Shhh... Don't Tell Anyone...

Honestly, you don't realize just how good you have it until you are away. For example:

Brenna & Caelan go to preschool & gymnastics at Triad Kids Campus. For under $375 per month they each have a one hour gymnastics class per week, Caelan has 1.5hours of preschool (a class of 10 with 2 teachers) a week and Brenna has 7.5 hours (a class of 12 with 2 teachers). The facility is huge, the classrooms are large & airy and the staff and teachers are amazing.

Now, I know my standards may be high... But, just as comparison...

For 8 weeks of gymnastics here, in a gym 1/4 the size of Triad's and a class 3x bigger we paid $268. Ouch! And for Brenna to attend a preschool (Caelan isn't old enough in the state of Massachusetts) 2x a week, 8 hours total for 6 weeks (in a class of 20 with 2 teachers) is $415! OUCH! This preschool can't even begin to compare to what we are used to in terms of space or quality. And it's one of the best in the area!

Of course the places we are going are nice... They just aren't as nice as what we are used to.

Now, Doug makes a nice income... Upper middle class- in Iowa at least. I'm not sure how people live out here with the cost of housing, child care, schooling... Wowsers.

But, let's just keep this between us. If all these coastal people realized just how good we have it in "fly over" country they might decide to move!

On that note: As we were dropping Doug off at the train station today a lady pulled up beside the van. I rolled down my window (does a window roll down if it's automatic?) to have her ask if we had just moved to Massachusetts. I told her that Doug is working out here for a while. Turns out her family moved out last summer from Johnston- another Des Moines suburb. "it's a small world after all..."
Just so you know... I'm not moving here...