Family Fun on a Budget - Expanding Your
Horizons
by Michelle Jones
With a family of 6, finding inexpensive fun things to do is
an everyday challenge. But, I'm happy to report, we have gotten quite good at
it!
We've recently moved to a new area, so that gives us a great
starting place to find new adventures that won't break the bank. We spend a lot
of weekends just piling the entire family in the car and taking a drive with an
undetermined destination. I have to admit though; this may have something to do
with me being at home all week alone with the kids. When the weekend comes,
it's usually me who say's let's GO somewhere, ANYWHERE... PLEASE! Fortunately
for me, my sweet husband knows what that means; it's time to go on another family
adventure!
First, we have to gather our supplies; plastic bottles
refilled with drinking water, a few snacks in case the kids claim they are
starving to death before we make it back to the house, the camera loaded with
film (store brand of course), and never, never do we forget the diaper bag! A
good area map would help, though this is the one thing we usually forget to
bring.
Then, we set off for our adventure. We drive towards a
direction we haven't been before to see what we can find. It's a lot of fun
seeing the other parts of the area that we don't normally see on our regular
routes to work and the grocery store. We usually drive until we've seen enough new stuff
that we are exhausted! But the kids have had a good time playing games in the
car, the baby got a free car ride, my husband made his wife happy and got to see
some new sites too, and as for me, "is the weekend here yet?"
Although regularly moving to a new area is a contributing factor for
this family fun idea, I think just about everyone can get in the car and drive
until you find a place you've never seen before. Try it, you might just start a
new family tradition!
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Copyright 2001,2002 by Michelle Jones.
