Frugal Friday

I don't do much grocery shopping these days and we don't have a newspaper subscription so therefore I don't have access to many coupons except those online, but I've seen some nice money saving opportunities lately that were appealing to me. I'll include the links...

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---Chic-fil-A - Annual Cow Appreciation Day TODAY - more information here

---Giant - $5 off $15 meat purchase or $2 off $5 produce - see here and here (there are also coupons for Save-a-Lot and Martin's)

---McDonalds - Mocha Mondays - details here

---Kelloggs rebate - could make money on this one - see here

---Free Lipton Tea - through this link

---"The Holiness of God" by RC Sproul - from Ligionier Ministries through this link

---Target Deals for this week (specifically Kashi Cereal, A1 sauce) - listing here

---Starbucks Ice Cream - details here

A Gorgeous Summer Day

It was a beautiful summer day yesterday. I searched the internet and found a nearby orchard and decided to go pick sour cherries. This is where I went - only about 20 minutes away from campus toward Harrisburg. Pick your own sour cherries were $.95/lb which I thought was a good price. I also bought some peas and new potatoes which I hulled and cooked for dinner, and some transparent apples for applesauce, which was good but not as good as our apple tree back home. I absolutely loved that I could get out and enjoy the summer day and some fresh produce and still be at home in the evening during "work" time.

Our New Family Friendly Activity

I had heard of geocaching but didn't know much about it. I thought it sounded like something that we could get the kids involved with but didn't know exactly what equipment was necessary. A couple weekends ago, Mike's sister and brother-in-law took us to a few spots in Dubois to try it out. You can learn more about what it is on the official website here. This past week we tried it ourselves in Hershey and then took a group of students and other houseparents a couple nights ago. I have yet to find one myself, but it is pretty neat and it is a great activity to do with the students. Here's a picture of our first solo experience and Mike holding up his first geocache (it's the thing in his right hand that's the size of a pen cap).

Our Fourth of July

We didn't have any students on Saturday evening, so we decided to go to Lititz for the Fourth of July celebration. We had a wonderful evening with Uncle Jim, Aunt Mary Ann, Kristi and Kimberly. We enjoyed some good music, food, fireworks and conversation. The park was beautiful with the candles all lit but it was too hard to get a picture to come out. It only took us about 30 minutes to get out of our parking spot...I think next time we'll park further away and walk...but, that's our fault because we were warned...

What To Do On a Summer Day in Hershey...

The campus is back to the regular summer schedule this week. We have 4 boys (4th graders) this week for summer camps and we have been doing some fun things with them in the evenings. We (as well as the students) get free admission to Hershey Park with our IDs so Mike and I decided to head there on our off duty time during the day to "get acquainted" with the Park. We have been there 4 times now in the last week and we have decided that it is pretty neat to be able to go over for as long or short as we want and not have to pay admission. (My philosophy is that all of the walking around is good exercise too) The first day Mike and I just walked around for a little while to check things out (I've never been to Hershey Park before), and one day we went over for a couple hours and just relaxed in the new wave pool and lazy river. On Tuesday, we enjoyed the kiddie rides with our "out-of-town guests"... I love this one. It looks like Caleb is bored but really he is taking his ride seriously and he loved every minute of it... And then, last evening we took the MHS boys since they hadn't been to the new water rides yet (Mike has a video and more pictures on his blog).