Summer forecast

Since J and I became parents, summer has always been costly. Spending spikes during the warm months, and the only thing that goes down is our gas bill. So I guess the more time we spend outdoor, the more money we spend too?

Huh.

Despite this awareness, it looks like this summer won't be any different. My parents are coming to visit for a few months (yes, I like having my retired folks around) and my brother will probably come along for a couple or so weeks. This will be their first visit to the States so I expect plenty of fun coming.

J and I don't expect our parents to fork out money when they visit us, and I mean that for food. We like the idea that our folks just relax and build their relationship with our child because they don't get to spend time with him as much as they would like to being geographically apart. But you know what, they are so helpful to us. They made our first few months as parents so pleasant when I had a baby.

Anyway, our current food budget of $750/month will need adjustment when guests arrive. When my sister and brother-in-law were here in March, we spent $1000 for food! They are big meat eaters so that's not surprising, but it's still a hard number to churn. And it's food that we enjoy cooking and having together, which I really don't experience often in the last 6 years.

I also don't know at this point whether we'll still camp because we canceled our plan this weekend due to a family member who decided to leave for her OE (overseas experience) the same time. We want to spend time with her before she heads out of the country for who knows how long!

With that, I leave you a photo I took of this artwork called Propero's Workshop by James Gleeson, which is housed in Art Gallery NSW in Sydney, Australia. Have a fantastic weekend!