Ah, this is heaven!

September is the time to be here. We have had virtually the whole island to ourselves, it feels. (It also helps to still be on California time - a lot of early morning treks have helped us to beat the crowds).

We got the lava pool completely to ourselves (picture #1) and picture #3 were at some gardens we visited today - got the place to ourselves there, too.

The beautiful beach we visited today had people, but not many.

Not sure how it is in another areas, but a lot of the cities in Northern California run "family camps." They own campgrounds around Yosemite or Tahoe, or elsewhere I suppose, and hold camps in the summer with lots of activities and very reasonable room and board. (You can attend any camp you wish, but is discounted if you are a resident of the city it belongs to).

This was our third year in a row. We had no choice this year since the San Jose camp was shut down due to some structural issues and water quality issues. Which is fine - the amenities at Sacramento camp are WAY better. HOT showers, and nice little cabins. Anyway, we kind of travel with San Jose relatives, so we have gone to both camps (dh went to SJ camp as a child).

We went with our parents and our niece.

We had a great time, and more on all of that later.

But, we were lucky we didn't get snowed out. They had these pictures up from just a few weeks ago. Up to a couple of weeks ago they still had 4-5 feet of snow hanging around. They were very busy clearing it all out in time, and the kids got lots of snow play.

These pictures were on their website, from end of May:





I'll show pictures later of how it was when we were there - you will see how busy they must have been, clearing out the snow! There were just a couple of snow piles remaining by the time we arrived.

Someone would say, "I guess we came a lot later last year." Um yeah, July 1? Yes, we came so much later last time. The snow was a wee bit unusual, but there had been some big storms in May.

Anyway, they cleared most of it out in time for camp. We had to contend with a lot of mud though!

In the end, the weather was divine. If not for the cabins, we might have really FROZE. Weather was still hitting in the high 30s overnight. Thankfully we had good shelter. The days were beautiful, sunny and warm. Even the beach ended up being a nice 80-degreed day. I have lots of pictures of the kids playing in snow piles in their shorts and flip flops - hehe.

At home I set the thermostat to 87, for the cat, in case of freak heat wave. I am extra careful about that after a friends' house got up to 100 degrees in an unexpected heat wave, while they were on vacation. It killed their fish. SO, I always set the air, and this was the first summer it looked like it didn't kick on at all while we were gone. The house was 80 degrees upon our return.


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

ETA: I am linking an old post about family camp since I got so many questions last year - answers some questions...

http://monkeymama.savingadvice.com/2009/07/06/questions-answ...

Teachers should be feeling appreciated today:



Monkey Mama sure feels appreciated:



Early Mother's Day Gift!

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

I am starting a 3-Day weekend. My first one since December (heck, I haven't had many 2-day weekends, since).

I haven't decided what exactly to do, but I actually feel a little productive. So, I may hit Craigslist or scrub the showers, or something productive. Now if I could get the inside of the house as shiny as the outside...

Oh, I am quite sure I will also find some time to laze around and take a nap.

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

I offered to bake a cake for a teacher. In the end they didn't have enough people, so most of us made two. In the end, it was the perfect cake to make 2 of. I thought I may be up all night, but it worked out pretty well. Probably baked from 6:30-ish to 8:30-ish. Frosted and wrapped around 10pm. Not bad.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/cakemixrecipes/r/blbb658.htm

Simple, but DIVINE.

This was a good lesson for the kids. They were quite upset that I was making TWO cakes, and that they couldn't even have a bite! Told them it is nice to do things for other people...

OF course, dh bought me some powdered sugar and I didn't need it (he had gotten all the ingredients for me while I was at work) and so I decided to make my "2 minute" fudge today. Had been craving it for a while.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,179,150165-227201,00.html

This one is also simple, but divine. I think that would sum up my cooking motto pretty good. I like simple!

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

Between baking and a board meeting last night (I was baking while dh was meeting), we squeaked by with our school volunteer commitment for the year. I just read deadline was May 31 - yikes! We missed a couple of months with dh's surgery, and he has been unable to volunteer at all during the day, with LM's reduced preschool schedule. They also canceled bank day with the demise of WAMU - which was where I got most my hours last year. This year was mostly baking, board meetings, and Scholastic.

Next year should be a little easier. So, phew.

BM was counting the other day. He said we have 500 books. Yikes! Dh is looking forward to way more Scholastic hours next year, with both kids in school and no daycare to consider ("volunteer" though paid generously with books - many that we keep). I think I have to institute a sell/donate the same amount of books we bring in. They are mostly kids books, and small, but it's still kind of absurd. Knowing that he can volunteer a bajillion hours, I better be prepared with a plan. Of course, I would hope he donates most of the books he earns, to the school.

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

But for a birthday party, we really have no plans this weekend. I likey!

With my new cell phone and ability to take pictures off the camera (the old one had a camera, but we couldn't figure out how to get the pictures off without spending $$). With that, I thought I would take a lot more pictures.

I have.

Apparently, the only thing interesting around here is the sky!

The first one was on the drive home from work, again (these cloudy summer skies are awfully unusual).



This one was a sunrise on a bike ride. The foreground is a pile of empty home lots. No doubt, if the homes were built, my rides wouldn't be so nice and scenic!



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

In other news, I Was so shocked of the low price of our hotel for our anniversary (or moreso the expesiveness of the price at every other travel site) that it didn't occur to me I could get a further discount. Like, I know I could call and ask. But I Was fine to just book it, and figured any further savings was a crap shoot.

So I happily booked a $300 stay that came out to $700+ on all the travel web sites.

Of course, after I booked it, they had said very little about their rules and cancellation policy, so I poked around the website a bit. As I did, I found that there was a 10%-off offer PLUS $20/night dinner gift certificate, if I had seen this promo code and used another link to book.

Wha???

So I e-mailed them and asked if I could apply the promo code, or if it would be easier to cancel and rebook. With no answer, I figured we'd call today (yesterday I was trying to work and stuff).

They eventually called us back first and we decided just to cancel the reservation.

I haven't rebooked it yet, but since we got 10% off with AAA, I am pretty sure the new offer voided the AAA offer. So we won't save any money on the room. BUT we will get $40 of free food. Which was really going to be the most expensive part of the trip, besides the room.

I am pleased as punch!

We will probably go out on some interesting, exotic lunches. & then just stick at the hotel for dinner. The restaurant hotel is a Marie Callendar's. I think we may buy some pie too.

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

After I had done my Hanes order, I realized we had bought some sweatshirts for BM through Hanes, last year. They are allowed to wear sweatshirts as part of their "uniform." Which is pretty much all he wears when it gets colder.

SO, I perused their website and saw they were on sale for $5 each.

I did another order for those. Ordered 5. 20% off, free shipping, means I paid $20 for 5 brand new sweatshirts. (The ones I bought last year are fine - they have held up well - but they are just getting small).

This is why I rarely shop thrift for the kids any more. I used to a lot more, but I usually can get similar prices new, for FAR less time and hassle.

I am glad I thought to look.

This picture was actually taken the other day, but it was like 100 degrees and I tried to fathom how it could be so hot with all the clouds (heat is common in summer; not clouds).

Picture just turned out gorgeous - camera phone and all.

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

A friend told me about a bike path that was just down the street for our home. "Huh???" I said.

We checked it out. It was gated and said, "closed, no trespassing, patrol" etc., etc. But the gate wasn't locked and my friend assured me it was fine. With some caution we went through the gate and decided to check it out.

There are a couple of roads along both sides of the canal - probably for service vehicles - mostly gravel. We saw a number of people jogging and walking their dogs on the gravel. No doubt it is usually more highly traveled. It was hotter than Hades!

But not far away from the canal was this bike path. I had looked at the map online and mostly wrapped my brain around it, but was confused because we biked so much around and never saw it. BM asked where we were going. I said, "exploring!"

Anyway, it was kind of silly in the end because the path quickly turned into some open neighborhoods and ended on a busy intersection. BEsides the "entrance" by us, there really wasn't any "no trespassing" signs. It's a public park.

I just ignored it before since it's all blockaded on our end. So I am really relieved it was mentioned.

I thought it looked like the path went right past our favorite little secluded park in the middle of "homes never built land." (I've shared pictures before). & it did! It was just far enough away from the park that we couldn't see it from there.

This is the funny part. BM and I stopped by the park on our return and enjoyed some of the "hills" in the park landscape. The bike path was flat as flat can be, and though convenient, and good for some more exercise, it was pretty boring. So I told BM, "The path was really safe because there are no cars to worry about, but it was rather boring, don't you think?" HE replied something like, "Yes, cars make it more interesting."

Yes, that is what I am afraid of!!

I am pleased to have a nice, decent sized bike path to do some "training" on, right outside my door. But I am really looking forward to more weekends on the river parkway. I cringed as I described that path as "hilly," but I appreciate it's challenges a little more after finding the flat as flat can be bike path. I am afraid that is all we have close to home!

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

I made it to aerobics this morning. Phew. I tried to go on Thursday, but traffic was a mess. Not sure traffic was ever so bad that I aborted my aerobics detour, midway. But that day I certainly did! It was just the worst of the worst. There were many accidents that day, plus a fatal one near my final destination (fatal accident wasn't even on the freeway). It probably would have taken hours to get there, so I'm glad that I turned around. I was bummed, because I had missed many classes due to our car situation.

Anyway, so I went to aerobics this morning (1 hour class), and then we did our bike ride. I am starting to remember why I was so skinny before I had children. !! As I resume my more active lifestyle... I am also surprised I so easily handled working out for 2 hours. I've been so bad about the gym and everything with how crazy everything has been the last month or 2.

Dh had to volunteer today so I made "breakfast for lunch." Kids were estatic.

I took a nap in the afternoon. Thank goodness I squeezed it in. I woke up feeling extremely relieved I was chipper enough to run after the kids. They have since quietly played together. It's not always so easy, these days, but I forget they don't need that constant, exhausting, supervision. I knew they would be fine while I napped, but I figured I had a long afternoon ahead of me.

Instead, they were content playing together so I did some financial chores. paid all the bills and determined that our savings accounts sit at a solid $21k, still. Phew! I transferred a chunk out to pay the van body work, and all that. Set up the few bills I had to pay for September. An hour a month mostly takes care of the bills and such.

The kids are excited about "lunch for dinner" now. They also want "dinner for breakfast," but I think I will pass on that one.

It's HOT today. When we got back from our bike ride (which seemed pretty hot for 10am) the A/C was already on. Oh boy, is that a bad sign! We've been squeaking by with only really turning it on in the evenings. I've felt rather trapped inside all afternoon. Blech!

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

I am trying to enjoy the slowness of our next couple of weeks.

It occurs to me, as I pay the bills, that fall clothes shopping will be upon us soon. (Um yeah, that's probably why I have largely ignored Back-to-School shopping. Haven't tried on the kids' fall wardrobes yet. IT's only 100 degrees).

Halloween is just around the corner, and all the rest of those holidays. IT will be busy and though we aren't big spenders when it comes to the Holidays, there are always MORE expenses to contend with during that time of year.

& we had a blast!

This was our cabin (there were 3 rooms and we had 2 of them - with our parents)


This was really the only river access at camp, which was a bummer (San Jose camp had river running right through camp and way more swimming holes, etc.) This turned out to be the only thing we liked less than San Jose camp though - Sac wins in all other areas...


Some hiking views




Our excursion to South Lake Tahoe


A little bit of snow still left








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

Things we liked better about San Jose Camp:

Location. Couldn't beat the campground itself AND we were right on the edge of Yosemite.

Also, kind of missed sleeping more in the outdoors (the tent cabins weren't 100% shelter - more fresh air)

Things we liked better about Sacramento Camp:

*Actual cabins - I didn't even see one bug inside. LEss bug bites - warmer at night.

*HOT showers - their showers were so much cleaner and hotter

*Playground for the kids

*SO MANY kids activities - the kids made a lot of friends and BM was able to be rather independent

*I think the food was slightly better

*Lake Tahoe is considerably warmer than the rivers around Yosemite. So better swimming, though it was a bit of a drive. We guessed water was closer to 65-70 degrees at the lake, whereas rivers run temps in the low 50s.

*I almost forgot - the weather!!!! IT was about 75 during the day and 55 at night. At the beach it probably hit 80 - which was just perfect. Could have gone all week without a sweater, but it never got hot either. DIVINE!

*We didn't need our parents so much since the kids could go off and do their own things while we did ours. This will be a bigger benefit when both kids are older. & they definitely enjoyed doing kid things while we did grown up things. BM did archery, went on a hike, etc. LM did some arts and crafts, some games, and went bug catching, etc. We all did tie-dye shirts. The adults went on quite a few hikes (sometimes with the kids).

Though we liked the location slightly less, it wasn't half bad. Obviously we had some pretty awesome views.

The cabins and facilities were comfortable enough that we are strongly considering a full week next year. (I couldn't last more than 3 nights on a cot in a tent cabin, alternately - that was pretty much my limit last year).

I am quite sure we will return to San Jose camp someday - it was so beautiful - but I think we will most likely become Camp Sac regulars.

The half week ran about $500, and a full week runs about $1k. LM will be out of preschool next year though and we will be able to save a little more to our vacation fund.

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

Yesterday was a little bit crazed. We got home in the morning, but came home to guests visiting from the mid-west. We cleaned up and did laundry while trying to be nice hosts too. My dad had a vertigo spell and went to emergency (he is fine - we were worried he was having another stroke, etc. But was just vertigo - a complication from his stroke apparently).

So half the fam headed to emergency and clearly my relatives wanted to eat in. So I ran to the store and grabbed some food for a double batch of burritos. Picked up some watermelon on sale. Had a rather impromptu meal, but was good!

The emergency room here never particularly seems to be full, and that held true as they got in and out rather fast and were able to join us for dinner.

Lots of dishes, etc.

My mom slipped me $60 for food which was nice - I think we spent $80 between that and ordering in sandwiches for lunch. & well, we now have a TON of leftovers.

We watched the neighbors set off a few fireworks, and collapsed in bed pretty early. They left early since they had a 2-hour drive.

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

Which reminds me, I think we spent $10 at camp. Parking at the beach was $7. We spent maybe $3 on ice cream and sodas. It is mostly all-inclusive, which was nice.

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

Today I don't want to do much - I am so exhausted from yesterday! At least all the laundry is clean. Phew. We were so filthy when we got home yesterday. Ah, but we had FUN!

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

The kids' party is this week. Thankfully, not much planning involved. I'll make cupcakes the night before and pick up balloons at the party store next door to Chuck E Cheeses, on the way over there.

Dh already bought 250 tokens on sale (a couple of trips with coupons).

For the "family party" at our house, we have been collecting Round Table Pizza coupons. We have got a lot of large coupons lately.

It is certainly easier to keep costs down in this economy. Coupons are more abundant than usual.

I had the BEST weekend. Just one of those weekends where I am so happy where my life has landed.

I also posted the other day about our relative who paid $600k+ for their home. I have mentioned before, but we know so many people who truly believe it is worth having a $500k+ mortgage to simply live in the Bay Area. After moving away about 8 years ago, dh and havn't quite *gotten* it in a LONG time. This was one of those weekends where I feel extra bad for those people. You think they are happy with those massive mortgages? We don't know any of them who are happy.

Anyway, it was literally 110 degrees yesterday. Obviously, I have acclimated.

So what was so great about yesterday?

BM and I went on a bike ride. We got a later start than I preferred. I Was kind of antsy to drive to some more of the bike paths, etc., but decided on its virgin run, to just stay in the neighborhood. Not sure how much I trusted the quality of the Wal Mart assembly of the bike. We checked it over real good and checked the tire pressure, and off we went.

First, LOVED the bike.

Second, it was probably already 80+ when we went outside to ride, but it wasn't so bad.

We had a blast. The bad side is I am wondering if I should get BM a bike with gears now. I felt bad him working so hard on his bike, and mine was a breeze (I have 21 working gears now). Well, thoughts for another time.

Next time we will probably ride earlier (or later) in cooler weather.

After the bike ride we went down to the pool. We didn't get there until 11. Again, later than I preferred. Not a lot of shade there. But knew it would feel refreshing. So we swam for about an hour.

I "sunbathed" in the shade and it wasn't too bad. We were lazy and drove over. Hell if I Walking in that weather.

But yeah, while I Was relaxing in the shade I noticed all but one or 2 adults (many people) were sunbathing in the sun. I was thinking they were completely out of their minds. You know, it was only 100 degrees or so at that hour. ????? Crazy people.

After that we holed up inside the rest of the day, as the temps did climb to 110. But, no complaints. I was pleased we were able to enjoy so much outdoor time and it wasn't that bad at all.

If nothing else I LOVE my bike. Did I mention that I love my bike?

I come to work today glad I don't have a $500k mortgage. Life is good!

I truly feel with our LCOL moved that we have made life so much simpler and better, all around. Whereas most of our friends and relatives would NEVER consider moving because the Bay Area "is the place to be." It's just so different from the outside looking in.

On the other hand, if those people stop moving up here, life is even better. So maybe I should just keep mum and enjoy it.

-------

Anyway, pics from my weekend.

Sunflower field we passed on the way to our playdate Saturday. Picture doesn't do it justice:



& you can see downtown in the distance. Not sure I can ever get across how "best of both worlds we have." Easy to pretend we live in the middle of nowhere, though downtown is a 5-minute drive.



Our current favorite bike ride destination. That lovely desolate park I have posted pics of before - we love to picnic there (it's surrounded by abandoned home lots).

Um, I have never really noticed this "statue" before. It's pretty neat.



& a glimpe of our pool (& the crazy people). IT's like a giant puzzle piece - a kiddie pool circle - attached to a rectangular, deeper lap pool.

IF we get there before 11, any day, it's all ours. We got a late start and this was closer to noon. Frankly, never seen it so crowded at noon, but wasn't surprised with the high temps. (It usually gets PACKED after 5 on weekdays, etc. & weekend afternoons).



Yes, somehow we survive all this un-desirableness.

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

Hmmm, did I also mention I am loving my new camera phone?

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

I made the peach mango smoothie again and came out better (thicker and less sweet):

Updated Smoothie recipe:

Peach-Orange-Mango Smoothie

8 oz peach yogurt
1/2 can mango-orange concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup frozen mango pieces
1 frozen banana (peel and chop before freezing)

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

I work 2 days this week, but feels like vacation. I am in such vacation mode...

I am so... exhausted...

So much for a relaxing staycation. LOL.

It turned out to be 96 degrees the day we went to the water park.

We had drama because, lord knows why, I took my favorite bag there. I actually left it sitting out in the open on a chair by a walking path - and as I walked away I thought to myself, I should have covered it with a towel - or put it on a chair further from the path at least. BUT, as I mentioned, their lockers were insane and we brought our water wallet. I was not stupid enough to leave anything valuable in there so I didn't really think much about it.

It wasn't until the end of the day that I realized my bag was gone. & of course I felt REALLY stupid for leaving it out. Duh! & I was of course really upset about this because it is my favorite bag! (Not valuable - just a fave I guess - I got it for like $5!).

Anyway, I then realized my CLOTHES were in the bag. Yeesh. This really upset me so I started looking around the ground and checking the trash cans. I figured it couldn't have gone far since there was nothing valuable in it.

I didn't expect much but was glad to see a security guard rounding up stray purses, etc. I thought there was a chance we would find it that day before we left. So we went in search of lost and found, and found it. Someone had rifled through it and tossed it aside, right nearby. If I had noticed sooner I might have just found it myself.

The security was very excited about this and wanted to know about everything I lost, etc. I looked in the bag and said, "Well, I didn't leave anything valuable in there. Everything is still there."

They almost seem disappointed - yeesh. I guess they are used to lecturing people about leaving their purses lying around.

IT was annoying though. If they are really that concerned about it, why do they charge $20 for lockers? (YES, $20 for FAMILY lockers. Teeny tiny lockers were $8). I remember griping when lockers were like $1.50. Now, I wish. I mean they are so concerned that you don't leave your valuables out, but they want to completely rip you off in the process.

Anyway, I felt very lucky to get all my stuff back. Yay! Could have really put a damper on the day. Next time I will leave my clothes in the car - yeesh. I was so concerned about our "valuables" that I didn't think much about how valuable my clothes and my bag were to ME. & my sunscreen. Easily $50+ to replace it all. Phew!!!!

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

The good side is this water park seemed to have little for either of the kids. The San Jose one has WAY more rides for their height range, etc.

BUT, they were rather lenient and BM was able to ride MOST of the rides. HE got measured quite a few times, but they always let him through. Except for some of the more extreme rides (he tried one - thankfully the said no - mommy was happy!!!). Yeah, he is Mr. No Fear. Anyway, he was about 1/2-inch shy, so he was lucky to get on as many slides as he did.

Which reminds me - was plenty of people there, but really not much line for any slide. We spent about 3 hours and it was perfect. LM, very fearful, was losing patience with the place. HE enjoyed the wave pool but got bored after a while, etc.

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

We went to Gilroy Gardens Friday. The place was EMPTY, which was kind of sad. I know it has struggled much. It made me relieved that we made it there - I am not sure how long that place will really stay open. I am sure the economy is not helping!

They were unfortunately, much more strict on the height there - shoes and all. BM really wanted to ride the mushroom swing, and they wouldn't let him on.

Maybe next year!

Though he could pretty much ride everything else - it is more of a little kid park.

Anyway, it was SO HOT there. Weather predicted 80 and I was looking forward to our good fortune.

Between the hours of 1-4 I felt like I was melting. I kept commenting it felt more like 100. I wasn't surprised to see it had been 92 degrees. Ugh! We had tried to avoid a HOT day there. Just our luck I guess.

So the weather was not so nice to us.

& I don't think I have been this tan since I was 16. LOL. I kept getting comments from family when we visited them yesterday. I have always had a dark skin tone, but with age I have lightened up. I guess give me a week outside in 90 degree+ heat, and this is what happens.

Well, here are some pictures from Gilroy Gardens.





Oh yeah - and this one is at the river by our house - we splurged on dinner on the river to start my staycation, last Friday.



Well, today I am RECOVERING. & doing laundry, etc., etc.

We are trying to be nice to dh but we have no food in the house and he is grocery shopping. No, I didn't volunteer! We will let him relax the rest of the day.

These are pictures off dh's phone. I was surprised by the quality on some.

Also found these...

Sourdough bread store in San Francisco:





We saw the Weiner Mobile a few months back:



LM's favorite Fry's store. (He is train crazy. Dh is Fry's crazy).



{My cell phone has a camera, but we have no (cheap) way to get them off. Quality sucks anyway - it is a 4-year-old phone. I think this is our official first cell phone camera picture download}.

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/03/windup_key_for.php



Teehee. Saw one of these on the road today.

I had to do a double take.

Just got back and had a few pics to share, below.

We went to San Jose Family Camp, which is owned and run by the city of San Jose. We don't live there, but are from there and I guess if you are willing to pay a premium you can generally go to any family camp. I HIGHLY recommend if you have kids, and a local family camp. We just had a blast!!!!

We went with my dh's parents and my dad (my mom is just not a travel or camping type).

We had 2 tent cabins right next to each other.

What PRIME real estate!! We were a 20 mile drive from the west entrance into Yosemite. I don't think we could have stayed anywhere else so close for half the cost, so we were very pleased in that regard as well.

So MANY activities for the kids (moreso BM than LM unfortunately, but will be right up his alley next year).

The food was hit and miss, but there was PLENTY.

We paid around $600 for the 5 of us (paid for my dad) and that was about it. We needed about one tank of gas and we treated everyone to ice cream in Yosemite. Otherwise all the meals were provided. I think I spent $2 on sodas. It was a very "frugal" vacation in that regards. We were penalized because we were non-residents, so did pay more. But without my dad we would have paid less than $500, for the 3 nights. So not bad. Included, food, tent, activities, everything.

Oh yes, entrance fee to Yosemite was $20, but someone else paid. We all took one vehicle. & the shuttle there was awesome (free). So $20 to get in 7 people was NOT bad. The ice cream was very reasonable - came to $12 or something for the 7 of us as well.

Anyway, for now, I leave you with pictures... I have about 10 loads of laundry to do (dirt dirt dirt) and I return to work tomorrow.

P.S. We did get our stimulus and do I added $1800 to my savings on the left columns. $1k of it washed out the taxes I owed 4/15 and $800 went directly to our mid-term savings. May pull some out for car repairs.

Taking dh's car to the shop Friday - we could not fix ourselves since the battery (& connecting wires, etc.) were so corroded - will get some help.

Wouldn't you know, just as we packed up and started driving out to Yosemite, my car had a "check engine" light pop up. It was some other light we looked up and it said in the handbook "probably does not need towing - is a simple thing that needs fixing. Service soon." (in so many words, anyway). When we got to camp (made it - phew!) the electronic door locks stopped working AGAIN so that was all we could figure. So we have car issues to straighten out this week and next... Should have the van checked as well to make sure it is nothing more than the locks. Just glad we made it back without a tow. Both our vehicles are in limbo for today...

Anyway, the pics as promised...

Here was most of the view from our camp. Just in love with the place...



Looking down on swimming hole with water fall. This was a 20-minute trek from camp (complete with rattle snakes!!). But might as well have been Hawaii - was gorgeous.



BTW - I was the only adult to brave the cold water. Yes, it is melted snow. No, it really isn't any colder than the Pacific Ocean (more north by us anyway). So I didn't find it to be so bad. IT was hot so the water was refreshing. The rest of my group were wusses.

& Yosemite. There are no words...

I had gone once as a teen (maybe 15 years ago?)

Just WOW!

I had LM duty, and wasn't exactly feeling up to a big hike, so we took an easy "hike" to the lower falls. Was gorgeous, regardless.



& Half Dome:



All this, 4 hours from our driveway...

BM and grandpa, and dh did the Vernal Falls hike, which is the lower part of the Half Dome trek. (3 hours but BM is a major hiker - he tired out about the last 15 minutes so that one was exactly his speed).

I didn't get any pictures of the Vernal Falls (they hiked to the top of the waterfall) since I had LM and the camera. But having grandpa is like having a professional photographer wherever you go. I will no doubt have some breathtaking shots to share once I get copies of his pictures. As such, I Really didn't take many pictures this trip.

We figure we will make this an annual tradition for our family. In fact, I have said many times we aren't big vacation people. Though these last few years have been rather odd in that regard for us (vacation vacation vacation - with retiring parents who like to travel). But for now we have no plans for next year and I would just love to do a half week there again. (I don't think I am tough enough to camp much longer than 3 or 4 nights - hehe. Glad to be home and have a real shower...) But we should sign up for next year as early as possible, and hit early June when the waterfalls are still strong and the weather isn't so hot.

I think if we never vacationed anywhere else, I would be content.

But, for now it's back to reality...

Oh yeah, it is a bad sign when you have to turn on the a/c in April. Yikes. It was a hot weekend and we waited it out, but last night it was up to 85 in the house so I turned on the ac for a bit to cool off the upstairs for the kids, before bed. Good move since I later opened the window but the neighbors were LOUD last night, and quickly closed the window - hehe. The 10-15 minutes of a/c did the trick and kept the house comfortable for the night. It's 77 in here right now and quite comfortable, as long as I don't do too much work in the house. Was over 90 outside yesterday - ick. The summers where it doesn't hit 100 degrees until July, I can deal with. But sometimes it starts hitting in May, and I am getting scared it will be one of those LONG summers. Hopefully it will cool off for a bit - I really rather have 1 more month of no a/c! The electric bill has been so nice and low!

Yesterday was REALLY nice. Dh had wanted to go to the Scottish Festival, which was quite expensive really. I told him I didn't want to be too stingy and cheap, but since we are going to Monterey next weekend... So we decided to go to the zoo and Fairytale Town which we have memberships too. & you would be proud of us. We packed up a lunch. There happens to be a pond and park between the zoo and Fairytale Town and so we decided to hit FT first, stop and eat lunch ,and maybe run by the zoo for a bit - it is very small.

Anyway, the heat was a bit much as the day progressed, but overall a very cheap and fun day. Kids had a blast.

The little FT also had a promotion where they are going to put in a "yellow brick road" and you can buy an inscribed brick for $100. Would love to to so - I think that is cool. Will have to think what we want to inscribe in it. For a good cause and all.

Anyway, for the ever present truth that less is more to kids, I had to share this. Fairytale Town has a few farm animals and slides and stuff to climb in. A fancy playground I guess. But they have this thing called the "crooked mile" which is basically a little raised path that winds round and round. So when we got there I plopped down and let BM run through it about 10 times. It might as well be a fancy roller coaster as far as he is concerned - the kids just LOVE it. Dh and I have always scratched our head on that one - who knew something so simple could be like the main attraction? LOL.

Here's a glimpse:



& then where we had our picnic lunch:



& the big duck who tried to grab my food. I was a little scared of him, but started snapping his picture and he ran off - he didn't like it - LOL. I guess he was a duck - I don't know - some big fellas.



We figured we wore out the kids real good and they would nap all afternoon and maybe even sleep well at night, but the plan backfired. They went on nap strike and were extra grumpy to boot, plus we were exhausted. Oh well. Baby had another awful night. Ugh.

We actually went to the SF zoo last year once and it was quite cheap, but the food did us in. So we are thinking about it for this year - we just need to pack up a lunch and go enjoy - the zoo even has free parking. I guess gas will be the pricey part, but is such a nice zoo. All we have to do is rein in the food costs to make it a pretty affordable excursion.

I am enjoying seeing the blogs come to life with so many pictures.

WE decided to go for a walk last night and I decided against dragging along the camera, but when I stepped outside I Saw this, so ran back in for it.

Picture #4


If you look really closely, the lower right-hand corner of the clouds has a faint rainbow.

& then the sunset progressed.







For the area, not the most spectacular sky or sunset. It gets really beautiful in the evening as a rule. & the sky has just been so beautiful with a brilliant blue and puffy white clouds in recent weeks as well. But overall a pretty nice evening. We stayed out for an hour and the rain cloud seemed to shift south, stayed clear of us - phew. I got some well-needed exercise. Have to enjoy before it starts getting hotter than Hades... But even so we are lucky to be near so many water ways, it tends to cool off in the evenings with a breeze, but not always. Yup, definitely enjoying mild weather.

In other news, I think we are going to give it a test with the $10k credit card debt, 0%, to earn interest in the bank. I think we just felt uncomfortable borrowing more money than we had. No particular reason, it is just a lot of money to mess with if something goes wrong. What? I don't know really. But the original $20k seems a bit much. I think I will try to get $12k, so even as I pay down the minimums, the $10k will earn interest. Dh has been firmly against investing our e-fund at all as is, but now he is like, maybe we should invest a bit. Is he crazy? LOL. We can take the money we earn from it and invest it - fine. Sometime I just don't know. Why look over a 5% "sure thing"? But anyway, we already expect to earn $500 this year from our rewards card, and now maybe $500 from this little ploy. I think after we give it a try we will try for another Citi Card and see if we can get another balance transfer. I have no idea how much they will give us, but I am sure they won't blink at $10k with our credit score. I think we will open one in my name and one in dh's name just so it won't really hit either of our credit scores very hard. Frankly, in our situation, I think it will help. Anyway, I think I am a little weirded out by the idea so we'll test it and get our little $50 gift card (woohoo). & if I don't regret it and just pay it back in a couple of months - LOL - we might try to borrow a little more. Free money here we come. We have been pondering it, and I just don't feel comfortable opening a lot of cards just for promos and how it could mess with your credit score. But if we can open 1 each, play the game, and close the cards without much of a blip to our credit score, then I am in!! Which I am sure we can. I just am not sure we can do this indefinitely. So I don't want to get too used to it. But all the same I feel quite pleased at the idea of making $1k off the credit cards in 1 year. Doubling our current returns. Well, maybe even tripling if we can get 2 cards at $10k. We'll see!

Not only does CitiBank have no fees and all that, and the gift card promo, etc. BUT the best part to me is just being able to get a check deposited directly to my money market account. I still do not trust the credit card companies enough to send a big negative balance to them I guess.

If you told me a year ago I would apply for $10 cc debt, I would have thought you were insane. Oh yeah - this is going to add to my challenge money - woohoo.

Oh anyway, here is the blog where I got the idea (below). I considered it carefully because I do not necessarily agree some of this bloggers' money-making ideas. For one, I can't see myself applying for a zillion cards just for free money and promos. It has got to affect your FICO signifcantly. But we'll see. I was also reading his step-by-step guide to investing in Treasuries, which was very useful and interesting, I do have to say. But just left me not seeing the point because I can make more in my money market with a lot less effort. But I will keep in mind for when times change. So I had to look at this cc idea a little more critically, and I still think it is good as long as you don't overdue it. So while I recommend the blog overall, I wouldn't do everything the guy suggests myself. I guess a reminder to consider things very carefully when it comes to finance.

ETA: Oh, to give the guy credit he seems pretty on top of the credit score thing - I just saw more of his replies on the subject). I guess the risk is not my thing - LOL.

Yes - for Citi the fees look like they are waived on most of the promo deals for most cards right now. But I will definitely let you know how it goes - will keep you updated.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/how-to-make-money-from-0-apr-bala...