Children’s clothes all packed and ready to go
We survived the whirlwind weekend that included us running a table at our local homeschool used book sale (we sold almost all our stuff and made over $120 to use to buy next year’s homeschool curriculum!), two special missionary services at our church, Jesse’s sister’s graduation, time with Jesse’s other sister and her family who were in from out of town for the graduation and a Josh Groban concert (my husband shocked me big time by surprising me with tickets to this!).
Sunday afternoon, we started packing for our family road trip. Our first stop was to be Joplin, Missouri. Then, Sunday evening, we heard the heart-breaking news of the devastating tornado there. I spent much of this morning researching out ways our family could personally help and specific ways you all could help by donating extra stockpile items. I’ll have a post up tomorrow with more details on that.
In the mean time, thank you for your patience with me today as I was focusing most of my time and energy on Joplin and figuring out Plan B for our road trip. We decided to still go ahead with our planned family road trip, but we headed to Oklahoma City today instead.
Silas getting ready for a dip in the hotel pool tonight
I didn’t get a video done for the 31 Weeks to a Better Grocery Budget series today. I’d hoped to do it from the hotel room tonight, but it just didn’t happen as we were having too much fun playing in the pool and just enjoying life away from all the usual distractions of life.
I am planning a number of road trip-themed posts over the next few days along with the usual blogging fare, provided I have time and internet connection while we’re traveling. We’ll see. If they don’t get done this week, I’ll be sure and post them next week.
For starters, here’s our menu for the road trip:
Breakfasts
Continental breakfast at the hotel (we always try to stay somewhere that serves breakfast as this saves a nice chunk of money — especially when we get a great deal on the hotel in the first place!)Lunches
Ham sandwiches, chips, juice
Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, bananas
Tuna sandwiches, chips, veggies
Egg salad sandwiches, veggies, fruit
Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples
Snack-y lunch (cheese & crackers, pretzels, carrots, apples, etc.)
Cereal, fruitSnacks
Apples
Carrot sticks
Pretzels
Crackers and peanut butter
Cheese and crackers
Chips
Granola barsDinners
We’re planning to eat dinner out every night as this is something we budget for on vacations. We keep it pretty economical, though, and usually spend around $25 to $35 maximum for dinners for the five of us. We did Cracker Barrel tonight and will likely do Chick-fil-A tomorrow night.
How did you manage the lunches on your trip? Did you bring a cooler with the food and just handle it there, or shop when you got there? It sounds like such a pain, but it would definitely be cheaper (and definitely healthier) than eating out for lunches. I might give that a try! Any tips!
We did some of both — brought some food and then shopped when we got there. Our hotels had small fridges which really helped.
We just enjoyed two days away, too – although I am positive we came back more tired than rested!
Here’s our menu plan: http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/05/menu-plan-522.html
Hope you are ok! As we (in South East Oklahoma) were packing our emergency tornado bags last night, I thought of you in OKC. I hope all is well for you.
Praying that you and your family have missed to tornados in Oklahoma City!!
Me too…worrisome weather everywhere
If you are looking for a great hotel with a great breakfast for a good price…I suggest the La Quinta! We have had a huge success with them, especially in the newer ones. They are always clean, have a good breakfast, and friendly! My husband is a hard critic of hotels and restaurants so for him to be on board with them says a lot.
Also, I love what I saw about your packing. Care to do a quick blog about that 🙂 I’m always looking for new and improved ways to pack.
Praying for your safety in OKC and for those who have been affected by other storms. We were in a tornado warning on Saturday night, but fortunately the rotation stopped just before it reached our town. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering.
Good for you re: eating out for dinner. In my book, Mom’s not on vacation if she has to cook and do dishes every night.
I agree. 🙂
Wow you pack some of your clothes the way I pack for my son’s summer camp he loves his Christian horse camp but the organization side is hard for him. I just pack 1 day of clothes in each zipper top bag. Then toss in a few extra pairs of jeans and go over it with him. He loves it this way and now at 12 he says I do not need to write the day on it. Now if I could just get him to actually change clothes each day and not come home with many of the bags still packed. 🙂
“Now if I could just get him to actually change clothes each day…”
HA! So true, Beth! If you ever figure that magic trick out, please let us know! My son is 14 and I’m hoping his growing awareness of girls will eventually make things easier.
I am so glad my son is not the only one.
Crystal,
I love your blog! So glad to have you all here in Okc!!
Have a great trip, as someone else said you have a lot of followers here!
We love msm 🙂
Yeah, that ziplocks idea looks great! I’m filing it away for the future!
Here’s our meatless meal of the week: http://theselittlepieces.blogspot.com/2011/05/meatless-meal-of-week-no-3.html. It’s soooo good!
I love the idea of labeling the ziplocks with the clothes for the days of the week. I may have to impliment that for our next trip
Josh Grobin…VERY awesome.
Hope you have fun on your vacation! I was going to echo the kids night at Chick Fil A suggestion made earlier. Ours is on Thursday nights I believe?
Make sure if you’re in OK still that you follow the storm warnings…there’s supposed to be a huge storm with possible tornado outbreaks in that area today! Everyone please pray for safety for those living in Oklahoma!
Some towns have “early bird” specials at dinner time. As long as you are seated by a certain time – the prices were less expensive and the quantity of food was such that we had leftovers to take with us. Might be worth asking about.
Welcome to OKC! I live a bit south of there, but there are lots of yummy restaurants up that way. We love Spaghetti Warehouse (for a chain restaurant) but there are many others. If you get a change, the zoo there is very nice…rated 3rd, I believe, for child-friendliness or something like that.
I wish I could hunt you down! 🙂 I live in OKC, and would love to meet you and tell you my story on how you inspired me to pay off all our bad debt, and pay cash for our attorney to adopt our daughter all in the same year. We have done amazing things, financially this year, that I never thought was possible. In just two weeks our adoption will be final and we are debt free thanks to your inspiring blog! I wish there was a way I could pick your brain so I can keep doing amazing things. 😉 Again, thank you so much for all you inspiration!
Here’s a spreadsheet of drop-off places in various midwest towns for supplies for Joplin: https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?hl=en_US&key=t7FpXE61_2vBAn9fQ_QkQKA&toomany=true
Here’s a church in Joplin that is organizing donations: http://www.facebook.com/IgniteChurchtv
And the general relief FB page: http://www.facebook.com/joplinmo
Glad you guys are having a great time. We always do a local road trip during the summer months. There are so many things to see in our lovely state, and so many do not take advantage of them. I like your menu’s. We travel on the cheap too. Of course if we can we camp somewhere with one night of “hotel” bliss, lol. State and Federal parks are fantastic for cheap lodging outdoor style 🙂
For those interested in donating to help those in Joplin, I have a nice post of information on where to donate.
http://www.couponfrugality.com/frugality/how-to-help-those-in-joplin-by-donating/
What a great plan! Please do a post (in your free time, ha) on how to get hotel room cheap. 🙂
Crystal,
Have you thought about doing lunch at these places to get the cheaper rate then saving your pre-packed meals for supper?
We have, but since we’re going to various attractions and have activities planned during the day, it made more sense to do dinner out and brown bag lunches — even though it’s a bit more expensive.
What a nice surprise! And have fun on the rest of your roadtrip too. We are going on one in a few weeks (TX to WI). I love them as long as I am not the one driving (which is usually the case 😛 )
You’re still blogging while on vacation???? You ARE SUPERMOM!!!! But you deserve a few days “away from it all” so I’m not going to be disappointed if you are not posting for a few days. Have fun and enjoy yourselves!! 😀
Nah, not supermom. 🙂 I just enjoy blogging, so I fit it in here and there as I have time. Don’t worry, I’m mostly pretending the computer doesn’t exist. 🙂
We are about to being the 2nd half of our roadtrip from Calif to IN with our 2 & 4 year old.
I started stopping at the Welcome Stations when we enter a state and grabbing there “Hotel Savers” coupon booklets. I found coupons for hotels that we were what we were wanting to stay in and they were about $20-$30 cheaper than regular hotels.
We also packed lunches. I bought a cooler bag and froze caprisuns. We bought lunch meat and cheese sticks and put it in the cooler and made sandwiches at rest stops to eat and take a break. The kids loved having picnics!
It’s hard to watch these storms on the news and feel so helpless. I look forward to your post. I just sent a box of formula samples that I received in the hospital to Alabama and hope that I can do more for these poor people.
Is my 3 year old the only one who turns into a total beast in Cracker Barrel? He’s usually pretty good, but something about the candy and the pegs turns him crazy. We still go, because it’s so loud no one can really hear him and I love their fried okra…
Here’s my meal plan for the week:
http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/2011/05/menu-plan-week-of-may-21.html
Very sad to see all the destruction & devastation that has been happening all around with the storms/tornadoes. It has been very heart wrenching to follow along on the news.
But on a lighter note…Josh Groban! A little bit of jealousy just hit. LOL He has the most amazing voice and I adore his music. So nice of Jesse to give you such a nice surprise!!
I know, I about flipped when he gave me the tickets!
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s post on how to help. I live in NC where we are recovering ourselves from the tornados in April/May but nothing near the devistation we’ve seen in Joplin. Anything we can do to help from this far away would be lovely! Also, thanks for the packing ideas, this will save me alot(and my husbands back) when it comes to bags!!
I played for Josh Grobin a few times back before the ecomony tanked and artists were still hiring local musicians. He puts on a great show!
How cool is that?!
I have some family in KS, MO, and OK. It is so hard to watch these things, and I have been praying for all the people there. My heart breaks for the poor people who have lost loved ones or homes.
Please drive safely, and have a fun road trip!
Our menu this week include Jalapeno Bacon Burgers with Avocado Dressing and Black Bean and Beef Tostadas. The whole thing is here:
http://savemoneylivejoyfully.blogspot.com/2011/05/menu-for-week-may-22-28-2011.html
I heard that Oklahoma has a high risk of severe weather today. they only issue these type of risks one or two time a year, better be careful. Tornados are not playing this year.
Check out the Drury Inn. We always try to find one during our travels. We are also a family of five. They have large suites which give us 2 bedrooms. Included in their stay is a free breakfast and dinner. The ones we have stayed at have always had a pool. We feel their prices are very reasonable for all of this. Especially since we don’t have to buy dinner for everyone.
Thank you for the suggestion on Drury Inn!
Very high risk for storms, tornadoes, etc. here in OKC today. Be careful!
Do check out the zoo so you can see the new elephant habitat and baby elephant (only a month or so old). The Science Museum is next door to the zoo and is fun for kids of all ages. I also recommend the riverwalk in Bricktown…you can go on a boat ride or just walk it. Lots of restaurants down there…
Hi Crystal. Oklahoma City is in a high risk zone for a tornado outbreak today. You can read about it on weather.com. Based on the way things have gone this year I am sure you want to be prepared. Please be careful!
I hope you have a fantastic time in OKC (my birthplace!) My sister works in a hotel in OKC, so I hope you’re getting good service! I like how you have the kids’ clothes packed in ziplocks by day — if I manage to go anywhere ever with my three, I’ll remember that!
Glad to hear youtake breaks like the rest of us 🙂 I have a feeling we’re in the same town by some things you’ve mentioned, and OKC isn’t far and have thought about going there for a mini vacay ourselves! Also, kinda jealous you got tickets to see Josh Grobin concert 🙁 And it was great that it was a benefit concert for the Lord’s Diner!
Welcome to OKC!!! I live in Moore, but if you go across the street, you’re in Oklahoma City! Like all of the other Okies have said, keep an eye on the weather. It can be unpredictable!!! Enjoy your stay…we love it here. I have never lived anywhere else!!!
That is how we used to pack when my children were smaller. Then we went to a backpack per day with everyones clothes in there in individual bags. Now everyone is on their own, except the 2 yo. of course.
I’m looking forward to your post on donating stockpiles. We usually donate them to a lady in our church who has a ministry helping families get back on their feet.
Glad to have you in OKC! You have a lot of fans that live in this area. 🙂
How awesome you are in OKC! I live in Edmond. There is so much to do. Be careful today though. They are predicting big weather for our area. The zoo is awesome! There is a new baby elephant that was born a few weeks ago. You have to go to Bricktown and at least stop and see the Oklahoma Memorial. The museum will have to wait until your children are older but the memorial outside is humbling, beautiful, and thought-provoking. I had an email that the Spaghetti Warehouse in OKC is having 4.99 spaghetti today. Have a great time!
Thanks for the suggestions on activities!
Hope you have a great time Crystal!
Road trips are fun. Can’t wait for my little one to get a little older to start going on road trips again.
Here is my Menu Plan for this week:
http://www.isavvymom.com/2011/05/23/menu-plan-week-of-may-23rd/
I highly recommend Drury Inns for families traveling if you’re going to be close to one. We use it for our family of 8 (two rooms) because they have a hot breakfast AND hot food for dinner. It’s things like hot dogs and nachos, but it’s plenty to feed our little ones and saves us a lot of money! https://wwws.druryhotels.com/
I hope that you have a great time! It sure is a money saver to only eat out for one meal a day! I always try to make sure that there is a mini-fridge in the hotel room because that cuts down on much of the food and beverage costs. Also, if I don’t stay in a hotel that offers a free breakfast, I use the coffee maker to heat water or milk for instant oatmeal for my son. That satisfies him and saves me the cost of breakfast. Even if the room doesn’t have a mini-fridge, fill a cooler with ice from the ice machine and you can still keep food and beverages cold, it’s just a little more of a pain!
I recommend skipping the chains and trying some local spots! We think that is one of the best joys of traveling – trying new/local food wherever we go.
I live in OKC (well, Piedmont…a suburb, but basically considered OKC metro)…i hope you enjoy our great state! Be careful, though, bc the weather is suppoosed to get yucky again today/tonite. Love your blog and great posts.
We visited OK City once and absolutely loved the zoo! Hope you have good weather and your family gets to go!
Would love to know how you get a great deal on a hotel?? Also, how do you keep all the perishable items that you bring with you fresh? I hope you guys have a wonderful vacation, enjoy your time away from “real life” 😉
If you can be flexible with the days you visit, I try to schedule online and see a trend in the prices. We have noticed big changes by doing this. Also, we love staying at the Hyatt Place which has breakfast, clean rooms, and reasonable rates. Then, after so many visits, you get a free room. We have qualified for several free rooms just for staying there (which we had to do b/c of doctor’s appointments).
I don’t know what Crystal does, but when we travel we always make sure to get a hotel room with a fridge and microwave. That way we can put all our fresh items in the fridge to keep cool after we get back to our room each day. We also use the freezable cool packs to keep the things cold in the cooler and add extra ice to the cooler from the hotel before we go out each day. We have kept things fresh on 3000 mile roadtrips out west.
The microwave comes in handy for heating up any restaurant leftovers or easy snack/meal items such as Kraft easy mac or popcorn.
A great website is priceline.com I have been able to book a room for half the regular price. Hope this helps.
Can’t wait to hear about your trip! I’d like to know about keeping sandwiches and good hotel deals as well!
I was born in Joplin and some of my family lives in Carthage. My step-brother and sister just moved from Joplin a month ago, the house they were living in is gone! My other step-sister worked at the WalMart that was destroyed, she got off 2 hours before the tornado hit. One of her co-workers is still missing. All of my family has been accounted for, but they lost several rental properties. Paperwork from the hospital was found in Springfield, MO. My heart goes out to everyone there. I’d love to see how I can help, since going there to volunteer is out of the question!
I don’t know if this is what Crystal does or not, but I make the sandwich and wrap it in a damp paper towel before sealing in a zip lock bag. Or we just take the sandwich fixings in a cooler and make them at the rest stop’s picnic area. Throw a frisbee in the picnic basket and it’s much more fun and energy-expending than a restaurant!
When we went to the beach recently, we packed a cooler of the cold items and some drinks (with extra drinks packed in the back for refill), then had everything that didn’t need cooling in a separate tote. We were able to make some sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc out of this. I also like to bake some fresh cookies for our trips. These are a good addition to our road trips.
🙁 It’s so, so sad! I’m thankful all your family is safe, though.
I pack my boys clothes like that too! i do one bag a day (with underwear, socks and 2 entire outfits -one for each child).. so i dont have to go on a hunt!! We’ve been camping, visting family and both times this has been a huge time saver..plus me or the hubby can go quickly get them dress -even the 4 year can pick out his own bag!:) love it!
Wondering what secrets you use to get the good deals on hotel rooms that you are talking about… ? 🙂
There’s a great children’s museum in Seminole (outside of OKC) if you’re looking for a fun family activity. http://www.jasminemoran.com
Welcome to OKC!!! Hope you enjoy your visit. There is a new baby elephant at the zoo! Our zoo is a good one. They have rebuilt and added alot of new exibits.
Have a wonderful trip! Enjoy spending lots of time with your family. 🙂
Your little guy is so adorable…what a cutie!
Eagerly looking forward to the info on helping in Joplin.
You should do chili’s tonight, kids eat free! 🙂
Joplin is only about an hour and a half from the University of Arkansas where I’m at so I have a lot of friends that have family in that area. Seeing pictures from that night are devastating. Homes, businesses, schools, and even a hospital were hit and so any help they can get I know would be appreciated. I know lots of places in our city are collecting money and goods and what a great way to use the excess items from couponing. Thanks Crystal.
On a happier note, I hope your family has a great time on your roadtrip, and I look forward to seeing what great tips you offer!
We are happy to have your family in OKC! Keep and eye on the storms this afternoon Gary England on News Channel 9 is the best weather to watch in OKC! Enjoy your time here! Love the ziplock bags!!
http://www.news9.com is their website!
I do the ziploc bag packing for my daugher’s clothes on vacation. I put 2 outfits/bag-so she has an extra just in case. Then, when we go out for the day on vacation, I dress her in one, and throw the other in the diaper bag. Then, I have an extra outfit, AND a plastic bag for wet/dirty clothes.
Great idea!
Glad you are able to get away and relax with your family. Have a wonderful time making memories! 🙂
That is wild that you were planning to go to Joplin…and great that you will be able to bless them with items from your stockpile!
I’d wondered where you’d been! If you head to St. Louis, feel free to wave or shoot off an email. 😉
It’s nice to see you all *splurge* a little as a family! I hope you have a great time!!
Enjoy your vacation time with your family! I’m sure we’ll survive without a few posts from you. But you need to make the most of your time with them. Have fun!
Amen! Don’t worry about us. Enjoy your down time!
One thing you might do before you go to Chic-fil-A is give that location a call. My local CFA often does a “kids night” one night a week, complete with a craft of some sort. As much as your kids like crafts, you might want to see if the location closest to your hotel is having one of these nights, and eat there on that night! Something to consider! Cracker Barrel is a great choice too.
Enjoy your trip! So sorry to hear of the devastation in Joplin….not sure how close that is to you all.
PS….how cute is that dimple in Silas’s cheek?!?
Mine does this as well. You get a free kids meal with each adult purchase. They also do games or crafts. Not all of them do this so it is a great idea to call ahead and ask!
Our Chick does this as well every Thursday night. We try to go once a month, but sometimes, we go every other week. It’s a nice night out–the hubs and I get a chance to have (almost) uninterrupted conversation after dinner while our kiddo plays 🙂
We also budget for eating dinner out when we are on vacation, with breakfast at the hotel and packed lunches. We always pick up a pound or so of lunch meat from the deli and put that with some fruit, cut up veggies and drinks in the cooler and a loaf of bread and ‘dry’ snacks in a big grocery bag. We can stop off wherever and have our lunch and don’t have to worry about getting back to our hotel for lunch or packing lunches (and risking forgetting something) before we head out in the morning. I try to include lunch meat that we like (roast beef or mesquite turkey is our favorite) and really good cheese and bread so we enjoy it and aren’t tempted to run through a drive through or sandwich shop for lunch.
Chic Fil A can have sooo many freebies, it’s great! Our local one has a facebook page, and every friday, they have a phrase posted for a free sandwich or similar food item, all you have to do is go in and say it. Maybe you can score one on your road trip!
It all depends on your vehicle but..http://www.wisebread.com/cooking-great-meals-with-your-car-engine-the-heat-is-on
I saw an article way back when I was younger and there is so much heat generated on your car’s engine that you can cook on it, if you can find a hot surface that will hold the food. It could be as simple as cooking hotdogs in multiple layers of heavy duty foil and then learning to do more.
They are going to be my first cooking experiment this year for a beach trip.
It is oddly eco-friendly as the heat is there being wasted
Gotta tell you, Silas is ADORABLE! Such a smile!!
Yes, I am impressed by your packing! I like your system!
Have a wonderful trip Crystal!!! Hope your time with family is refreshing and memory-making.
The clothes in the ziploc bags is such a great idea! I’ll have to remember that for my kiddos’ clothes when we go on vacation next month.
Just make sure they don’t get too hot! On a bus trip, the duffel bag was packed too close to a warm spot on the bus. My sister had to wear pants with plastic baggie melted onto them!
Wow! That is really hot!
I thought that looked like a good idea too! I wonder if the clothes wrinkle from it though? It looks like they’re rolled up so they probably don’t wrinkle as much. I might have to try that idea though!
Thanks for the tips. Good that you could take time out of your busy schedule for the road trip. I have a question: how do you manage to keep the sandwiches fresh during the road trip? Thanks
Thanks for the tips. Can’t wait for a fun little road trip. I have a 5 month old. Do you have any tips for traveling with a baby?
I think babies are the easiest to travel with…they don’t ask questions and they normally sleep alot in the car! LOL
only if they aren’t screamers who hate the car seat!!
Go before they can crawl ; )
How funny, we are planning a road trip this weekend and my meal plan for the week is all about quick and easy so that I have more time to get ready for the trip. http://delicious-nutritious.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-weeks-meal-plan-523.html. We will be visiting family on our trip, so we will actually be making some meals once we get there, but we will be packing snacks and sandwich supplies for lunches to save money in addition to eating breakfast at the hotel.
Traveling with a five month old can be a breeze or a challenge, depending on the temperament of your child. My oldest was rather challenging as she wanted to eat so often – I sat next to her and fed her while we drove and gave her toys as she needed them. My son on the other hand went in and out of sleeping on our long road trips and was super easy. You may just have to learn as you go.
I highly recommend considering driving through the night. It is tiring for mom and dad, but it is worth it to not throw off their entire sleep schedule.
Enjoy your trip and family time!
I am putting a huge chunk of my stockpile on one of the trucks here in our town to head to Joplin this week. I had been saving most of it for the Ronald McDonald House, but these people need it worse right now. (Fortunately it won’t take me too long to build it back up for the RMH anyway) Being from Missouri and only an hour and a half or so from Joplin, it hit just a little too close to home and my heart is breaking for them! I am so glad that I can put my talents and resources to good use to help those in need.
The Cracker Barrel is a yummy choice…we love eating there! We eat there alot when we travel too, because we don’t have one close and it is pretty reasonably priced for feeding our family of 6. My husband works out of state most of the year, so we spend alot of time on the road during the summers going to visit him. When we first starting budgeting, I realized what a huge chunk of money we were spending on drinks, snacks and meals on the road. I have a cooler that plugs in to the vehicle, and with a little planning, we have been able to cut back tremendously by packing fruit, pudding, jello, juice boxes, sandwiches, ect. for the kids to eat in the car. We have also started ordering a full-size adult plate when we eat out and splitting it between 2-3 of our kids, and it ends up being much cheaper than ordering kids meals for each one of them. My 11 year old son hates sharing with his younger sisters, but has learned to cope 🙂
I agree with you Casey. We live in Pittsburg, KS, only about 30 minutes away, and it is just devastating. To see places that we regularly went to just completly wiped off the map. My husband works at Pittsburg Walmart and they are freezing all outside hiring and filling positions for people from the destroyed Joplin Walmart. Many of his coworkers and friends lived in Joplin and drove to work, and most of them lost homes but thankfully all alive.
I would also like to point out for anyone living in the Kansas/ Missouri area. They are having blood drives this week in most towns close to Joplin and they really need everyone’s support to help save lives from this devastating tornado.
I went to college at Pittsburg State. I had many friends from Joplin and their families are affected. I am looking for a way to help. Praying for all the people there.
I grew up in Parsons KS and have a number of friends living in Joplin — so sorry to see that community hit by such devastation.