Celebration Reimagined

 

My husband and I had a hotel booked for one night to celebrate both of our birthdays (his is in March, mine is in April). We booked it at one of our favorite drinking spots. I thought it would be fine when we made our reservation...but as the date drew near, I was having second thoughts. At this hotel, there is not much to do besides drink (no pool, hot tub, golf course or spa). 

In the past, we would drink beer during the day, wine at night, and mimosas the next morning at breakfast. The idea of going started feeling less and less exciting, as I knew he would still be doing all of those things.

The weekend that he decided to quit drinking, we canceled our original reservation. We were going to do something else just the two of us. However, our daughter has a rigorous gymnastics training schedule, and the grandparents would have to do a lot of driving back and forth. So, we decided to get a hotel close to her gym and take the kids with us.

This was our first time ever being in a hotel without drinking. It was fun, it felt like a getaway, and we liked seeing the kids be able to swim last night and this morning. We ordered pizza to the room last night, and we had a nice sit down breakfast at the hotel this morning. 

Parts of it were annoying. The kids complaining about when they could swim (we needed to wait for the pool to clear out before we could have our turn). The kids arguing about the temperature of the hotel room. My daughter wanting my husband to turn off the TV when she was trying to sleep, and wanting me to turn off the light when I was trying to read. But, we dealt with all of that sober. 

Parts of it were hard. Walking past the restaurant on our way to and from the pool, seeing all the adults drinking wine and beer. Sitting in the hot tub with two women who were drinking beer and wine (like we would have done). But, we were a lot more present with our kids than they were.

It was a MUCH less expensive getaway. We are glad that we did it. Next time - different location and no kids!