FREE R.A.M.P. Days at Treehouse (and other free activities)

The Treehouse Museum in Ogden, Utah has three free days this year. The dates are June 6, July 18, and August 1. If you have any questions, visit their website or call the Treehouse Museum at 801-394-9663.

To get the whole RAMP schedule of free activities in the Weber county area, click here and click on the download for the RAMP Summer activities calender.

Geocaching

Some girls at work were telling me about this. It's pronouned "geo-cashing" like cashing a check.

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value. Today, well over 800,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to the pastime. Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica. (wikipedia)

My friend L did it when her family went to West Virginia. You find the GPS coordinates only. You find the area and such for the "prize." L had purchased souvenirs from Utah, and when they found the "prize" they left their "prize" in it's place.

You need a GPS receiver and to sign up at the Offical Geocaching website (It's free). Let me know if anyone out there has tried it. It sound like a fun family activity. It would be a modern day treasure hunt.

****The official site (www.geocaching.com) answers any questions you may have.

Happy Hunting

Vacation Fund

I found this idea at www.cafetraditions.com.

The "Vacation Fund" is a tradition that started soon after we got married. We didn't have a lot of money, but we wanted to be able to make an annual vacation part of our marriage. I suggested that we start to save our loose change and also to supplement with an extra dollar (or ten) when we had some money to spare. We bought a piggy bank to put the money in and we made a routine of bringing it to the bank once a month so we wouldn't be tempted to use the money for other things. The first year (12 years ago) we saved $197, enough to pay for gas and two nights hotel in Chicago. In the years to follow we've continued the vacation fund and even saved enough to take the kids to Disney World last year.

~Meg L., Cedar Rapids, IA

Russ and I decided to start doing this. We figure that by the time we have all our children and they are old enough to enjoy a big vacation, we will have the money to take them without having to come up with a lot of money at one time.

Family Vacations At Home

Summer is coming, which means family vacation time. But if you are poor like us, you have no money for a family vacation. Why not set dates on your calender to travel to different countries at home. Have your children pick different countries before hand. The day before (or week before if you are the plan ahead type) look up customs, culture and food from that country. On your "vacation day" have to kids decorate and dress up. Teach them about the country and how kids from that country live. Learn a few words in the native language. Cook a meal from that country. Play games from that country. With the internet you can learn all sorts of things. Have fun without leaving your home.

You could also make this a FHE activity. Teach your children that we are all God's children no matter where we live and what country we are from. If anyone from you family has served a mission in a foreign country, they could come and talk about what it was like. Have fun with the idea. There is no wrong way.