Beach Front Vacation is Not a Good Deal.

I love the beach. My family vacationed at beaches in both North Carolina and Virgina as I was growing up. Most of my fondest vacation memories are of digging in the sand, finding shells or looking for sand crabs. Even now that I'm married it's my favorite place to vacation. This year, Carl and I decided to take a beach vacation with the kids. So, I began searching  for place at our favorite beach in North Carolina.

For the first few searches I was following the sensible, frugal approach. Growing up in a family of eight means that frugality is the word of the day every day. I instictively started looking at houses a few rows back from the beach as they are less expensive than and ocean front rental. I found a few good candidates and decided to check out the price of ocean front rentals just to compare.  I was surprised to find some that were just a bit more than the other rentals a few rows back and still in line with the budget. "Granted", I told myself, "these are smaller. And, OK, the kids will have to share a bed in this one, but look there are ocean views from the master bedroom window".  I envisioned a week right on the ocean front. We would  be a few steps from sandcastles, beach combing, and wave riding. It would only take a few minutes to cart sandy, tired kids back to the little duplex. I could even sit on the small deck and watch as other parents packed their sandy kids, bulky ubrellas and coolers and hiked across the foot burning sand all the way back to their "almost oceanfront" and "bayside" rentals.

 I pushed the "book it" button and did a little dance of happiness which lasted only for a moment until I saw the complete price for oceanfront property. Taxes and insurance and other fees added another $200 to the total. For a moment I thought "We can do it. It's vacation and only happens once a year" "It's worth the extra money just to be so close." And then I then wondered what else I could do with $200. $200.00 is a good chunk of my monthly food budget. It's gas we need to go on vacation. It's $50.00 short of  our power bill. It's two months worth of water and sewer service. It's a big deal for my family and, as it turns out,an oceanfront rental is a crummy deal for the Walker's.  I thought about how I quickly justified trashing our vacation budget and here is what I came up with:

1)  Just like anything else, you need to read the fine print. On the surface the rental price between the houses a few rows from the ocean and the smaller oceanfront home was just 40.00 but higher taxes,fees and insurance home significantly added to the overall cost of the home. I also thought it was interesting that the rental company wouldn't give you the entire cost up front. Only after searching and finding a rental that meets your expectation and after clicking the "book it" button do you find out the true cost.

2) Using emotion to justify buying more than we had budgeted for. I'd spent time searching and then was pretty excited about staying right on the ocean and I justified this was enough to spend more money on the rental.

I went back to my original selections and picked a rental further from the ocean and that was in line with our budget.

Will I be able to endure saving for a car?

It's prudent and economically sound to pay cash for a car but A) I've never done it before. B) it's ALOT of money to save even for a used car. and C) I don't wannna WAAAAAH. It became apparent, very early in our marriage that I was a comfort gal and a bit of a whinner when it came to doing stuff  I didn't want to do. Carl type A all the way!  50 mile hike up giant mountain? Carl had his gear packed and ready to go two hours early and chomping at the bit to get there. He often says that if our family had to leave Navoo like the early saints did that I wouldn't have made it to the city limits.

Sadly, he is right. And with my whining comes fantastic optimism. For example, this is the car I envision that we can save for:

Or, if we are leaving Navoo (happy singing children not included)

Avatar Review: If you hate warmed over leftovers you will not like this movie!

We finally rented "Avatar" and watched it last week. My impression: Fern Gully Meets Star Wars. Yes, the CGI was great but unfortunately for many movie makers I am a story gal. Pretty pictures will only hold my interest for so long. And I found the Avatar story predictable and warmed over. Jaded, depressed Marine goes on a mercenary mission to a far away planet that just happens to be a natural utopia. Stupid humans do not realize this because, gasp!, they are greedy. We even have a homicidal general who spouts lines like "Let's get this done. I wanna be home for dinner." as the at-one-with-nature natives flee from gas bombs of homicidal general. Jaded Marine becomes a native through advanced science so advanced movie makers don't really explain how it works! Marine sees the folly, oh the human folly, and tries to protect natives from evil corporation. Final battle scene involves nature kicking butt and machines and humans leaving planet. If you've seen the final battle scenes in Return of the Jedi then you can probably skip this part of the movie. It's the same thing minus the Ewoks. 

Field Days and Candy!

The last week of May was full of fun and farewells as we finished school and said goodbye to good friends.

Grace had field days to celebrate the end of pre-school. It was funny to watch a bunch of five year olds do egg races, sack races and tug of war. Marshall and I were able to cheer Grace on and eat a picnic lunch under the trees. It's moments like these where I'm thankful I'm able to be a stay at home  Mom.

After Field days we hopped in the car and drove to Meadows of Dan (yes, that's a name of a tiny town in VA) to visit Nancy's Candy Co. It's a working chocolate factory where glass windows let visitors view the candy making process. Naturally there's a HUGE candy store attached to the factory.

We went with the Taylors, Brames, Paxtons, and Hales. All together we had 16 kids roaming the candy store! I think the staff breathed a sigh of relief when we left. Here are Ellie, Janet and Delany (left-right).

Grace was happy to wear her medal from field days to the candy store. She was very happy to sample the chocolate peanut butter fudge.

As a parent concerned about providing healthy snacks for my children I never give them giant lollipops.

Children eat candy then hang on rails outside candy store.

After the candy we went to Maubry Mill a real working mill  that still grinds corn. It was a fun day. Kids slept well that night.

It behooves a good wife...

I love old cookbooks! Not only can you find long forgotten recipes like "Clever Judy Frosting" and "Lemon Chiffon Pie" but you can discover so much about the standards for home and family in cookbooks. I'm no historian but it seems that most cookbooks were written for women. I get a kick out of looking at the tips and hints on what women could do to make home a better place for everyone else. Here are some of my favorites gleaned from my small collection and one I just purchased from an antique store for a friend.

" Most women claim to dislike market shopping but we know that in their heart of hearts they love it!" General Foods Cookbook 1959.

Write up for California Onion Dip in Betty Crocker Cookbook 1969 " An easy, lower calorie version of the all time favorite. Whip up a batch for the ladies with skim milk and let the men indulge the
                                                                sour cream version."

"It's a wise woman who knows her baking rules." All About Baking 1937.

"The man you marry will know the way he likes his eggs. And chances are he'll be fussy about them. So it behooves a good wife to know how to make and egg behave." Betty Crocker Cookbook 1969.

" The tea service must be complete, dainty and immaculate. Remember that confusion and disorder are enemies to good conversation and repose for which the tea hours stands for, first of all." All About Baking 1937.

 PS. I had an elderly friend several years ago who was a wife and mother during the 1950's. She told me she changed into a clean dress, pearls and heels every night before her husband got home. The children were also bathed and changed into fresh clean clothes and were expected to engage in quiet activities for the rest of the evening so Dad could enjoy a quiet happy home. HAHAHAHAHAHAH

In which we pet lambs

This past Monday Grace's preschool class to a field trip to a local farm to visit newborn lambs. I was surprised at how curious and friendly the lambs were. They came right up to the kids. Grace had so much fun feeding and petting them. Little brother, Marshall tagged along but he wasn't as charmed by the woolly cuteness in front of him.

Marshall is not so sure about this one although this lamb followed Marshall all through the field trip.

Some of Grace's schoolmates learn how to feed a lamb from the farmer.

It was a beautiful spring day. Perfect for visiting a farm.

Kids line up to get back on the bus. The farmer invited all the kids back to watch sheep shearing when class reached first grade. "What's first grade", asked on little student.

A Sunny Easter

We had a fantastic 3 day visit with Carl's sister and family in Jacksonville, NC for Easter Weekend. The weather was warm  (in the 80's) and sunny and the kids had a great time dying eggs, playing with cousins and hunting eggs in the house and yard. We attended church on Easter Sunday and felt the Spirit testify of the Resurrection. Thanks, Becky and Ron for letting us take over your house! We love you guys!




                                                                                    
                                                                                           Kids Easter outfits.

Grace and Allie get ready to dye eggs.

                                             Daddy and Marshall wonder what's in the water at the park.

                                                                                            Grace found all her eggs, even the hard ones.