"Staycations"

The other day I was reading in the Salt Lake Tribune that due to the economy, many people will be taking "Staycations" this year instead of vacations. Staycationing is vacationing near your home on little or no money. Our situation is no exception. Doug and I decided a couple of months ago that in spite of a fun Canadian vacation that we had planned, 2008 had to be the year of the staycation. We picked out places we have never been (and some ol' favorites) in our own state and made reservations at several campgrounds. We have seen or will see Moab, the Uintas, Fish lake, Granite Flat, Snow Canyon, Wallsberg, and Heber.
After our most recent journey into the great outdoors I give you the following from Christie's Dictionary (a reliable source of acurate definitions).

Christie's Dictionary Definition

Staycation (noun, STEY-CAY-SHUN): A seemingly good idea in which one packs up children and camp trailer, heads into the great outdoors to discover one's own local area. In actuallity a living nightmarish Hell.

I came up with that definition while holding my screaming child at 2 a.m., sobbing, freezing, needing to use the far away facilities, and exhausted beyond expression as I whispered swear words that cursed the staycation.

I did have fun the second day seeing the awe inspiring beauty of the Uintas. The wildflowers struck me particularly with their ability to grow, their vibrant colors, their wonder!

No vacation is an actual vacation after you're a mom, but spending time in the great outdoors with anyone under the age of 4 years old is what they make you do after you die if you were a really really evil person on Earth.

But the funny part is that as we drove home yesterday and I fought back the tears of complete exhaustion Hailey said "I think that this was the greatest trip of my entire life." One second later she was crying about having to use the bathroom and I was saying "You'll hold it till we get home, we're not stopping!" But for one beautiful second, her little declaration made the entire "Staycation" worth it.