San Francisco - Day 1

I've been wanting to take some time to blog about our trip to San Francisco last month. Forcing myself to sit down & do it tonight. We did this while Mr was on his leave. San Francisco is only about an 8 hour drive from us but we stretched it out do do some sight seeing on the way up. We took 2 days to drive there, about 2.5 days there & that other half to drive back.
We started off day one driving up the coast.
We stopped in Solvang for lunch. Not really a child-friendly place for sight seeing. It's known more for its wineries... I guess. We did probably the only two child-friendly activities. Lunch at the Hans Christian Andersen Park & apple picking at Apple Lane Farm. Our ride there, of course, was not with out an adventure. Poor R got car sick literally 2 minutes from the park. He would do this a few more times through out the day. He tried his hardest to have fun at the park but couldn't stomach any food & was not into the apple picking. L enjoyed herself at least.
After apple picking we got back on the road. I like to find odd places to stop & see. One being the Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo.

Day 1 of the drive up was our longest day in the car. R had been asking to go camping so we decided we would camp out on the way up. We stopped at Morro Bay Strand Beach to camp. Beautiful but C-O-L-D!! We're kinda out growing our tent, but since it was cold it was nice to all snuggle together. Poor R was still feeling sick so he wasn't too into it all. He wanted to go to bed instead of making s'mores. You know the boy is sick when he turns down chocolate & marshmallows!
End of day 1....

Here we go again...

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.” ~unknown

We started deployment #3 this week. This one is a tad different. Lots will be missed - birthdays, holidays & anniversary. Previously we knew an approximate length. This one everything is up in the air. It will be months before there is a better idea of when they will be home. I think that's harder than dealing with the actual separation. We're used to that part by now. Even the kids. They are young but used to daddy coming & going. Only time will tell, though. R is old enough to have some sense of time. Before Mr left we took a family trip to San Fransisco. Had a good time & will blog about it another day with pictures. R & L started preschool last week. They seem to be enjoying it & meeting other kids. I know I am enjoying my time to get stuff done.

I <3 Henry's

I've got a few other subjects to blog about but they are long & this one is short & sweet.

Henry's is farmers market type grocery store out here in Cali. It has the best prices, tastiest fruits & veggies that don't go bad super quick. The kids LOVE going to Henry's. Today for $12 & a very small chunk of change we got 6 corn on the cobs, just under a pound of plums, a pound & 3 quarters of grapes, a dutch apple pie & 2 pounds of strawberries. I <3 Henry's!! If I worked there I don't think I would walk out with a paycheck - or much of one.

Ralphs Mega Event

I went to the grocery store to grab some deals & other items we needed. The grocery game is a learning lesson. My goal is to save 50% or more. Each trip to Ralphs I learn something knew to help me with my next trip. Last trip I realized that they only double the 1st coupon of a product. I went to get toothpaste. It was 4/$4. I had 2 - 50cent coupons & another 75cents off 2. I went in expecting to only pay $1 for 4 tubes of toothpaste. It was $1.75. Lesson learned there. I should have made multiple trips, but who wants to do that with 3 screaming kids? This time I was prepared. I had multiples of coupons so I did 2 transaction. Lesson learned in this trip? 1) My kids can actually behave in a grocery store & 2) Better organize the coupons that get put onto the store card from the internet. I need to print out a list instead of writing them down. My paper coupons were good to go - except I forgot to use 1. Example of the store card coupons - Part of the Mega sale deals were certain General Mills cereal. I had store card coupons (2) for a $1 off Honey Nut Cheerios. I forgot that I needed to grab HNC & instead just got regular Cheerios. I even had it written down!! Guess I was distracted.

I did good with the coupons. All but 4 of my items I had a coupon for & 3 of those items were store brand (milk, sugar, & marshmallows). I searched online for a coupon for the 3rd item but one was not to be found. I'm not going to list everthing I got, but will highlight the deals where I saved 50% or more. Oh, let me explain a Mega Sale. If you buy 10 products that tagged you get $5 off your total. This is also why I did 2 transactions. Doing them together would have not gotten me $10 off.

Transaction #1:
Total before: $38.69
Total OOP: $15.09
Total savings: $23.60 (39%)

Most of this transaction I saved 50% or more.
Betty Crocker cookie mix: $3.49, after sale & coupons - 79cents
Betty Crocker fruit snacks (rarely bought item for this house): $3.59, after $1.09 (x2)
Betty Crocker Warm delights (hold your granny panties for this one!! Too good to resist!): $2.49, after - I made 1cent!!!
Nature Valley Granola Bars: $4.29, after - 1.59 (x2)
Cheerios: $3.99, after $1.49 (x2... If I bought the HNC I would have only spent 49cents/box)


Transaction #2:
Total before: $76.50
Total OOP: $29.19
Total savings: $47.31(38%)

In addition to paper coupons & store card coupons I also had paper store coupons that were mailed to me.

Betty Crocker Warm Delights & Nature Valley Granola Bars are same as above.
Betty Crocker fruit snacks: $3.59, after $1.19
Trix: $3.99, after 94cents
Captain Crunch: $4.49, after $1.49
Golden Grahams: $3.99, after $1.99 (I should have repeated the Trix deal here instead.)
Pillsbury Grands!: $2.99, after $1.49 (x2)
liquid Coffeemate: $4.49, after $2.00
Nature Valley Clusters (Delish, btw!): $3.99, after 99cents (x2)
Wheat Thins: $3.99, after FREE!!
Mentos Gum: $1.25, after 25cents.