Yard Sales!!

I went to some yard sales today. Got some awesome deals!

Bought all these clothes for $8. Three of them are from Ann Taylor. The dress, which fits me perfect and looks SO cute, was over $100 at Dillards (I looked it up). The Green wool coat is adorable! Ok, enough from me.

Rillz really wanted this sushi stuff. He loves going to yard sales with me! When he finds something he wants he will just hand it to me and say "Mindy, I want this" Ha! Makes me laugh. But, my purchasing technique at a yard sale is amazing if I do say so myself! So here is everything I bought for $15. All those yellow/blue things are chopsticks with a napkin and placemats (can you say... SUSHI PARTY!!). We now have a ton of bamboo sushi rolls and paddles. We also got those brita filters that are SPENDY (still a price tag on it that says $25)! And that yellow bottle thing is a dog water bottle. There is also a really nice sushi platter (not pictured) that is currently in my dishwasher . Oh and the best is the dog collar I picked up for Malu. I brought it home and looked at it to see if it fit and the collar is a COACH collar. Haha. My dog owns something coach and I don't. So funny.

Ok, so my yard sale technique...

Rule #1: Always ignore the price tag (if there is one)

Rule #2: Don't ask "how much is this" or "what is the lowest you will take" or "will you go lower"

Rule #3: You say the price first and ALWAYS low ball! May seem like a crazy offer, but you never know! Once you offer a price you can't go lower so start low.

Rule #4: Pile up all your great finds and approach a barter for the price of it ALL. Not individual items. For instance the clothes I bought today... I gathered them all in one pile and asked the lady, "Would you take $5 for these". She hesitated big time and said "I will take $8". Sounded great to me. I am not dumb, I know how much those clothes are REALLY worth. If I would have approached with individual items or asked ahead of time she would have wanted more for the dress and coat. Piles fluster people so they typically just say yes to the price and therefore you are more likely to get a better bargain.

Rule #5: Never bring your purse with you to a yard sale. Leave it in the car. Stash your money in your pockets.

Rule #6: Before approaching the person running the sale, split out your bills. Put in your hand your starting offer price and put the rest of your money away. When bartering hold the money out for the person to take. More likely to say ok!

Rule #7: Always be ok with walking away from an item. A small select of people won't budge. Unless it is something you really wanted and willing to pay asking price, just put it down and say thanks and walk away.

These approaches are very intimidating and take time to get used to. But you will most likely get better bargains out of people. And sometimes, the price tag on the item is already SUPER low and there is no reason to negotiate. Like, if there is a VitaMix for $35. Right, Kristi?!? Haha.

I think bartering is a lot of fun and now I do it for everything, not just yard sales. Good luck!

Camping!

I went camping with the Miller clan. Rillz wanted to go as well but I guess someone has to work. Our time line to leave was 10:30. With a few hiccups in getting the truck packed we finally left about 1:00. We were headed to Sagehen Reservoir. About 2 1/2 hours away. Kristi and I thought we were going to die off a cliff on the way there. Poor Jeff had to deal with us freakin out. We got to the campgrounds and there was hardly anything available. We finally found a spot to set up camp.

We set up the tent... phew, all the parts were there. The tent was big enough for all of us.
Me and Breckie boy. He was happy happy!
Gunnar was a fun little boy to camp with! When he wasn't WAY overly tired he was great and helped with everything!
This kid would NOT stop eating rocks! He would pack his mouth full if we weren't watching. Such a stinker.
Peak-a-boo


Watch out... a deer! Haha. Ok, it's lame but Gunnar thought I was funny!


We had to go find wood for our camp fire. We road our bikes up a trail and found some. Jeff had to saw a log up, and he did some of it with a baby on his back. Oh and Jeff road his bike with Brecken in the backpack! Ha! Brecken fell asleep and we thought he was dead because how could he possibly fall asleep with all that jerking around? Don't worry, no babies were harmed.

After we collected the wood we put it in the kids bike trailer. Hence why Brecken wasn't riding in that and as you will see nor was Gunnar.

Gunnar road up the trail in the bike trailer but it being filled with wood on the way back Gunnar clearely wouldn't fit. So... this is how he road back. With Kristi on her bike! No Gunnar's harmed in this attempt.

We took Rillz's truck up and brought him back a souvenir. The souvenir kinda found us!
The next day (saturday a.m.) we all went on a 4 mile hike. It took us 4 hours! but was great and relaxing. Besides Gunnar and Jeff (and by no choice, Brecken) almost falling down the side of the mountain into the lake, everything went pretty smooth.

The Miller family 2011! You like Gunnar's pants? He didn't pack any pants. The morning was still kind of cold so Gunnar just wore his jammie bottoms. He was embarrassed at first. He asked me and Kristi if he looked like a girl. We then realized he thought the jammies under the shorts looked like leggings like the little girls wear right now. Oh, and how about Breckens socks? Someone forgot to pack Brecken some socks so he has Jeff's socks on.

We also went canoeing and bike riding again. It was a fun camping trip! We plan on going again next month. :)

How the pool came about...

Two summers ago Gunnar came over to our house to have a campout in the backyard. I was still at work so Rillz had to hang with Gunnar for the afternoon. When I got off work I came home to Rillz and Gunnar filling up a pool. Wow. Cool. I wonder why we are now owners of a $100 pool. The story goes like this...
Rillz- I bought Gunnar a pool
Mindy- Wow that's a big pool for Gunnar
Rillz- I had to buy this one. I took Gunnar to Walmart for a kiddie pool and showed him the little pools. We walked down the pool aisle and he saw this one and wanted it.
Mindy- You let a 3 year old pick out the pool?
Rillz- I had to... he was about to cry. I couldn't have him throw a tantrum in Walmart. I didn't know what else to do. If he threw a fit, I might have hit him.
Mindy- Hahahaha! You panicked and gave into a 3 year old. How funny!

So, that is how Gunnar got the Rivera household a new big "kiddie" pool. The best... that first year Gunnar was afraid to go in it and didn't even use it at all.
Last year we didn't set it up. Just didn't have time. This year our backyard is a little more organized and we set it up. It would fit 4 adults hot tub style. Rillz was determined... this year Gunnar WILL get into his pool!
We had a bbq last week with Heidi and Kristi's family over. It was nice and sunny and Gunnar GOT IN his pool! He loved it and so did Brecken. Cami... not so much. I also bought a hammock on the 4 of July. So comfy. Love it!
We bought a cover this year that makes the pool water warmer. It's nice.

My new hammock! Love it.