Cleveland Rocks!

Bob had a "business" trip (aka. golf outing) in Cleveland on Friday. We decided that since we have a Toledo Zoo membership (thank you, Mamaw & Grandpa!) and Cleveland Zoo has a reciprocal deal, we would all go down. We loaded up the car on Thursday night and off we went. We stopped at a truck stop outside of Toledo for dinner and let Raegan get whatever she wanted. Yes, you guessed it, she had pancakes! Then off we went to Cleveland.

Once we were checked in and ready to go to our room, we discovered that Gavin does not really like elevators! Every time we stopped, he would grab on to us for dear life! We got settled and headed out to tour the hotel. Raegan wanted to go swimming right away and convinced her daddy to take her down there.

Friday morning, we dropped Bob off at work and headed out to the zoo - thank God for GPS!! It was so nice to see a different zoo with different exhibits. Raegan really wanted to see the frogs, but then chickened out when we were ready to go in. It was so hot that day and Gavin was pretty scared of the animals so it was a fairly short visit. We walked around, had lunch (which included ice cream!) and Raegan was ready to go before we even saw anything. She was able to swim again that night and then we headed home early Saturday morning.

It was so nice to have a mini vacation!

Having fun in the "D" with Daddy

Dad took Raegan and Gavin to the GM River Days downtown on Sunday. (Raegan calls it ‘The D’) Molly was volunteering at the Little People of America conference at the Ren Cen so I took advantage of the good weather and the festivities going on the riverfront. The kids had the chance to do some crafts, see the Coast Guard do a mock rescue with divers, helicopters, and even the Detroit Fire Department Fire Boat. They toured GM's new line of hybrid vehicles and rode the carousel. The photo where Raegan is looking extra unhappy- she lost a battle with the GM fountain. The fountain consists of about 500 nozzles that turn on/off at various intervals. The nozzles spray as low as a trick or as high as about five feet. Both kids were amazed by this concept so I let them run loose through the fountain (along with about 100 other kids). Raegan was admiring the fountain when it shrank to just a trickle. Suddenly, like a defensive tackle, a little boy came running out of nowhere and knocked her belly first onto the nozzle. As she fell the fountain cycled to full force as she lay on top of the nozzle. Water shot out from all sides of her and I thought I saw her lift in the air. She was soaked from head to toe and had a badly scrapped knee.

I stripped her down and wrung out her shirt, skirt, and underwear on the spot (no, she wasn't naked- I did it in a way that kept her modesty). A quick trip to the first aid tent, a nice EMT, and hugs from daddy made everything right again. Took her on another ride on the carousel to dry her off and then headed home. Overall a great day!

Molly's Money Saving Mania

Lately, I have become quite the economic grocery shopper. In this economy I am going to try to help any friends that would like to cut their grocery budget. I know that not everything will work for everybody, but this is what works for our family.

1. First off, we get the Sunday paper, so I clip all of the coupons of any product that I MAY use. I then file them by category in my coupon organizer. One thing that is really important to save money is to not care about brand name. Now there are some things, like JIF peanut butter, that I buy no matter what, but overall, we don't really care about the brand.

2. I joined the Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com/) signing up for Kroger and Meijer. I look at the list weekly and will pick up products are we will use won't expire before we would use them but I do a big grocery shopping trip every 3 to 4 weeks. I have a large stockpile downstairs. We didn't start seeing a huge savings right away, but we are now enjoying this large stockpile. If you join this game, be sure to read the rules. She explains about the grocery sale cycle and will let you know when to use your coupons to maximize your savings. One thing to mention here is TRUST THE LIST!! She has a lot of unadvertised specials in there. So, if there is no sign in the grocery store, pay attention when you check out because there is more than likely an unadvertised special! I have found a couple of great ones!

3. I check this web sites daily. http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ She has some great recipes and money saving ideas. She also gives great advice on how to take advantage of the CVS sales. She posts a couple of times a day about freebies and sales. She also links to other sites that are useful.

4. I check all of these coupon web sites and print as many as it will let me of the products that we would use. They are usually updated every couple of weeks.
http://coupons.smartsource.com//index.aspx?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO
http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10
http://www.redplum.com/pages/Grocery.aspx

5. I load my Kroger card with coupons from these sites. I always load all of them on because they are free and who knows when you may need something. You can use these ecoupons along with a manufacturer coupon so you can get really good deals!
http://www.softcoin.com/Sites/Unilever_MakingLifeBetter/Page/HomePage/
http://www.softcoin.com/Sites/PG_eSAVER/Page/HomePage/
http://shortcuts.com/

6. I also plan a menu, usually 3-4 weeks worth, after seeing what deals I can get the week I need to go shopping. I will use my stockpiled stuff to stretch the food farther and to fill in meals. I also try to plan that we get take out only once a month. Then I type out my menu and type a grocery list. This way I can go through the recipes and make sure I will have all of the ingredients that I need.

I know that this seems like a lot, but it really isn't that time consuming! Happy money saving!

Sittin' Out Here Watching Airplanes...as VIPs

Molly and I made an executive decision to take the kids to the Red Bull Air Races downtown over the weekend. Molly packed up lunches/drinks for the crew and we were off. The event has been sold out for sometime and our friend, Bob Krompatic, and his wife, Deb, had a boat slip downtown for the event. They invited us to the 'party' and we agreed to truck the kids downtown to watch the air race qualifying events.

Upon arrival, Bob told us he had a 'hook up' at GM and we might have good seats. Within the hour we were being whisked away by the RenCen Police department in a Cadillac Escalade to a private party. We kept on being referred to as 'VIPs'. We arrived at the main parking garage and the officers helped us unload the kids, gave us a bunch of bottled water, and escorted us to the top of the structure. The officers talked with the security guards manning the door. After a few glances from them and a few seconds of thinking "there is no way we are getting in"... we were let in. Not too sure who they said we were, but they bent over backwards to make sure we were accommodated.

As we watched all of the GM executives mingle, we blended into the crowd and let the Raegan and Gavin play. The rooftop was equipped with astro-turf and was not a 'parking' area at all, but more of a urban park on top of a parking garage. The views of the riverfront were spectacular and I for one was pumped up to see the air race.

After cooking out in the sun for over 2 hours, the race was called off because of high winds. In the mean time, a few 'side' acts flew by. The f-14 that did a low pass along the river got the attention of Raegan & Gavin- with Raegan looking at me saying "holy cow dad...that was LOUD!!". Gavin was more intrigued by the old Navy Corsair doing some maneuvers and never took his eyes off it.

Although the race was a bust, the VIP treatment was a nice surprise. Kids were spent from being out in the sun all day (no shade on that roof top) and Molly and I were equally wiped out. Photos forthcoming...