Thrifty Thursday

Lunch and play for TOTALLY FREE. How.?....where?.....you ask. Try your local park. I know...boring right? Well, it's not to your kids. When was the last time you made a real picnic lunch (not fast food from Micky-D's on the way) and took a blanket to lay out on the grass? It's amazing how super-exciting this is to kids. I remember it VERY well as a child too...it was one of my most favorite things to do. Even if we couldn't go to the park, it was SO cool to make our lunches up in little baggies, pack up drinks and napkins and take a blanket outside in our yard and have a picnic. Anyway, a lot of parks these days have even added sprinkler parks where the kids can get wet and have fun. We have a park nearby that has a nice pavillion, lots of trees, a great "regular" park with swings and slides and all that stuff plus a wonderful new sprinkler area. For absolutely FREE, me and the kids can spend an afternoon there and have lots of fun. I take a book or a magazine and lay out/read while they splash in the water, then we have our lunch on a blanket under a tree (and get a little dried off) then we go over to the regular park and have some fun there and then usually end up back in the sprinkler part again for a bit to cool off before we head home. By this time the kids are usually totally pooped and ready for rest and relaxation which equals quiet time for mommy and daddy! yay!
Anyway, I know this wasn't the most ingenious Thrifty Thursday you've ever heard...but sometimes the simplest things are the best and we just have to be reminded of them. I also have to give a big HOORAY to Logzie for last weeks Thrifty Thursday where she talked about the Library. It is also one of my favorite things to do with the kids. Our library has a special little area for kids that has toys and books and comfy chairs. Most of the time during the midde of the day in the middle of the week, we are the only ones there so we just stay for an hour or two and play/read. I know that is something we could do at home...but at home there are so many distractions and I just never do it. One day, I actually took a nap at the library while the kids played. They were doing so well, playing quietly in the corner so I just put on my sunglasses, hunched over in the corner by them and dozed off. Matt thinks I am CRAZY for this...but hey...when you're a mom whose on the go all of the time...you learn to grab a nap when you can...whenever...wherever! ha ha
One last tip...I think we may have mentioned this one before...but just in case some of you don't know this...Thursday's is cheap Happy Meal day at McDonalds. Hamburger Happy Meals are, I believe, only $1.59 on Thursdays. Then, if you want to be even more thrifty...I order a side salad for .99 cents, a McChicken sandwhich for .99 cents and a water. For 2 bucks, I make myself a chicken salad. (I usually throw away the bun--or sometimes eat 1/2 of it with my salad). It costs us a total of around $5.50 to eat there. (and you're not consuming too many calories either! BTW, a side salad only has 20 calories in it!! And their Newmans Own Balsalmic Vinagrette dressing is TERRIFIC. It only has like 30 calories!! )