What I Didn't Do on My Summer Vacation

 Last year I told you all about what I did on my summer vacation.  I told you in gratuitous detail about how I packed more efficiently, how I planned cheap and healthy travel snacks and entertained kids on a long drive, how I kept track of my kids in big crowds, and every other detail of my finely tuned, super cheap, ultra fun, big family vacation.

Now I'd like to tell you about this year. This year we went to Silverwood. If the ads are true, it's the largest amusement park in the Pacific Northwest! We have been before, but we haven't gone in a few years. Our kids really love it (and two of them get free tickets from school!) so we decided this year we were going to go back. When we got our tax return in March, I set aside $500 (250 for tickets, 150 for gas, and 50 for food or whatever else) to fund this adventure. And then we waited for summer.

The park is about 3 hours from our house and less than an hour from my sister's house. We usually drive up and stay with my sister the night before so we don't have to drive the day of. Mid summer we finally decided on a date to go, and put it on our calendar for the following week.  The night before we left I made several short lists of what we needed.

An overnight bag for the first night at my sister's house with pajamas and one change of clothes.

A day bag for the park with swimsuits, towels, a change of clothes, cash, and a camera.

A bag with Sunday clothes because my niece was getting baptized the week we were up there visiting.

And one additional bag with two outfits each and all of our toiletries to get us through any extra days we might decide to spend at my sister's.

In the morning I set out four big bags and posted these lists on the front door.  Each bag corresponded to one of the four lists.  Then I told my kids to pack, and I walked away.  I WALKED AWAY.  Not all my kids can read well yet, but I was betting on the assumption that they could ask each other for help.  Around noon, I loaded the four bags into the van and we drove away.  WE DROVE AWAY.

Notice what I didn't do here:

I didn't pack the night before.
I didn't pack for my kids at all.
I didn't tell them what colors to wear so we could all match and stay together at the park.
I didn't double check their bags before we left.
I didn't get games or activities for the car ride.
I didn't round up healthy snacks for the trip.
I didn't pre-fill the car with gas.

So after about three blocks we realized it was time to stop for gas.  We pulled up to Maverick and while my husband filled up the tank, I bought all the kids ice cream cones.  Yup!  Three blocks from the house and I'm already buying the kids expensive gas station treats.  Why?  Because I can.  Because four months ago I put aside money for this specific purpose.  So it seems spontaneous and fun to the kids, but it still feels very practical and in-control to my miserly little heart.

Then we drove the three hours to my sister's house with only minimal complaining.  The little kids were a tad disappointed when they realized we weren't actually going to the park that day (apparently I hadn't explained this point very well).  But I solved their complaints by telling them to, "Get Over It."  At my sister's house I learned that she had a few discount tickets, so I bought them from her which gave us a little extra fun money to spend at the park.

The next day we went to the park.  In the past when we have gone, we have always brought Grandma or Grandpa with us.  This helps us to be able to split up the big kids from the little kids so that everyone can go on the rides they want.  This was the first year that my husband and I were going it alone.  We figured our little kids were almost tall enough to go on a lot of the big kid rides so we could probably stay together most of the time.

In the past, we have also had a great schedule of how we break up our day in the park, including a time-out in the middle of the day to walk back to the parking lot and eat our sack lunches in the car.

This year we stuck mostly to the same schedule since it has worked so well in the past for getting us on the most rides possible, but we cut out the part of the day where we go back to the car to eat.  This year we planned to eat in the park.  Eat in the Park!  My kids have never eaten in the park.

  We spent the morning riding on all the rides that our whole family could enjoy.  The very first ride they went on, however, is one that makes me barf every time.  So while they were whirling and tilting, I went and bought an over-priced slushee.  Yup!  It's ten in the morning and I bought myself a slushee!

Okay, so maybe the slushee was more for the kids than for me.

After a few hours of family rides we headed to the roller coasters.

One of our oldest girls is not a fan of roller coasters (she almost died on one three years ago, but that's another story.  Actually, it's one of many stories.  Our family has a long history of almost dying on coasters.  We don't seem to be able to use seat belts effectively, and riding without seat belts has been known to cause death.  Honestly I'm not sure why anyone in our family still rides roller coasters.  I personally have nightmares from all our near misses.  But I digress...).  So our non-coaster riding daughter offered to take our littlest kids to the kiddie rides while the rest of us went to ride some scarier rides.  About an hour into this portion of our adventure we got a text from our daughter saying she'd been stung by a bee.  We were next in line to get on a ride, but stepped out of line and left to go find her. Cause that's what good parents do, right?

We decided this might be a good time to stop and eat, so we gave her directions to meet us at a restaurant inside the park.  At the restaurant we got her some ice, and she seemed to be okay (other than a completely sore, itchy, and swollen arm).  At the restaurant, we bought food for everybody.  Not just three little meals to split between the seven of us.  Everyone got their own food.  EVERYONE GOT THEIR OWN FOOD.  We ended up with more food than we could eat, so we stuffed the leftovers into our bag for later (no matter how spontaneous I'm feeling, we don't throw away food.  That's just not right).

After eating, we went to spend a few hours at the water park side of the park.  The little kids got bored long before the big kids were ready to leave.  So I bought them ice cream cones.  Yup!  More ice cream!  On our way out of the water park, we stopped in the gift shop.  The kids had brought their own money from home, so they each bought something for themselves.

 

By this point it was getting cooler, so we changed into our dry clothes and long pants and headed back to ride a few more rides.  Two hours before the park closes we always ask our kids to choose one ride they really want to go on.  Then we make sure that everyone gets at least one last ride on their favorite ride.  As this two-hour whirlwind of fun starts to wind down, it is already dark out, and the rides are all closing.  But the kids are just getting wound up, and as luck would have it all the booths and stores are still open.

I normally keep all the money in my own pockets on a trip like this (because I am a control freak when it comes to money), but this year I let my husband hold most of the cash.  I Let My Husband Hold the Money!  So as the night wound down, and the kids wound up, and there were no rides left to ride.... my husband started spending.  He never said it out loud, but I could tell his goal was to leave the park without a penny left in our pockets (don't worry, the gas money to get home was safely tucked away somewhere else).   So the kids started playing games in booths.  Hit a balloon; win a prize.  My husband bought them all glow-in-the-dark gear.  They didn't even have time to ask for anything since he was so busy asking them, "Do you want to play this?  Do you want to buy this?"  And did I stop him?  No.  I went and bought a giant soda and two elephant ears.  We left the park with our arms full of toys and our bellies full of sugar.  And it felt great.

It felt great because we set aside money ahead of time for this purpose, so there was no risk of overspending.  We could have as much fun as our money could buy.  And then we went home.  Could we do this every year?  Probably not.  Our kids are used to being frugal. They are used to eating sack lunches and buying clearance-priced souvenirs.  They are very cautious little spenders.  So when we took off all restraint and let them go wild, they were still good.  They still took turns.  They shared their prizes.  They didn't whine for things that were out of our price range.  They weren't brats.  If we lived like this every day, they probably would be.  But we don't, and so they aren't.

So what didn't I do on my summer vacation?  I didn't stress.  I didn't over plan.  I didn't micro-manage.  I didn't nit-pick or penny pinch.  I didn't act like scrooge.  I set broad boundaries around our activies and let everyone (including myself) play, eat, spend, and behave freely within those guidelines.  And we had fun.  I had fun.  I HAD FUN!

Soaked to the bone from riding down Thunder Canyon.

Marcia