The Homesteading Carnival - Summer Vacation Edition

View from Bell RockI hope you all had a chance to take a summer vacation this year. Perhaps a more frugal one than in previous years, but still an opportunity to spend time as a family, relax, change your routine and do some fun things together. That is what vacation is for us.Bell Rock - yes, we really climbed this!This year, thanks to the generosity of a friend or two, we were able to spend a week in Sedona, AZ for under $500 total. I prepared a lot of the food ahead of time and took everything with us - most of it from things already in the freezer or pantry. We were able to stay in a friend's house for the week, and I used a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate that I paid $2 for to enable my hubby and I to even have a date night out. We even sat through a timeshare sales pitch in order to be able to take our kids to Out of Africa Wildlife Park for FREE! Most of the money we spent was for things we did with our kids, like go to the movies one night, get ice cream a couple of times, go to the top of Mount Agassiz (11,500 feet) on a chair lift and other fun things. My hubby took our son to the very first Cardinals Training Camp Session in Flagstaff open to the public and Cody got his photo with Tim Hightower. We hiked several mountains and trails, and spent a bunch of time just relaxing and playing Wii games with the kids, reading books and watching family movies (no TV there:-)Lizard RockSo I am going to share a few photos along with our great articles for this edition of The Homesteading Carnival. Enjoy a brief trip to Sedona, AZ (and surrounding area)!
Chimney RockRenee Rouse presents Family Meals Under $5 - Spaghetti posted at Frugal-Living-Skills Blog. "...Weekly grocery circulars often read 'feed a family of 4 for under $10.' I'm sure most of you have laughed at this as I did. As a result, I began to wonder what does dinner really cost for my family of 8? So I set a challenge for myself and I figured if I kept it under $5, I was doing good..."Thistle on Oak Canyon hikejim presents Chinese Brown Sauce & White Sauce Recipes posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Make it from Scratch presents Roasting Corn on the Cob posted at Make It From Scratch.

Catherine Love presents Seeds of Love - Pumpkin Pie Spice...not just for pies! posted at Seeds of Love -.

Abi presents Potatoes with a twist.... posted at lighter side.Coffee Pot RockShannon presents Fruitfly Don't Bother Me posted at Mountaineer Country.

00FF00 presents Compost Wars posted at ooffoo.

Sonja Stewart presents What to Consider Before Raising Chickens; Or, Learn From My Mistakes. posted at Parenting Squad.

Dave Trenholm presents An Inexpensive, Hail Proof, PVC Pipe Greenhouse posted at Alberta Home Gardening.

Gregory E. Rouse presents The Wheel Hoe posted at Raised-Bed-Gardening Blog.Cody and Tim Hightower at Training CampThe Smarter Wallet presents 12 Homemade Gift Ideas To Fit A Small Budget posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Alex presents Free Printable Birthday Cards for Dads posted at Home Life Weekly. To make your own free printable Dad birthday cards is really easy all you need to do is download one of the free birthday card designs then print and fold.Slide Rockgp presents Red Neck Etiquette and General Good Advice « Musings from Montana posted at Manely Montana.

Investing Toolkit presents Why Should I Start Investing? posted at Investing Toolkit.Sunset over Sedona from Airport MesaThanks to all our great contributors for their thought-provoking and informative articles! Next weeks' carnival on August 17, 2009, will be hosted by Jammie at Handmade at the Farm. Don't forget to send in your entries!Our Family in our Red Rock Shirts