I'm in a bad mood now, no trip for us this year.
 

DH and I wanted to take the kids some where before he gets his new portrait studio open next month but after spending days looking at airfare and every where we could go I can't come up with anything that we can afford. :(
I'm SO bummed, we really wanted to do a cruise but we needed to take a nanny also so that would be 10 of us going, after you add in airfare I couldn't find anything under 10 thousand.

While not as exotic, there is always
camping
hiking
weekend day trips to an Aquarium or zoo
spending leisure time at a lake
renting a cabin somewhere
picnics
swimming
parks

I could go on and on -- it is all about taking the time to all be together at the same time even if you go for a stroll in a park or go swimming for the day.

Of course, I realize - we only had 2 children to keep up with, can't imagine 7, but with these less expensive activities, a nany would be more cost effective or maybe an adult relative might like to go to a cabin with you and assist with the children.

We always LOVED, LOVED, LOVED nature and anything that had to do with being outdoors. We tried to keep things simple amd we didn't have much spare money to plan anything big until the children were older when I was also working.

Snoods

Wow.....I haven't been on a vacation since 2000.

I think many people are choosing to stay close to home. What with the cost of gas and everything else...it's just not practical. Unless of course you have unlimited funds but most of us don't. :(

Sorry you're not able to go this year.

Yes, I am taking vacation next week and I will be spending the entire week here at my condo and up at our neighborhood pool and I can't wait !!!! :p

I hope to do some painting / sewing / make a vision board / work on my web sites / scrap booking / mail out some very late cards / copy a bunch of videos and pictures to CDs or DVDs / get a bunch of pictures printed and framed. :eek: You think I can do all of that next week ???? LOL

Most of all - I plan to ENJOY and spend time with my granddaughter and daughter !

I admit though, I am taking a cruise this October - it will be my first cruise and I am going with 2 other ladies. We got an incredible deal not only on the cruise but also our airfare. We booked everything as early as we could because we knew that the prices were just going to keep going up on travel. I think it will be great - but I am one that can have fun almost anywhere when I am not having to work. ;)

I was looking at places in Arkansas today. I found one place that I would love to go do, but seriously cannot afford it this year. It was a dude ranch. Family owned.

There was fishing, canoeing, hiking, horseback riding....just to name a few of the things they had.

It said it was like $1,000 a person for a week.

Then there are all kinds of State parks that have cabins, pools, hot tubs, views, trails and a whole lot more.

Have you ever been to Branson, MO. Or Eureaka Springs, AR?

Lots of places you don't have to fly too.

Don't give up yet. Start looking closer to home

DAY

Dang, I wish I had ten thousand to spend on a vacation! lol Wow, the things I could do with that.

Seriously, there are things you can do for that amount or under. Have you considered driving to the cruise line? I know Norwegian has ships that go out of Texas as well as others. Make sure your passports are all up to date too.

I just found this site out of Galveston TX. They offer group prices. Galveston Cruises

What part of Texas are you in? Are you close to San Antonio??

San Antonio has tons of great places to go to. Not just the Alamo and Seaworld and Fiesta Texas (or is it 6 Flags of Texas now?)

I've been to a few nice museums there, and I've taken the carriage ride around the Alamo/Riverwalk. I've also done the boat cruise down the riverwalk. (if anyone with MS does that, do it on a cool day...I did it about 10yrs ago, in August! That was pre-MS tho)

The Texas Transportation Museum was really nice. Lots of model trains all over, plus a full size "model" train you can ride on. (it's a refurbished train..think it was a steam engine, and it goes down the tracks a few miles and comes back to the museum) There's also the fire engine ride. (a Ward LaFrance fire engine...very cool looking)

The San Antonio Zoo was ok. (the Omaha Zoo is a lot more advanced, but then the Omaha Zoo probably has more private funding that lets it do more) The Japanese Tea Gardens (Sunken Gardens?) is right next door to the San Antonio Zoo....and it's a really nice place to go. I went during a drought, so a lot of the plants were half dead, but even half dead plants in that place looked good. I want to go back someday.

Plus, there's places in Austin, like the Capitol building.

I don't work outside the home any more, so every day is a vacation for me. :D However, I have a hard time keeping up with two teenagers now, so I can't imagine trying to take 7 kids out of their environment & routines, and living to tell about it. :eek:

I think a lot of people, even with much smaller families, can't afford vacations these days. What I have done instead, is save my money for my kids to travel with their friends, at every opportunity. They've been to Hawaii, Mexico, California, 1/2 way across Canada, Christian camp, softball tournaments in various locations . . . while I haven't gone anywhere. :( I do enjoy the "break" when they go though.

I think this is a sacrifice many parents make, especially if finances are an issue.

Cherie

We normally go to N. Wisconsin each summer with our sons, then to the Caribbean in January for DH and me. We have to skip Wisconsin this summer and likely our winter vacation too.

I think the bad economic environment is hurting everybody. :( Our groceries and gas are outrageous, and things have slowed down at work.

I hope you can think of something fun to do. As many have said, there are lots of things you can do for under $10,000. Have you looked at economy all-inclusives in Mexico and Jamaica? They have good prices if you watch for specials on Expedia or the other sites like them.

Thank you all so much. Our biggest problem is we didn't plan anything this year and than it comes down to we can go if we did it NOW, well we have a week or 2 here and there aren't any great last minute deals for 10.
We also don't have passports yet.

We do all kinds of mini trips to south TX so no one was excited about going down there for a week in this heat when we do it all the time when it's nicer weather.

I have been looking mostly at the cruises going out of Galveston, there's only a few right now and most we can't go because there too many of us even if we slit up in 3 cabins. :(

I haven't giving up just yet but it's not looking good, we might just have to wait until DH's studio is going good and than go, most likely 6 months after it opens (so maybe Feb-April). :(