We took our time packing up and heading out Saturday. We had originally planned to drive separately since dh had a friend in San Jose Friday - but that didn't work out and we drove down together Saturday.

In the morning, BM and I went on a bike ride. Only bike ride #2 on my new bike, since things have been a wee bit crazy.

We checked out a park I noticed but have never been to. We drove over since it is over the freeway - the only real downside to our location. There are no lights and it is terribly unsafe. I'd ride over, cautiously, but the kids aren't ready for that. So we drove over and rode for about 10 minutes before I looked over and noticed BM did not have his helmet. Doh. It's about how my whole weekend went really. IT was just the start! We turned around and hustled back to the car and I imagined everyone thought I was a terrible parent (probably no one really noticed like I didn't - LOL).

The park was far huger than I Expected. The perimiter is paved. There is a tiny "canal" and so a bunch of bridges from the paved path, over the canal to the weedy middle of the park. Clearly unfinished. The entire middle of the park was just weeds. There was one straight path down the very center of the park.

Since our time was cut short and I was surprised by the size of the park - we drover the permiter - or as much as we could. I drove around 2.1 miles. I'd guess the whole thing is about 2.5 miles.

The thing about the ride, and my new bike, is it wasn't much of a workout. The bike is too light, etc. BUT I think this is a perfect place to work up speed, alone. Though the path is narrow and I wouldn't want to go too fast, the path borders busy streets and I would feel comfortable riding alone. It's close enough to home I could always just call home for help if I got a flat, etc. Which is my main concern about riding alone. 4 laps would be a nice 10-mile ride.

-------------------------------------

We headed out of town around 11:00 and the traffic just sucked. We ended up stopping for lunch because we were just starved. Grabbed some fast food.

I would have been happy to get a later start, but BM had requested we go to the water park for his birthday - and we decided to brave the San Jose location on a Saturday (must be crazy - huh - we generally avoid these kinds of things on weekends and holidays!).

I talked to my mom on the drive and she insisted on giving us some money. Since we had driven up so many weekends and bought so much food for them, etc. BEfore I argued with her. This time I just said, "sure." I told her we needed cash for parking anyway and that would be nice. Wasn't sure either of us had any cash.

I hung up the phone and told dh that it was good I didn't go to the bank yet because I was getting another check. This sentence sunk in and I yelled a couple of profanities. "Crap! I FORGOT to go to the bank!" LOL. I was going to do that Saturday. I actually stopped by the bank Friday, saw the line out the door, and changed my mind. Saturday would be fine if I remembered. WE also both were annoyed we forgot the GPS since we probably could have found a traffic detour (needed GPS and power cord for this) and I then muttered I could use it to find a CU branch on the way. I called my parents instead and had them look up various CU branches. WE had apparently passed quite a few on our drive but there weren't any on our second leg. Figured.

Wouldn't you know the next day I Realized the GPS had been in my purse all along. !!! No power cord, but I could have looked up CUs on the way, myself. Might have been able to figure something out.

I usually keep $1k in my savings account, connected to my checking account, for these kinds of things. & thankfully it was enough. BUT we just transferred all that money into a trust account and I didn't think any overdraft would be covered by that account since it is now a separate account.

I lucked out, and was able to make an instant online transfer when I got to my parents' house. Phew. The credit card was set to pay Monday. I told dh those EFTs go through like 12:01 a.m. the day of. I had to get the money there BEFORE Monday.

I am usually not so air-headed and am pretty stubborn about not keeping much cushion in my account. But these things do happen! The $1k cushion was ample. Most of my second paycheck, on the 16th, goes to bills that pay on the 31st, which is why I usually don't sweat it. I just needed a few hundred to cover the credit card. The only bill I pay far ahead of the due date! It was too late to cancel the online payment though - which was the other thing.

-------------------------------------

We went to the water park in San Jose, and I found it to be far nicer than ours. I think we did well enough considering the crowds. They had far more play areas for the little kids, AND we even talked LM into riding on some water slides. A miracle!

I still don't quite *get* the whole thing. MANY of the very same slides. They are very strict on height at our local water park and though BM could barely slide by on their height stick, they gave us the third degree if he could swim, etc. They made it sound like it was VERY dangerous, etc., etc. We had to ride with him on everything, of course.

In San Jose? Same rides, different story. Even LM could ride alone on many of the rides if he had wanted to. IT's like, "huh?" Except BM did get downgraded to a life vest in the wave pool. They didn't think he was quite 48 inches (he isn't). Whereas he got on all the rides in Sacramento (48-inch minimum). So it's kind of funny really. All backwards!

I am so proud of LM - he braved the water slides and had fun. BM Went down quite a few rides alone (they didn't have the flexibility of 2-person tubes on many of the rides - like they do in Sac). It made me nervous, I think only because they struck the fear in us at the Sac location. LOL. He was totally fine and certainly a fine enough swimmer at this point. The height limit seemed to coincide with water height more than anything. None of the rides he went on alone ended in deep pools.

I will probably take a day day off before school starts, so we can really enjoy that location without all the crowds next time. Though it wasn't too terrible. But it would be fun to go spend a few hours there with no lines.

The parking was cheaper there too. Our grand plan was to get a ride since it is down the street from the in-law's home. BUT we realized with no watch and no cell phone it wasn't terribly feasible to plan a pickup time. We may invest in water proof watches down the road, though somehow we didn't lose each other in all the crowd (some miracle). IT's hard to remember life before cell phones!

Anyway, two visits put us ahead of single passes, with our season pass. Plus I think it was more fun since I already paid for those last month. We will squeeze out at least one more visit, if not more. Think is we could just pop by for a couple of hours, any time. Tempting for next weekend...

-------------------------------------

Sunday, the kids had their family party and they swam all day. LM showed off his new swimming skills.

We got home around 6 last night and oh my! We tend to leave the air on 85 degrees for the cat. We have dual thermostats in our split level, BUT one of the vents is at the top of the stairs and blows cold air into our bedroom where the second thermostat is. Basically, before kids, the downstairs air was all we needed to cool the living areas and our bedroom at the top of the stairs. But we use the upstairs thermostat for the kids' bedrooms. The house was 85 when we got home and obviously the air had been working hard. BUT I was shocked to see it was 90 upstairs. I can't imagine how hot it would have been up there without all the cold air blowing right into the thermostat anyway. YEesh. OF course the cat was lounging in a sun spot upstairs. She preferred the 90 degrees, after all that. I still play it cautious.

We worked the thermostat hard. IT was still in the 80s after about 3 hours when the kids went to bed - yeesh.

Most of summer we get away running the air only after dinner and until bedtime. But I can only imagine how hot it must have been while we were gone. Only gone one night.

The weather is going to be about 100 all week - blech. IT's the worst when it doesn't cool as much at night. We are used to cool nights at least...

-----------------------------------

Florida, FLorida, Florida.

The background here is we were thinking of being open to going NEXT year. Dh's grandfather lives there. But dh's family REALLY wants to go THIS Year and they wouldn't let up until we gave in. So fine, we give in. We tell MIL if we go this year we can't help financially. She says if we go next year she can't help financially. Because she really wants to entice us this year. So whatever, I give up. Though this means I can't go, for the most part. (Which is why *I* rather go next year - for one).

That's the long and the short of it. We have some D-World tickets still from our honeymoon in 2000 - we will use them up this trip. Free airfare, free hotel. May pay for a day at Gatorland. Would like to spend time with family. But MIL wants to go to like every theme park near Orlando. I have no idea when she thinks they will spend time with family. THEN, SIL informs me yesterday she wants us each to pay $150 ($50 per person) for some special ticketed event at D-World. Is she for real? LOL. I looked it up today and it looks like these things were "Very popular in 2007 but have been canceled for 2009, due to economy." PHEW! If there was any consideration for our wishes and planning, sure we wouldn't be such cheapskates. But planning 3-4 months for a trip - sorry I don't have $150 here and there to throw around. Maybe if I could save for another year, please. We were figuring 2 days at Disney, and a day at Gatorland would suffice. LEaves 2 days to travel and like 2 days with family. Dh's family is just crazy. The kids will be 6, 5, 4, & 2. They don't need to go to Sea World and Universal - and all that! There will be other trips to Florida. When the kids can appreciate more and we should have more cash flow too.

I could have worse problems, but I will be really annoyed if we have to dip too much into savings for this trip that neither dh nor I is particularly interested in rushing. I'm going to be annoyed about it until it is over. No matter how you slice it, it will cost $$$$. The kids and dh (& MIL) just went to Florida in 2007. Not like they haven't been recently. I JUST remembered SIL missed that trip (new baby). At least her - I can understand her impatience.

I am thinking of taking a couple of days off while the fam is gone. The quiet in the house always amazes and bores me. It is so weird any more. (Before kids I'd be happy to not see a sole for a week). BUT I will try to embrace the peace and quiet. I think it will be nice to have a mini-vacation to myself. If it is that miserable, I can make plans with friends, visit my parents, etc.

-------------------------------------

In other news, dh went in for a much needed oil change (I just noticed he never went in June like I had requested). So we were coupon-less but felt we couldn't wait at this point. (We change our oil every 6 months - which is fine if you DO IT!) Dh felt bad we had no coupon and so when he got to jiffy lube he asked if they had any discounts. They gave him $5 off. Never hurts to ask!

We just try to change both cars every May & November. They are kind of slow months and we have the time.

----------------------------------

That about sums up my busy weekend! I've got a short week at work and then we are beating the heat. My sister is visiting from North Carolina this week. We are planning of attempting to go to the Garlic Festival this weekend, but not sure how bad it will be. I hear it gets pretty darn crowded. We were thinking of trying Sunday morning in the hopes it won't be too crowded. Or we may brave Saturday. I don't know. We planned our dentist appointment around the Garlic Festival weekend - since out dentist is in the Bay Area. Just turns out my sister will be visiting too. I will be glad to get out of town though. The heat here is, blech.