But not with the real estate bust and economic downturn hammering Fred McGinn, a self-employed flooring contractor, and other parents. Not with Nikole McGinn forced back to the workplace for the first time in 13 years, handling the front desk at a sports club. The soccer-team parents decided to pull the team from the tournament.
"Back in the day, we used to go to tournaments like that and turn them into mini family vacations, maybe go to Sea World, go to the beach, stay in a hotel. So we all just voted no, because it wasn't going to be anything like that," Nikole McGinn said.
Some teens who are old enough to drive and hold a job have found that high gas prices have turned the sense of newfound freedom into a burden.
Keaton, the McGinns' oldest child at age 16 and newly able to drive, rolls in a 1999 Mitsubishi Montero his parents bought for him last year, before the latest surge in gas prices. The West Branch High School student works the cash register at the Cartoon Candy Kitchen at Magic Mountain.
"Every week I get a paycheck, and a little more than half of it goes to gas. It's pretty awful. I can't spend things on other stuff or save money. It's not very fun," Keaton said.
Earlier in the year, Keaton said, he had his summer planned out, driving to the beach every week with friends, seeing the biggest movies. But the reality, with gas so expensive, has been far different.
"Now we are not going to the beach at all because no one can afford the gas," Keaton said, adding that he hoped a new job or a promotion would come along soon.
"I need more money," he said.
Another 16-year-old from Castaic, Cory Evans, had been looking forward to the time in January when she would be able to get her license, but the anticipation has become much more stressful than fun.
"I haven't really thought of a job yet, but I am in desperate need of one. I'll have to help pay for the car. Mom said she will match the money I raise for the car, but the insurance and the gas will be all on my own. I'm worried I won't be able to afford the gas. It's kind of a pain," Cory said.
Older students aren't finding it any easier. Noah Lewkow, 24, a senior at Cal Poly Pomona, faces an 80-mile round-trip commute from Santa Monica in a 2000 Chevy Blazer that gets 16 miles per gallon on the freeway "on a good day."
