Family Fun on a Budget

Now that the weather is getting nicer, hopefully, it's time to get outside and have some fun! My husband is a school teacher and I am a stay at home mom, so we look for things to do on a budget! It is definitely possible. This is where the creative juices need to start flowing! I want to share a couple of things we like to do when the weather gets nicer, that may give you some ideas.

Airplane's, Ice Cream and play

My husband has his private airplane license, it is not something he gets to do as much as he would like, but he loves airplanes. We have been taking Cadence to the airport to watch airplanes since she was a little baby, and we continued the tradition with Stevie. They love it, so does my husband, and I like seeing everyone happy! So airplane spotting is free (AWESOME)! There is a really great park close to our local airport that has a small animal barn, playground and walking trails. We will head over there, check out the animals and then burn some energy at the playground. We can also see the airplanes right from the swings! After that we head over to this awesome dairy barn. We first discovered it when the girls were young and had food allergies. They have gluten free ice cream cones and dairy free ice cream. That is so hard to come by! Such a fantastic find for us! Watching Stevie have an actual ice cream cone for the first time was priceless! Once we have our ice cream in hand we head over to our plane spotting site, and relax for a bit! A morning, or afternoon of fun, for under $20.00. You can cut out the stop at the ice cream shop, and it is FREE!

Playground

Playground

The playground is a no brainier budget friendly activity! The girls would spend everyday all day at any playground we took them too! We have a fantastic playground that was fully renovated last year, its great! We have a walking trail right behind our house, we jump on that and walk about a mile to and from the playground! Great exercise for all of us, and the destination for the girls is motivation to get to the finish line! The downside about this playground is, I don't go on the walking trail alone, and the playground is really big, so keeping an eye on both girls at the same time by myself stresses me out just a little, so this isn't one I choose when I take the girls myself. We have a playground a town over from us, that has walking trails, is on the river, has soccer and baseball fields, and two age appropriate play grounds that are fenced in! This is my spot during the day with the girls for sure! We like to go when school is still in session, the local high school has a rowing team, so the girls love watching the students practice and compete on the river! We walk on the trails a bit before heading to the playground so momma can get a little exercise in also!

Science Center

A year round favorite for us is our local Science Center. We have been asking for this as a Christmas gift for two years now. The girls love it. I highly suggest when someone asks what your kids want for Christmas, look into yearly passes for aquariums, science centers or a children's museum. Places that you can visit on a whim, and won't cost much or anything at all! For us, it's the Science Center. It is fantastic to have in the winter months, and rainy days or super hot days in spring and summer. We can go for an hour, or 3 hours! The best part is, because of our family pass, we pay $5 for parking and THAT IS IT! Another great outing, low in cost and when I take the girls to during the week, no one is there!

Hiking

Last year we started taking the girls hiking. We have a spot right here in town. It is about two miles total, perfect for little legs. We hike up hill a lot on the way to the top of the mountain, so we pack water and snacks of course. It is impossible when you are 2 and 4 to make it on a hike without a snack, did you know that?! The best part about it is exploring nature with the girls. Getting out, away from electronics, TV, social media, text messages, phone calls, you name it! The girls are learning how to follow trail markings, listen for birds, find the perfect hiking stick, climbing broken tree limbs, and just being kids! Nothing better then watching your children run wild and free, and explore our own mother earth! The view from the top is spectacular, there are benches to sit for our well needed snack upon arrival! A quick rest and recharge and down we trek! A great family trip!

University of Connecticut

Another very cost effective trip we take is to the UCONN campus. We live about 25 minutes from the University of Connecticut. The college campus is expanding and has so much to do! Our favorite is to visit the cattle and equestrian barns. They are open to the public daily. The girls are able to get up close to the cows and horses. They absolutely love it. On of our visits there happen to be a cow in labor, another time we were able to see a baby horse just a month old! The girls feel like we are at the zoo! It just goes to show you it really doesn't take much to make kids happy, being busy is all it takes for my girls. On occasion we will stop at the book store, or the local dairy barn for ice cream, but that is very rare. Stevie was allergic to dairy until not too long ago, so we have not gone to the dairy barn on this adventure yet. If you are a Connecticut resident, this is a great thing to do with little ones. I am hoping we catch an equestrian event one of these times!

I hope some of our outing adventures are helpful for things you can do and places to visit in and around your town or city. If you are local to Connecticut and wondering about the places we visit please reach out, I would be happy to share!

#fun #family #budget #spring #summer #hiking #animals #airplanes