Why The Ashurst Family Should Try Going To The Big House in 2009:
The house is 5 stories high, has 10 bedrooms, 2 big kitchens, 13 bathrooms, 2 hot tubs, 1 indoor pool, a sauna, a pool table, air hockey, 3 big screen TV's, an elevator, wireless internet access, a TV in every bedroom, 3 laundry rooms, 3 huge living areas big enough for all of us to gather in.
All that means there is enough space to be together and enough space to be alone in peace.
The house is at the top of a mountain. Step out the door and you have hiking, biking, climbing. There are ski slopes on the mountain that I bet make for great biking. Drive a short drive and you have rafting, waterfalls, tubing, horseback riding, hot air balloons, petting zoo, national parks. - More than you could do in the short time we'll be there, but it sure is fun trying!
For $125 per family per day we can use all of that glory for 3 days on a weekend. OR for $90 per family per day we can use all of that glory for 4 days mid-week.
Next year there is a Benac reunion to be held in/near Washington DC so some or all of you would be here for that anyway. To tack an Ashurst reunion on only makes sense.
See the website here.
What more could we ask for? I know it's not camping, which is one of the things our family has talked about. But camping wasn't unanimously agreed on. It doesn't make sense for some of us to pay for a house big enough for us to gather in and for some of us to pay less to camp only for the campers to come and take advantage of the house and all it's amenities for free. We'd have to check if The Big House is even available the correct time next year, but maybe we should try. Mom told me to sales-pitch this to you guys and then ask for feedback, so take this as a family assignment. Ashursts, cast your vote and leave your opinions in the comments!
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11 comments:
Well, it does look like an idyllic location for some serious fam. bonding. DC is usually one of the cheapest airports to fly into.
I don't know what we'd do with a 2nd kitchen --- wait, it's coming to me --- yeah, it's for lunches when we all do our own thing, less bonding when we're all stressed, a quick eat and grab and then bonding when we're all happy. I wonder if there's a place where I can take a nap with all the grandkids piled on top?
How about one of the huge sectionals. Or the King sized bed in the master suite. Did I mention there's a huge whirlpool in there?
Here's my thing. Yes, it would be nice to live in luxury, but necessary? no. I see why you say you don't want the "campers" to take advantage of the other people's house. I don't mind paying a little bit more for a house, but not THAT much more. $360 for 3 days is just ridiculous to me. We are going to Disney, and are only paying like $400 for a full week, and that's at Disney! I think we need to scale back. There's a big difference between camping and a luxurious house with 2 kitchens. Can't we find some middle ground? We weren't planning to go to the Benac reunion, because of cost. In addition to the airfare, there would be car rentals, food, and just overall cost. As you might know, we are on a tight budget, and although all of this sounds great, we just won't have it in our budget to spend a couple grand on a vacation (partly because we are already having such a vacation this year, and partly because of the business startup). Anyways, I wish I was excited like all of you, but I'm just not.
Nanc, I'll try to help your cause here. In the past (i'm not sure if they still do it) you could rent the house without renting the 4th floor and the loft for a lower price. So, if you had enough room with the first three floors then maybe that would help the cost.
Well, certainly if not everyone is coming we don't need a big house. I think that what we would be paying for if we decided to go with this house is the location and the ability to all be gathered together in one place easily. Not having to cram into one hotel room in order to spend time together, or share living space with strangers or be on top of each other constantly.
And Kelly Jo Worth's point that we might be able to not rent the full house is a good one. We could certainly live without the 4th floor and loft. That would cut out 2 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, and 1 big living area - but we would still have plenty of space.
Motel 6 in a crappy area costs $39 to $55 or more per night. $90 per night sounds pert near reasonable in price....we just have to figure the budget thing. Airfare is the big one I would think.
Yeah, $90 a night sounds spamtacular, BUT my lil' family has to pay several arms and legs merely to GET to DC. Plus tacking on extra days in addition to the Benac reunion (in addition to travel time) is gonna seriously hurt. But I really, really like the idea! You're a smart cookie, Nanc!
It's good to see all of you weighing in. $90 per night sounds extremely reasonable for any kind of decent lodging. If we are going to go East for the Benac thing, this would be a great add on. I think we would need to know how that is going to pan out before we made this decision, but scheme away.
Yeah, it sounds like maybe we need to back this conversation up a little and start with "Who is up for an Ashurst reunion next summer?" And "Should we try to plan an Ashurst reunion around the timing and place for the Benac reunion?" Once we establish if we're doing a reunion, THEN we can move on to whether or not The Big House is a good option.
Mom is feeling pretty whelmed right now (not overwhelmed..just whelmed) so let's just try to make some decisions here on the blog and then we can move on to specifics and let Mom be more of a spectator than an instigator.
The house sounds great. Participating in the Benac reunions would be great--I can't overstate how wonderful its been for our family BECAUSE most everyone comes EVERY time. If we're all going out to DC we should definitely add on an Ashurst reunion.
That said...I'm worried I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Mark-my-brother did some math and figured out that to get my fam and his out there in a shared, rented RV would cost like $3K (about as much as flying).
I HATE to bring up $ as something that would prevent an awesome reunion. My philosophy has always been that money shouldn't keep us from doing what's most important in life, and to me reunions are up there. But I'm worried I just couldn't make it work. I don't know...Mark gets a huge raise? We get a huge tax return? RRR takes off? I get a new credit card? ;) I let family enthusiasm carry me along?
Seriously, I'll have to think about it. A trip out east with the kids to see the sights...the two reunions...that's the kind of stuff that can really bring families together and that the kids will remember forever.
As far as accomodations: I'd vote for someplace where 1. each fam has its own bedroom 2. there are some big living areas 3. we're near outdoor recreation sites and 4. there are kitchens and bathrooms. I think the decision to scale back to camping should by made by those who will be pregnant or have little babies around that time.
Also, it's conceivable we'll have a foster child whose birth parents won't let her leave the state. But let's not even worry about that at this point.
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