How $20 Has Saved my Sanity This Summer.

I knew when school got out in May that this had the potential to be a bad legislative year-a new govenor combined with a HUGE budget defecit- which ment that our vacation plans were in total and complete limbo. We don't do too much in the way of vacationing. We take one trip each year, almost always up to Huntsville, Utah, usually over the 4th of July. So with the melt-your-face-off heat of summer on our horizon and no break in sight, I had to figure out a way to survive the summer hibernation with 4 kids.

We've tried to go swimming at Nana and Papa's house 1-2 times a week, and that's helped. We bought our first (and maybe last) ever summer movie passes-10 movies for $7/person. But the real saver for this summer has been the dollar crafts from Michael's and JoAnn's. The kids have loved having a craft/art project to look forward to each day. From glueing foam to more foam to painting watercolor dinosaurs/pirates/butterflies to folding paper into cars/balls/boats to play-doh, it has been well worth the $20 investment.

It has gone so well, in fact, that we have a few crafts left over. We plan on taking those with us to Hunstville for the kids to do next week. If there's time, of course. The weather forcast calls for lows in the mid-50's and highs in the mid-80's, we plan on spending every waking moment outside for the next 9-10 days. We'll be really easy to spot, ours will be the kids in jeans and sweatshirts at the park. Hey, our temps last week were lows in the mid/upper 90's and highs in the 115 range, that's a 30-50 degree temp change. I can hardly wait.