Vacation Planning

Ok, so anyone that knows me knows that I like to plan A LOT in advance for any expensive vacations.  I'm totally fine with waiting until the last minute to do something under $1000, like going to visit family, but anything more, I want plenty of time to plan.  Our last vacation besides to Missouri was in July and I started planning in March, and that was the latest I've ever waited.  Last time we went to Florida I planned for nearly a year (I think I started planning in early May and we went in late March).

So I think my husband was pretty surprised when he came home from work the other day, and Elliott and I had been looking at Disney World and Universal rides and comparing them, trying to decide which was better.  We tentatively had a trip to Missouri planned for September, to see family.  After thinking about it, and looking around online, I decided that we should extend it and go to Florida as well.  We have a time share sampler thing that we bought last year that includes more than enough points for 10 nights in Celebration, FL, and they had openings for when we wanted to go.  I told my husband I wanted to do it, fully expecting to have to talk him into it (last time we went to Disney World, he said that would most likely be the only time we went), but instead he liked the idea.  He's been wanting a real vacation for a while because of some of the things going on at work.  And I think it would be great for our whole family as well.  We've had a pretty crazy year!

Carl checked his schedule at work, and it looks like he can take off the full 25 days we want, as long as he requests it soon.  But then the same day he checked it, we got the soccer sign up information, and it turns out that the season is starting late this year, so Elliott wouldn't be able to play if we go then.  So now we have checked out the stuff going on at Disney in November, and made sure that we would be able to get a suite at the resort and everything as well.  Carl hasn't been able to check at work yet to see if he could get that time off, but Elliott is really pushing for that time instead.

There are definite advantages to going in November, like how much cooler it will be.  Elliott and I are both wimps when it comes to really hot weather.  November in Orlando is typically similar to July in North Dakota (our hottest month of the year).  September will seem incredibly hot to us.  No matter which time we go, we can go to one of the special night time parties at Magic Kingdom.  I think I would like the Halloween one better, but Elliott is pushing for the Christmas one.  Waiting until November would also give me more time to plan and save.  So I have a feeling that if November works for Carl's work schedule that is when we will end up going.

I've already checked with my mom (she's who we stay with when we are in Missouri) and she said she doesn't foresee any kind of problems with either dates.  And she can watch Snoopie while we are in Florida as well (Darla will keep Trixie, and the cats will go to my father in law's house, or stay with the house sitter).  I'm getting anxious to know when we will go so I can go ahead and start making reservations and real plans!

Bath and Body Works Online Sale With Coupon Code

My son and I both love Bath and Body Works.  Before we removed all artificial dyes from our cosmetics and toiletries, we used a lot of their body washes and lotions.  Elliott loved several of the scents in the guy collection, and also enjoyed a few of the fruitier ones as well.  Now we can no longer buy any of the body washes, and only a few of the lotions, but that hasn't put an end to our shopping there.  We still buy wallflower scents, candles, and car air fresheners there.  They have so many different choices, and even Carl has come on board and is willing to go into the store to pick out his own scents for the truck, instead of just trusting Elliott and I to do it for him (although I think the real reason he now is willing to go in there is to keep a closer eye on our spending!).


Last week when we were at the mall anyway, we went in to see what was on sale.  They had a bunch of body washes, lotions, etc for 75% off, and the wallflower 2 pack refills for $5.  We ended up buying 2 bottles of lotion, and I think 8 2 pack refills.  We also bought a few of the scentportable refills (for the car) and a new holder to add a second one to the van.  

Watermelon Lemonade is one of our favorite scents, we were disappointed that there was only one left in our local store.

 I know it might seem crazy that I then started looking online to see if I could find more of my favorite scent (watermelon lemonade is a favorite of everyone in my house) on sale, but that's exactly what I did.  We have wallflower nightlights plugged in in Elliott's room, the upstairs bathroom, and the hallway.  We have just regular ones in our room, the downstairs bathroom, and the living room.  Sometimes it's kind of a pain to make sure all the scents on one floor work together, but it's worth it to keep our house smelling fresh instead of like animals (we have four pets that we love dearly, but they all stink).

It turns out that the online sales aren't necessarily as good, but they are still pretty good.  Plus there's a 20% off coupon (BBW20JULY) you can use to save more.  One bad thing is you can only use one coupon code per order, so you still have to pay shipping, but it's a flat rate of $5.99 so if you are buying several things it's still worth it.  

Many wallflower 2 packs are on sale for half price ($6.25), the big 3 wick candles are on sale for $12 (normally $22.50)  and the scentportable refills are on sale just the same as they usually are in store, buy 4 get 2 free.  The 20% off makes both them and the candles a better deal than the sales that were going on in store last week.  Also there are some great deals to be had if you are in the market for lotion and body wash.  The prices start at $2.75 for full size bottles (making them just $2.20 after coupon)!

The Children's Place Sale

 The Children's Place is having a great sale right now.  They have a lot of clearance items marked down to $3.99-5.99.  There's a coupon code available for 40% off your entire order, too.  The sale said it was over yesterday, but then they extended it through today.

I ended up ordering Elliott 4 pairs of shorts, 3 shirts, and 2 sets of shorts pajamas for under $40 shipped.

This was one of Elliott's favorites, $3.99, or $2.39 after the coupon code.

These shorts weren't in the clearance department, but were on sale for $5.99, so $3.60 after the coupon.

These weren't on sale, so we ended up paying $7.77 after the coupon, but he really needed pajamas, so we bought them anyway.