10 Week Challenge--Weekend 8

This weekend, my two youngest were getting over colds and my youngest boy got an ear infection on top of that, so once again, our plans were somewhat thwarted (originally we were going to go to the harbor and walk around, but between them being sick and the rain storm that came through, we chose to stay home).  With that in mind, we had a lot of fun at home.  Saturday, we played Mario Kart on the Wii-U for a good part of the day in celebration of MAR10 (March 10--it's a nerd thing).  Today, we've spent the day watching Frozen and Tangled movies, shorts, and tv shows. Tonight, we are making lasagna from scratch.  If I remember, I'll post pictures.

As we get closer to spring break, I'm starting to use some of that money I've saved up through the past 8 weeks to prep for our trip.  This weekend, I found some great deals on tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk through my union's discounter, Recreation Connection.  I don't use this perk of my job enough and I'm not sure why.  I was able to get 10% off the aquarium tickets, which is great when it's normally almost $50 per adult and $30 per kid.  The deal at the Boardwalk was even better.  $44.95 got me an all-day ride wristband for my oldest son plus a $25 fun card (which is like purchasing ride tickets and tokens for the arcade, but on a card for convenience).  Typically the wristband itself runs about $40, so considering the card it comes with, I think this is one of the best deals I've ever found for an amusement park, not including, of course, when I worked there and got free passes.  We didn't purchase wristbands for all 6 of us because realistically, it wouldn't make financial sense.  My 7-year-old will go on quite a few rides, but I'll only go on roller coasters and the pirate ship, my husband only does spinning rides, the 4-year-olds probably won't go on much at all except the carousel and the cave train, and my mom will probably stick with the little ones.  So, for the rest of us, we're getting a $100 fun card when we go, which gives you $15 in bonus points.  So, overall, we'll be paying $145 when otherwise we'd be paying much, much more.  Anyway, my point is, if you have a union, don't hesitate to ask if they have deals on tickets.  It's worth the effort for the savings.

I can't wait to go on this trip in just 3 more weeks!  And doing this savings challenge has really helped me feel more confident that I have the money for the trip and won't be in major debt after just 4 days away from home.  Next week, assuming everyone is healthy finally and the weather is good, we're planning a trip to the zoo on our zoo passes that were pre-paid before this challenge started.  The weekend after that, we'll be packing, so I'll provide an up-to-date list of items we pack for road trips.  Then, a week or two after that I'll be back with a trip report on all the exciting things we did and saw during our spring break road trip.

Edited on 3/18--We have pictures of the lasagna.  Sorry it took me a whole week to get them!