This spring break, we stayed home, but for one of those nights, we went to our local resort. I had received a Mother’s Day gift certificate to use there, and since I hadn’t used it yet, we figured we might as well go.

Jordan made the reservation, and in true Jordan fashion, he surprised Quinn and me with one of the best rooms for a lower cost. Quinn and I found out when we walked into the room. We were not expecting this view! 😍

We checked in, got settled, and then went straight to dinner. I ordered the salad bar for part of my dinner. It was like stepping back into the early 2000s when salad bars actually existed. It was so yummy.

I had a soak and massage scheduled for later that evening. I was so relaxed and excited to join back up with Quinn and Jordan after they had swam in the pool.

We got a Gooey, a specialized dessert that is a glorified ice cream sundae. We then slept in our cozy room with the fire on, which was glorious.

We got up, got breakfast, and went to the pool the following day before checking out. I asked if the pool was warm, and Jordan said, “It’s refreshing.” That’s code for “it’s cold.” I immediately was rethinking the decision to get into the pool. But in a staycation vacation attitude, I told myself to get in. We all got in, Jordan and I slower than Quinn, with our arms above the water while tip-toeing around, trying to get used to the cold water. We played the color game where a person holds another in their arms and dunks them whenever they guess the color wrong. You flip them backward and out of your arms when they guess the color right. We started getting cold and went to the hot tub.

This whole time, these other kids were playing in the pool, going back and forth from the hot tub to the pool, and both sets of parents were sitting out conversing and watching their kids. We noticed this and felt funny being the only adults in the swimming pool doing the funny games and the child-like behavior.

Quinn got back into the pool after a bit in the hot tub. I looked at Jordan and said, “Isn’t it funny how kids don’t care about the cold? Why don’t we do that anymore? When did we stop doing that?” I then thought to myself how kids don’t care if the water is cold; they want the fun to keep going.

I challenged myself to stay in the hot tub and go back and forth whenever I got too hot. IT WAS SO FUN! I told Jordan, “You’ve got to do it! It’s so refreshing and feels so good!” He got back in, too. Before you knew it, we were the adults going back and forth between the pool and the hot tub. Quinn was ecstatic. We had lots of laughs and made lots of memories.

Reflecting on this moment, I realized that adults often don’t play. I don’t play as often as I could. In those back-and-forth moments of diving into the pool straight out of the hot tub and having the adrenaline rush through me because I know it’s going to be “refreshing,” I thought about how often I miss out on Quinn’s fun and the fun I could have. How frequently do parents sit back and watch their kids have fun instead of getting in on the fun?

I learned that Quinn had fun because her parents were doing the same thing she did, and we had fun because we got to do the same thing and be kids again.

So here’s to more playing, fun, laughter, and more of being a kid with your kids.