Budgeting
How do we afford this? Well, we have a little checking account that on the first and fifteenth (payday) we automatically transfer in a set amount of money. It's our temple-trip account. We track how much we have spent on previous temple-trips (i.e.: hotel, fast food, gas, tolls). This gives us a good idea of how much we need to save to go to the temple. When we have enough money in the account, it's time to go.
We can transfer all the money over to our checking account right before we leave. If our account is full from a recent pay-day (i.e.-and the bills haven't fallen yet) we can wait until Monday morning to transfer it and see how much we spent.
Preparation Check-list:
- Call temple to schedule sessions
- Reserve a hotel (about 30 minutes outside the city is close enough, and cheaper than in the city)
- Add money to E-ZPass for tolls
- Download Netflix episodes to iPad and/or choose books
- Top off the gas tank
- Buy and assemble snacks
- Pack overnight bags
Drive Up:
We left late (after 7). The sun was setting as we drove across the bridge-tunnel. I read to Cory while the kids watched downloaded episodes on the iPad. We ate dinner before we left (remember . . . it was late) so we passed out snacks as needed. We also had water in our Thermos bottles. The kids don't spill them, and since water is a boring drink, they don't drink more than they need to, which keeps down on rest stops.
We pulled over at a gas station when kids needed to use the bathroom, and topped off the gas tank. By this time it was 10 pm, we were still 2 hours from our hotel, and that light dinner had worn off. We pulled into a drive-through and ordered some sandwiches from the economy menu to round-out our snacks. For me, this really hit the spot.
Hotel:
Most of the kids fell asleep almost immediately. Q took some coaxing to quiet down and sleep somewhere that wasn't his bed or a hotel crib. We had brought his special toddler sleeping bag, which I think helped him emotionally. I didn't get to sleep until almost one in the morning, but we had to get up with our alarm if we were going to make it to our sessions in time.
Cory and I showered before waking the children, who got dressed quickly. They like hotel breakfasts and will get ready for the day in a hurry if I require that first. We left breakfast about 30 minutes before we wanted to leave the hotel, because packing-up and checking-out always takes longer than I think it will.
Child-Swapping Temple Trip
We pulled into the temple parking garage about 30 minutes before my 10 am session. Cory gathered the kids and walked to the Franklin Institute (a family-friendly science museum) a couple blocks away, where we got a membership. Crowds were light in the museum that early. Little Q, who loves trains, got to spend a lot of time in the train room. The kids were happy.Meanwhile, I took the elevator up to the temple entrance, where I got our parking ticket validated. Getting out of my session took longer than Cory and I had expected. I met him with the kids between the temple and the museum a little after 12:30. He headed back to the temple.
The kids were hungry. A nearby food truck sold Philly cheesesteaks and hot dogs. Hot dogs were either 2 for $6 or 3 for $6. There were two signs and I wasn't sure which was current. The kids weren't interested, so we walked a couple blocks to a mini-Target. We got two bags of bagels, meat, cheese, and a bag of sliced apples for everyone to share. Then I gave the kids permission to choose a drink and a side (most got a bag of chips). I think this second category may have doubled the cost of the meal, which was about $30.
It was a little chilly to eat outside, so we thought we would try to use one of the cafeteria-style lunchrooms on the bottom floor of the Franklin Institute. We asked a nice lady at the check-in desk, who went and checked on the rooms. It turned out that all the tables were folded up and a custodian was cleaning, so she gave us permission to go upstairs. We found a corner near the snack bar (not the restaurant), and enjoyed a leisurely meal. I put the leftovers back in the grocery bag. We enjoyed the museum for about half an hour before deciding to use restrooms and head back to the van.
The parking garage was mostly empty when we got there. The kids settled into the vehicle (unbuckled) and soon Cory joined us.
After enjoying his lunch in the car, we got on the road. We waited for Q to doze off, which didn't take long, before the kids started watching The Greatest Showman on the iPad. We had the sound faded through the speakers toward the back of the vehicle, as I was reading a book to Cory (the middle-grade sci-fi novel Bounders).
We got home with just enough energy to unload the van, dumping the laundry in the laundry room to wait for Monday.
We all slept well that night.
The kids are already asking when we can go back. Hurray!
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