Brain’s Family Spring Break Trip

When you're young, the words 'Spring Break' means a party. Possibly in a warmer climate. The beach, lots of alcohol. A time to cut loose! Fast forward to when you become a parent. Spring Break means you've got a week to entertain your kids. Save the alcohol until AFTER they're in bed.

Chase, Carly and Cayleigh along with the rest of the Marion Independent School District are off this week for their break. We don't take trips every spring break, but we thought this year it might be fun to escape the confines of our home and travel north to Dubuque. We stayed at the Grand Harbor Hotel and Waterpark. I've stayed there before with Chase, but this was the first time that Holly and the girls went along. The waterpark features numerous slides, a lazy river and multiple hot tubs. Needless to say, the kids were in heaven.

Chase brought a friend with him, so I got to spend a lot of the girls. It's so much fun to watch your kids come into their own. On this trip that was Carly. She's 7 years old and is fearless! It took some talking to get her to go on the biggest water slide, but once she did it once, she made me do it countless more times! She was my buddy on this trip. We even made a secret handshake. I've still got some work to do with Cayleigh. She's only 5, but she spent most of her time in the kiddy pool and hottubs. Her time will come.

The bottom line is, whatever you do on spring break, make it about the kids. Have fun! Do something unexpected. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money. It just has to show them that you care.