"Mom, dad, our lives our busy. Having two young children means any trip has to be planned well in advance, and inevitably has to be balanced against other conflicting activities. I'd love to visit you more, but we also have to think about what kind of activities are going to be best for the whole family - you live in a place where there isn't much to interest a young child aside from your company. Sometimes when we take trips we want to go to the beach, or to a museum, and as they get older they'll be wanting to spend time with friends, and they're also getting involved with school and clubs and things - I'm sure you remember what it was like. So, unfortunately, sometimes the balancing means that we can't make that extended weekend trip to see you, but if you'd like, we can definitely look for places for you to stay near us if you'd like to visit, or see if there's something interesting we could all do together partway between - I'm sure the kids would love it if you showed them around Jackalope Mountain Wildlife Preserve and then we all went for ice cream afterwards."

Their response to a perfectly reasonable compromise will tell you everything you need to know, and money doesn't have to enter into the discussion at all, Prudie.