These are the right dates for the 2014 Spring Break Plant Sale at SABG. I bumped up last years sale post yesterday. Sorry about that. Thanks Joey for catching it. This post was edited by roselee on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 19:44

Oh my gosh, what a surprise to see my old thread pop up! It was, all in all, a great trip for them all. What worked? Just about everything . . . and thanks to everyone for the wonderful advice! ~ Sleeping arrangements: DD and 2 of the girls fit nicely in DD's room (bed, window seat bed and single mattress on floor). The two other girls slept out on our living room sofas. That room closes off with 3 sets of French doors, so they had a bit of privacy, at least. The 2 guys slept in our guest room. Bathrooms: I decided before anyone arrived that, with seven 18 & 19 year olds in one house, there would be no long baths; only quick showers. So, I put 2 wood tv tables in the bathtub with a laundry basket on each. One held big stacks of folded bath towels and washcloths. The other was for the used ones. I told them not to hang the damp ones. The nightmare of many wet towels hanging everywhere inspired that decision. Great one on my part!!! I just washed and replaced the towels every afternoon while they were out sightseeing. I also had stocked both guest bathrooms with a box of essentials: from travel-size tubes of toothpaste, deodorants, Kleenex; small combs, Tylenol, Tums, Chapstick, toothbrushes, girl essentials, sunscreen. Thank goodness, as they were pretty much all used! ~ I put a supply of local postcards, stamps and pens in each bedroom for them to send postcards quickly and easily. Also a supply of local travel books to inspire their daily outings. ~Food/Meals: as I expected, they ate like they were all starving. They loved my meals . . . even the vegetarian. I'd stocked up on enough snacks to keep them all happy. Thank goodness! ~Sightseeing: LOL LOL LOL!!! None of them had been to New Mexico before and their expectations were funny, to say the least. We have small herds of wild horses, but they're wild, not kept in pens. Our visitors wanted DD to drive them , wherever they were so that they could "pet them" and take pics! That didn't happen (LOL), but they did see some occasionally here and there. Same with coyotes. DD had to warn them not to make a big deal about any Native Americans they saw. They tried to speak Spanish to people here, which was met with patience and kindness (thank goodness!). Our chile was "too hot", but they loved exploring Santa Fe and Albuquerque. And Madrid, NM, where the movie "Wild Hogs" was filmed. What didn't work? Well, getting 7 college freshmen to agree on anything, such as where to go exploring next or what movie to watch, was a PIA for DD. One gal turned out to be a hypochondriac, which frustrated the rest. And, DS & his girlfriend decided at the last minute to cancel their hotel reservations and sleep on a queen-size air mattress in our foyer (the only place left!), as they stopped by for a few days on their way to his new job in Tucson, AZ. So, we ended up with a real houseful . . . but it was a lot of fun. Would we do it again? Yes, if DD asked. Would DD do it again? Absolutely not. She said it was fun but exhausting. This Spring Break she's bringing (just) two of her close friends/sorority sisters here to celebrate her 21st birthday. They'll dance at some of the higher end (read: safe) clubs. Shop Santa Fe and ABQ Uptown. Visit Madrid and The Tram. Eat out at some favorite spots and generally spend all the money their parents promised them for this year's Spring Break on themselves instead of an expensive hotel room. Their first choice, Austin, TX, was pretty much already booked up, as South by Southwest will be there at the same time. They were looking at $500/night for modest hotel rooms and super-inflated SbSW ticket prices! So, we'll be entertaining again, but on a much more sane level! Lynn

Lyfia, For younger kids, a group lesson usually works well. They have the advantage of being able to watch other kids learn and it tends to be more fun for them as well. If a child has special needs, or is likely to learn faster or slower than their peers, then a private lesson would be helpful. But in general they enjoy the camaraderie of other kids. That said, a private lesson with a good children's instructor can be a fabulous experience - for both parties usually! Definitely do not teach your daughter. That's a total no-no. Pro instructors have a million ways of explaining and demonstrating things, can keep kids happy, and won't get frustrated if things get off to a slow start. I always cringe when I see parents teaching kids, and even more so when husbands try to teach wives (total facepalm - as they harp on totally irrelevant "failings" of their spouses technique!). As a random aside, I recently had a gentleman ski up to me and a female client, and offer us his unsolicited suggestion to help us be better skiers (which had the added bonus of being totally incorrect). Somehow he missed the fact that I was in uniform? But I didn't let on. The guy was really proud of himself. We found the whole thing to be both astonishing and hilarious. Mtn, when do you need to commit to the location for this trip? In all honesty, I would be gun shy about the location and the snowpack. But if you can decide in say, December, you'll have a chance to see if the drought pattern has persisted, or if it has changed. It's very sad, and it must be just crushing their ski industry, not to mention the whole natural environment of the region.

DD brought her 12 and 9 year old sons this week for their spring break. We always babysit the boys this week so that DD and SIL can do a 4 day weekend in Napa with his parents to celebrate his birthday this week. DD will fly up to SFO on Thursday, and then we will meet her at the airport with the boys all packed and ready to fly home to Texas on Sunday. A nice change of pace for everyone. DD and SIL are such good parents, and their boys are a delight.