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Jul 5, 2012    |       7 comments

July 4th in 75 Degrees!

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Yesterday was a fantastic day!  Although all fireworks were cancelled due to the fire danger in Colorado, no one in this family was disappointed.  Why is that?  We were absolutely, positively over the moon about spending July 4th in 75 degree temps in the Rocky Mountains!  It was near 100 and humid at home yesterday and the pics on facebook from friends at various parades and events showed the misery!  From young to old everyone in the pictures simply looked wilted and miserable!  It is TOO HOT to be outside on July 4th in San Antonio!  We were all content to forego fireworks as we walked the trail around beautiful Bear Lake in RMNP!  The kids had such fun exploring nature and it was even more rewarding as I (of course) was doing mental math about the cost of the adventure!

I know many of you think that I go overboard on my spending thinking but right now that is where I am at in this journey.  I don’t think I pass too much of that on to the kids (as far as griping about spending) and that is likely b/c I get much of it out on the blog!  So you, my friends, have the privilege of hearing me lament but my family is somewhat insulated from the looping in my brain about $,  so I thank you!

Yesterday brought another trip to Safeway.  No surprise there but it is still less expensive than eating out every meal as we have on other trips.  It was another $50 but the rave reviews on our meals from the kids make it all worthwhile.  We are hearing comments now from them about the healthy food route and all are positive.  Even picky DD enjoyed a slice of veggie pizza before her cheese pizza for lunch.  The veggie pizza is homemade pizza crust, cream cheese with green onion and garlic (that I chop and add) and a wide assortment of veggies.  It is served cold and I was shocked to see every child enjoy at least a slice–and sometimes more than one!  I had broccoli, carrots, red pepper,zucchini, cucumber and mushrooms on there and they ate it!  That is a huge accomplishment.  They also enjoyed the homemade cheese pizza a lot.

We also put $50 in gas in the rental minivan.  No other spending on this day.

The entire day was spent in RMNP.  We enjoyed a free Ranger presentation on the life of Elk…I love those informative presentations as to at least half of the kids and Steve…the other two kids indulge us.  Then we climbed much farther than I thought we could at the Alluvial Fan.  Then drove up to Bear Lake to walk the trail around the lake.  We are taking it easy today in preparation for a big hike to Fern Lake tomorrow.  By far my favorite hike in the park.  We’ll need a very early start b/c it is a favorite for many visitors!

 

Jul 3, 2012    |       12 comments

Fly Fishing Fail!

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Well, it was bound to happen….a “falling off the wagon” moment while on vacation.  It was nothing catastrophic, but instaed a good “reality check” moment that DID cost us 90 bucks.  We did not use credit so there’s that minimal silver lining…but obviously the money had to come from somewhere and ultimately it will come from less money going toward debt.

It all started with a very simple idea of taking the kids fishing.  It ultimately became a FAIL because of poor communication between me and Steve.  I thought fishing would be a great, inexpensive entertainment option for the kids.  My brother has everything we need to fish…or at least that was my thinking.  I mentally figured $18 for 2 fishing licenses (me and Steve since all of the kids are under age 15) and that’s where my brain stopped.  Steve was on the other side of the thinking spectrum—he didn’t want to use my brother’s lures in case the kids lost them and bc there were 3 fishing rods available he felt that we needed a fourth so that each child had their own.  I had already packed lots of games and things to do as the one child rotating out of the fishing for the moment would have something to do.  Our huge miss was that neither of us communicated to the other what our thinking was and instead it all happened in an instant while at the fishing supply store!  You know where this is going…and it isn’t going to be good.

The next thing you know we’ve spent 90 dollars.  I was SICK!  And FRUSTRATED both with myself and with Steve!  He told each child to pick out 4 lures (@ 1.89 per lure!!!) and then put me on the spot in front of the cashier with asking me/informing me that we also needed the $22 fishing rod he had in his hand!  I am not trying to air dirty laundry here and have discussed the entire situation with Steve and told him that I would be posting this to the blog.  He absolutely sees his errors and is frustrated about the situation too.  I absolutely see where I could have handled the entire situation better and we will both take some lessons from this experience.

To add insult to injury–fishing didn’t go over well with the group.  Fly fishing is a patient person’s sport and while there were moments of joy for the kids….there were also moments of pure frustration.  We did make some great memories but the $90 spent is still turning my stomach.  Oh and to really put the icing on the cake…that new fishing rod we bought?  Destroyed!  It was designed to breakdown to 2 pieces and somehow it became 4.  Granted…I’d rather it be the one we bought that is broken rather than the one we are borrowing from my brother…but still…one big UGH!

And no….we did not catch a single fish.

I suppose I should be happy that the $90 is the only money we spent today…but obviously I’m not.

 

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