Back from our trip....

Happy Easter, to those who celebrate this holiday.  And Happy Passover, to those that celebrate THAT holiday!

We had a WONDERFUL trip to Sesame Place.  I am 200% happy that we did it.  The kids are old enough now that they will remember alot of it, and they had a blast.  And we had a blast watching them.

Traffic was horrible on our way out of town.  What should have been a 3-hour drive was almost 6 hours.  We were all tired by the time we got to the hotel, but we let the kids blow off some steam in the heated indoor pool.  Only one fight between G-man and I in the car....a record for us!

The weather held out for Sesame Place.  It was cool, but no rain (as was predicted).  Bossy had a major meltdown before we even entered the park, and we were concerned that was going to set the tone for the day.  But luckily we came up with a game plan that worked and he came around.  Basically, we did a few things, then saw a show (the park offered 3 different shows, plus a parade!).  This worked great for us, and we all enjoyed ourselves.  Bossy loved the roller coaster, and Sassy loved climbing on the netscape.

If we had not gone for this special event, there is no financial way we could have done this.  Tickets to get into the part are $56 EACH.  So our family would be $224 just to get into the park.  No way we could do this.  Instead, we paid $25 for parking ($20 of it went to the charity that sponsored the event), and we made an additional $5 donation.  $30 well spent.   AND....we got the third closest parking spot to the entrance. .....Kaching!

We spent $207 on the hotel, which was a bargain.  Breakfast was included, and the hotel was packed with amenities.  If we go to the event again, we will definitely stay here again.

Food....we all know that deal.  It is ALWAYS more expensive.  Next time we would probably leave the park to get lunch (or bring something with us).  It was over $40 for lunch, and it wasn't even that good, or that much food.  We went out to dinner Friday night, and again...it was very pricey for what we got.  Lessons learned.

We spent about $100 over our budget...and that was on souvenirs.  I bought my friend something as a thank you for taking care of our pets while we were gone, and then something for the kids....$51 total.  Then I got this:

It is a picture using our handprints.  When the kids were little, their nursery was done in lambs....so we did a family of sheep.  It was sort of symbolic of our new start, having all 4 of us together.  A little pricey ($42), but I am glad we did it.  It will go in our family room, and we will be able to remember our great weekend.

Now that we are home...it is back to business as usual.  We have decided to pay off the car in May, and will require even less money than we thought.  Student loan #2 will be paid off this week!  And then we have to tackle the credit cards....I would love to pay off CC1 (again.....*sigh*) before my student loans go up in 6 months.  G-man is putting in for overtime, and all that will go to debt.

We have a plan....hopefully it will work!!!