We have two foster babies living with us right now and they are super sweet. One is a tiny baby, one is pre-toddler. With the addition of these two we are more than busy. Seems we are at a dr. appt or on the go somehow everyday with one of the five kids. Then you add the getting up at night to feed the littlest one and it takes a toll. We decided that we needed a little baby break and had the two little guys go into respite care for a few days. For those of you who don’t know, foster kids can’t just be watched by anyone if it’s over a 24 hour period of time. So respite care is other foster parents watching foster kids (for a whopping $22 per day…and you can taxed on that but that’s another rant!).

So with the babies in respite, I surprised Dee and the boys with a night out at a “hotel”. It was actually the Kitsap Executive Suites, which is a company that rents out apartments on a nightly basis. It was close by, in Silverdale, and we had access to the apartments swimming pool, racquetball court, basketball court and stayed in a nice 2 bedrooom apartment all for the same price as a hotel. Boy did we use the services! It was a great spot for us, the layout was perfect and the boys were happy to have a big bed of their own to sleep in. We were able to make dinner in the room and snuggle up for a movie in the living room and play games at the kitchen table. Better than a hotel room for sure. In the morning, we got up and gave the boys a cup of Captn Crunch (they always get to pick out a sugar cereal when we go on vacation….same as I did as a kid!) and eat it in bed while they watched cartoons. Dee and I packed up and checked out and Dee took Carlos and Levi to play racquetball while Trey and I spent time in the pool. Th other boys decided they wanted to swim, too so they joined us.

We decided we’d stop and play some mini golf, since that is something we can’t do with babies. It was tougher than I thought it would be. Carlos was easily frustrated, Trey averaged 10 strokes a hole and there were 5 of us putting so there was lots of waiting. Levi has a natural gift for putt putt. It was fun, but I think would be better in a year or so.

Fun family getaway and much needed time with just our guys.