San Diego Trip

Our San Diego trip was great. It was a super long drive (we averaged 11 hours each way!) but the girls did great and we loved seeing our relatives.

We stayed at the Doubletree Club in San Diego (Hotel Circle). We got a family suite (a hotel room with a king bed and a separate room with a bunkbed for the kids). I booked the hotel on hotels.com (going through ebates for 3% back) and I sent in my rebate for $20 for staying at least 3 nights.

We saved money by eating breakfast in our room. I brought a box of cereal, some hostess donuts, some muffins that I made, and I bought some milk and juice when we got down there. One morning we went to my in-laws and ate breakfast there. We used paper cups, plates, and utensils.

We didn't eat out very much, except for when we were on the road. We were lucky to have lunches and dinners with family and friends most of the time. Otherwise, we ate some snacks that I had packed and/or bought when we got into town.

When we did order out, if I could split the kids' meals, I did. This kept the cost down. Those kids' meals are expensive! In fact, the morning we drove home, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. I ordered one order of pancakes, which had three pancakes: one for each girl. : )

One thing that helped keep our kids (and us!) sane on this trip was the Disney Songs and Story CD's. They have 5 songs from a Disney movie and then a narration of the story (about 10 to 15 minutes). It really kept my kids' attention. We didn't use videos, which I was really happy about, too. The CD's come in lots of the Disney movies and you can get them on Amazon or half.com (which is where I bought mine).

March Savings

Husband and I switched our money management over to Mint.com this month. It's nice to be able to see everything updated so quickly! We also decided that it would be best for our budget to deposit the cash that I have set aside when I use the credit card so that our numbers are a little more accurate. I deposited what I had on Monday and will get cash out on April 1st, so we'll see how it works.

This is what I was able to save this month:

• I signed up for Offermatic at the beginning of the month and they sent me two great offers: one for $15 off a $30 purchase on Amazon (hello diapers!) and another for $10 off a $20 purchase at Target. I took advantage of both of those offers, adding $25 to my vacation fund!
• My mom paid me back for the birthday cake I picked up for my grandmother's birthday last month. I decided that I'd add it to the fund since I already took it out of my grocery budget. That adds $16 to my fund.
• I got a $20 check from Toluna for completing surveys.
• $20 in cash from what I took out of last month's budget overage.

That's a grand total of: $81.00! Nice!

I did cash in my coins this month, but I decided that since I already made my bank deposit this month, I would add it in to next month's savings deposit.

So...that brings my amount saved up to $447.05. That's 3/4 of the way there!

How is your vacation savings going?

Traveling with Kids: Wine Country, Part 2

We decided to rent a house for our trip to Napa. I found ours on VRBO.com (which has listings all over the world!). Traveling with kids changes your priorities about what you need when you travel. I knew I wanted a house because:

1. I wanted the kids to sleep in a separate room from me. They sleep better that way, so everyone sleeps better that way.
2. I wanted the extra space to spread out.
3. A backyard would be a great place for the kids to play.
4. A kitchen makes it so much easier not only for meals, but also for snacks. : )
5. It's more private/you don't have to worry that your crying baby is keeping up the neighbors.
   
   
   
   

Our little house was a 2 bedroom/1 bath but it had a little sitting room with a daybed, so it kind of worked out to be 3 bedrooms for us. One of the twins slept on the daybed, the other in her own queen bed, and the baby was in a pack and play in our room.

Some vacation rentals offer extra perks, like stocking your fridge with light breakfast food. Ours didn't do that, but we did have bikes in the garage that we could take out and we also had bathrobes in the closets.

Another bonus about vacation rentals is that the owners usually love the area and know almost everything there is to know. Our owners had several binders with different subjects: where to eat, what to do, etc. Our kitchen had cookbooks, many with local flavors and recipes.

If we do decide to stay in a hotel next time, I might check out the Embassy Suites on California Ave. I drove past it on my way to the grocery store, and it looked pretty nice.

If you are going to Wine Country without kids, I must recommend staying at The Cottage in the Vines. It is a one bedroom guest house in Sonoma. The owners are so friendly and take such good care of you. They delivered breakfast outside our door each morning, which we ate out on the deck overlooking their vineyard. I was unable to find their website, so maybe they are not renting at this time, but you can email them at info@cottageinthevines.com or call 925-216-5881 for more information.

We did not eat out with the kiddos. We decided that we didn't want the headache of it, so I cannot recommend a good place to take little kids. However, I did take the kids to a place for a light lunch. It's called The Little Gourmet (A Kid's Restaurant that's Grown-up Friendly). We got to eat outside. I ordered the girls each a smoothie and we shared a Monte Cristo sandwich. (I am very particular about my Monte Cristo sandwiches. This one was okay, but not what I like in a Monte Cristo. By the way, if you've never had a Monte Cristo, my favorite place to get them is at Bennigan's.)

The first night we ordered pizza from a local place called Papa Joe's. Really good pizza and good value. We ordered a large and had lots of leftovers.

Another night I got a marinated steak from Browns Valley Market in Napa. I also got an eggplant that we grilled with the steak and some stuff to make a salad. This is a nice, locally owned store and it was nice to shop in there. They also have pre-made stuff in their deli that looked yummy and plenty of goodies to make a sandwich. I walked right past the dessert display because I knew I would blow my budget there!

There were some main stream stores not far from our house: Safeway, Target, CVS. We got most of our provisions at Safeway, which kept our costs low. There was also a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods nearby.

One place you don't need to go is Oakville Grocery. It's supposed to be this quaint little grocery with delicious sandwiches and other lunch fare. We stopped there on our way to Sonoma Train Town (which really isn't on the way to Sonoma). I went in, just the twins and me. Just inside the door, I froze: the walls were lined with glass jars filled with delectable (and expensive) vittles for your picnic basket. What was I doing in there with 2 little kids?

I quickly grabbed a sandwich in their pre-made case and an Odwalla smoothie for the girls to share. I picked up licorice from their candy section (although I didn't have any, the girls ended up not eating it and Husband threw the bag away after eating one piece) and then waited for 10 minutes to spend $15 on three big cookies. My total for this lunch? $35. Yes: thirty-five dollars. I was so frazzled with the kids in there that I didn't even blink when she handed me my receipt. I just wanted to get out of there without further incident.

So, skip Oakville Grocery and pick up a lunch for 1/3 of the price at Trader Joe's. It will be just as delicious!

Have you found any great spots to take kids out to eat in Wine Country?

Traveling with kids: Wine Country

I've been putting off my report on our trip to Napa because I could not find my camera. Lo and behold it has finally resurfaced!

Husband and I took our three little girls to Napa earlier this month. We needed a change of scenery, a break from the day-to-day. Whenever I told people we were going to Napa, they would say, "what are you going to do with the kids"? It seems that Wine Country has gotten a reputation for being an "adult only" destination. But Husband and I aren't wine drinkers, so we were looking for alternative forms of entertainment anyway.

After lots of research, I made a list of potential spots we could visit and then we just played it by ear each day. So where did we end up?

We crossed over into the Valley of the Moon and visited Sonoma Train Town, which was just perfect for our little crew. They have a scaled-down train that travels a delightful little track through tunnels (S loved that part), over bridges, and past waterfalls.

Your train ride stops part way at a little town where they have a petting zoo set up and a town that's built at half-scale.

After the train ride, we bought tickets for some of the rides (5 tickets for $10, or $2.50 each). Each ride is one ticket. I rode the ferris wheel with the twins. Let's just say that once I got to the top I realized why I wasn't so keen on riding with two wiggly two year olds! But S had been dying to ride the ferris wheel since she saw one on the Fox and the Hound 2 and when she couldn't ride the ferris wheel at the Alameda County Fair because she was too little, she was devastated.

The girls then rode a Dumbo-like airplane ride. There was also a carousel and a little roller coaster. Thomas the Train Engine fans will love the little depot where all the trains are housed.

Summary: Good for little kids (under 5 is best, but kids up to 10 would probably like it). Not too expensive at $4.50 each to ride the train (babes under 1 year are free). You can see everything in about an hour or two.

We left the Train Town and picked up some Slurpees at a 7-11, then headed towards Sonoma's town square. There's a playground and a little duck pond. The town square is my favorite thing about Sonoma. It is so cute with fun shops and restaurants, although I wouldn't take my little kids into any of them!

Another day we headed up to the tiny town of Glen Ellen to swim in Morton's Warm Springs. It is a bit of a drive, but the layout of the "resort" is nice. There are three pools: one about 6 inches deep for babes. It is big enough for lots of little ones. The second pool has a shallow end about 2 1/2 feet deep and the deep end is about 3 1/2 or 4 feet deep. One of my twins went in there with Husband and loved that she could stand up in the water. The third pool is big and deep enough for the big kids.

They have a little snack shack with your regular "shack" fare of hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream. I forgot to pack swim diapers and they had them for sale there.

Summary: It is a little bit expensive ($8 for adults, $7 for children over 1 year), but if you were going to spend the day there, it would be worth it. It is a lot less than the other natural springs pools (Calistoga is $25 per person over $1). This would be super fun for a big group with the picnic area and different pools: something for everyone at Morton's.

Other places on my list that we didn't get to this time...

Napa:

1. Napa Firefighters Museum in downtown Napa. I actually walked past this when it was closed and it looked pretty cool, though not for my under 3 crowd. I think I would wait until the kids are 5 to take them here, unless they listen when you say "don't touch". It is a very small museum, so it would be fun to stop in if you are exploring downtown with your little ones.
2. John F. Kennedy Memorial Park. I didn't get to see this, but it sounded cool. The park supposedly has lots of picnic tables and playground equipment with a trail that winds along the Napa River.

Calistoga:

1. Old Faithful Geyser. We didn't hit this one for two reasons: (1) it would have been $8 per adult and (2) we were worried about keeping our little ones far enough away from the spewing hot water. Maybe in a few years.
2. Sharpsteen Museum. A cool museum for little ones about the history of the Napa Valley with exhibits that change often. Admission is free.
3. Pioneer Park is across the street from the museum and has a gazebo, picnic tables, and climbing structures. There is also a stream to play in. It just sounded so quaint to me.

Santa Rosa:

A bit of a drive, but still considered part of wine country, we wanted to visit Santa Rosa as Husband had briefly considered a job opportunity there. We didn't get to make it this time, but I really want to check out Howarth Memorial Park. Apparently they have a playground, pony rides, petting zoo, merry go round, and miniature train. They also have a splash pad and ice cream shop, which sounds perfect for the summer time! What sounded really fun were the teepee huts and an "extensive kid-sized Old West town". We're definitely going to try to work that one in next time!

Have any of you found a great place to take kids in the Wine Country?

Tune in next week for more on where we stayed and what we ate in Wine Country!

Traveling with kids: Sacramento, part 2

Yesterday I talked about my trip to Sacramento and highlighted some fun places to take the kids. Today I'm finishing up by sharing where you could stay and some kid-friendly eating establishments, if you're planning a trip to our state's capitol.



Where to stay: There are lots of hotels in the area, with all different pricepoints. We chose to stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites in West Sacramento. Each party got a king-sized studio suite, which was very nice. We got a crib for the baby, and put it kind of in the closet, so it was out of the way and a little more quiet. The twins slept on the pull out sofa and Husband and I got to sleep in a king bed. The room had a mini-fridge, microwave, coffee maker and a little sink. It was right off the freeway, but not so close that you heard all the cars.



On the other side of the freeway, there was a large shopping center with a Super Wal-Mart and lots of restaurants, including Chipotle (which is where we got dinner one night). We almost went to the In-N-Out Burger right across the street from the hotel, too.



We spent lots of time in the swimming pool. We also enjoyed the complimentary breakfast: muffins, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, and make your own waffle (just to name a few items). The room was very nice and for less than $100/night, I thought this was a great deal.



Where to eat: Finding a kid-friendly restaurant seems to be the most difficult trick of all. I'm not an expert on Sacramento (in fact, this was my first visit there!), but I can share with you the two places we went out to eat with the kids.



Logan's Roadhouse: with the music blaring and the peanut shells on the floor, no one will complain when your kids are screaming or the make a huge mess. I ordered the half rack of ribs with a baked sweet potato. So good. In fact, probably the best ribs I've ever had. And the rolls...oh my goodness. My kids each ate a whole roll and I ate 4...and then I lost count. Warm and floury goodness, those rolls. The juke box is free and the atmosphere is laid back.



Kids' menu: I ordered mac & cheese for one of the twins and chicken tenders for the other with french fries and cinnamon apples (I split these between the two). They got milk to drink. The girls ate a decent amount, but it was a little hard to concentrate with so much going on.



Joe's Crab Shack: This was the most fun I've had at a restaurant in a long time. There's loud music (again) and this location (in Old Sacramento) had an awesome view of the river. I ordered the snow crab (with garlic and herbs), which comes with new potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a little bit of work, especially with the kidlets getting antsy, but it was so, so good. And be sure to try the Crazy-Good Crab Dip. It definitely lives up to its name.



Kids' menu: I liked the selection on their kids' menu. I ordered Cheesy Mac for one twin(again...hey, she loves cheesy noodles) and pizza for the other with applesauce for both this time and milk to drink. The portions were plenty big enough for big kids. My hungry little one ate almost the whole huge piece of pizza! I fed some of the applesauce to the tiny babe.



We were there a long time. It was a little slow because it was 4th of July weekend on Saturday at lunchtime. The servers danced twice, which was really fun. My brother-in-law and I actually got up to join them for part of the second song. Definitely some good times!

Traveling with kids: Sacramento

Two weeks ago, my brother met up with our family in Sacramento for a mini-reunion. Since our group had four kids 4 and under (plus 2 babies), we decided to make it a "kid-focused" trip.

Our first stop was Fairytale Town. I was really excited about this little place. Size-wise, it was perfect for our group. We didn't get separated too easily and when we did, it was fairly easy to track the others down. We arrived right before closing time, although they will let you stay an hour after closing time if you are already in the park. My sister had a coupon for 20% off that she printed from the Entertainment Book, and all but one of the kids were free, so our group got in for a pretty good price.

The downside to going at closing time is that all the animals had already been put away. Bummer. We could peek at a few of them in their cages, but that wasn't quite as exciting.

The biggest hit of the park? There were two: the treehouse slide, which my nephew desperately wanted to tackle head first, and the Crooked Mile. My girls walked that crooked mile half a dozen times and were not one bit tired of it!

Summary: Great for little kids (under 5). Perfect price, especially for going with bigger groups. You can easily see everything in about an hour or so, perfect for those short attention spans.

The next day we hit the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento. We didn't get in to the museum because the train was leaving. It's an actual train that takes you on a 40 minute ride along the river. We were on the first train of the day and it was a little crowded, but nice to be able to just sit. All the kids were good about staying in their seats. The train does stop at the halfway point and turn around, so you're free to get up and walk around during that stretch, which is good for the kids.

Old Sacramento is so cute. They have lots of different shops (especially candy shops) and even in the heat of the day, the shaded sidewalks are nice to walk down. We stopped to get an ice cream bar from one of the stores as we took in the sights.

Summary: A must see. Great for all ages. You can gauge this to suit your budget. Train rides are $9 per person, with kids under 5 free and kids 6-17 for $4. The same prices apply to a visit to the museum. Even if you don't ride the train, it's fun to walk around downtown and see the train leaving from the depot. Several people are dressed in period costume, which is always fun. There is paid parking at the nearby garage, but several stores and restaurants offer validation.

Tune in tomorrow for more on my Sacramento trip, including where to stay and eat.