite parts of each trip is when we're driving home. Mr. Farmhouse and I sit up front and talk the whole time, as the girls sleep in the back seat, all cuddled up to one another. When we pull into the driveway, the girls wake up and thank us for the trip and usually say something along the lines of, "Ahhh...home sweet home". Planning our next little getaway here at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
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I am typing this from the airport in Tampa, Florida. Due to my new position for the 2018-2019 school year, as the Director of Special Services in my district, I was asked to attend the Council for Exceptional Children's national convention in Tampa this week. Making the decision to accept the invitation was a big ordeal. There were many factors to be considered: - leaving Mr. Farmhouse and the girls for four days - putting my classroom in the hands of a substitute for three days (for the umpteenth time this school year) - missing the girls' school picture day, Valentine's parties, and basketball games - the cost associated with traveling out of state With much encouragement from a few colleagues and a long talk with Mr. Farmhouse, I decided to jump in head first and head south for the winter. Okay...head south for four days. I dropped the two older girls off at school Wednesday morning, dropped my Mattie-girl off at my parents' house, and headed north to meet a few coworkers who were making the journey with me. About five minutes from the location I was to pick up my teacher-friends, Kathi & Jolie, my cell phone buzzed with a plane delay notification from my Delta app. Your flight has been delayed. 12:15 takeoff time, now 1:32. Okay...so an extra hour and fifteen minutes in the airport won't kill us. Our connecting flight in Atlanta didn't take off until after 3:00, so we would still be fine. We sat down at IHOP for a little brunch, just in case we were unable to grab lunch during our layover in Atlanta. As we were pulling into the airport, we received another notification. Your flight has been delayed. 1:32 takeoff time, now 2:07. Okay...so we should still arrive with half-an-hour to spare. We parked, jumped on the shuttle, and headed to the Delta gate. As we were standing in line to visit with a Delta employee about our options, just in case the delays kept coming...it happened. Your flight has been delayed. 2:07 takeoff time, now 2:57. And with that, our chances at making our connecting flight went out the window...or down the runway.
We found a seat near an outlet to charge our phones and we started receiving texts and calls from the secretarial staff at school, who apparently had been notified off the recent changes to our itinerary. The bookkeeper got us a new hotel room in Atlanta for the night and cancelled our Tampa accommodations and it was settled. We would stay in Atlanta on Wednesday night and get up super-early to fly to Tampa on Thursday morning. We made it to Atlanta and headed to Ground Transportation to grab a shuttle to our hotel. At 7:16 p.m., we finally made it down to the shuttle parking lot. Our hotel shuttle left at 7:15 and would be back at 7:45. Seriously. So we sat on a bench to wait. Eventually, a shuttle driver from another hotel offered to take us to our hotel and we decided it was well-worth the large tip we would give her in exchange for a ride. We checked in, dropped our belongings off in our rooms, and headed to the restaurant. After a tasty "soul food, Atlanta, Georgia" supper, we headed to the hotel and went to bed. Thursday, we were up at 4:00, at the airport by 5:00, and flying into Tampa by 8:45 a.m.
At the recommendation of one of my BFFs from high school, we decided to eat at The Columbia in the Ybor City Historic District of Tampa. I was so very thankful to be able to meet up with the best man from our wedding and enjoy a meal with him. After an eventful and somewhat exhausting trip, it was amazing to see his familiar face and introduce him to my colleagues. Friday, we were up bright and early to attend the rest of the conference sessions we were looking forward to! We learned so much, found many resources, and I am excited to be able to share our newfound knowledge and strategies with our SpEd team when we return! When the conference ended on Friday, we had time to make a short trip to Clearwater! We ate at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on the water and it was ah-ma-zing. The fish tacos were spectacular!
We ended up at a Little Greek Restaurant by the hotel.
I had a gyro and it was also spectacular. I called Mr. Farmhouse and the girls and we all rejoiced that I would be home in less than 24 hours. Okay, two of three girls cried... one made funny faces at herself as we FaceTimed, and Mr. Farmhouse rejoiced. So now...our journey begins. Praying for traveling mercies, an uneventful trip home, and a happy reunion at our nice, warm farmhouse sooner than later. Much love to you, friends. ❤️🏡❤️ |
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