We can!!!

Here is how we do it:

We chose to do day trips to state parks, or local parks. We walk the trails, check out the ponds for fish/reptiles/turtles, collect sticks and rocks, look for bugs, play on the equipment, ride our bikes, fly kites ,etc.

We pack our own snacks and bagged lunches too!!! I find that works best for us. When the kids get whiney, that means there are hungry and then voila ~ there's the lunch. No drive thrus or lines to wait in and more importantly no spending extra cash.....just....immediate satisfaction!

Yesterday before we set out we packed some apple wedges, Oatmeal on the Go bars (yummy by the way), and popcorn. We ate those as we walked around the park, and then come lunch time we broke out our sandwiches, yogurts and bottled waters (in our own sippy cups). This is what the kids normally eat at lunch so we didn't even have to worry about "will they eat this" and waste money on some dried up hotdogs or chicken nuggets!

We got home from our day at the park and then turn on the water sprinklers and let the boys have fun. They enjoy jumping through them and getting wet ~ at least my oldest does!!

While they are drying off, we have popsicles on our front porch and wave to the neighbors as they walk by!!!

Once they are dry, we paint a picture of the day we just had. It's always so colorful and beautiful!!! A great memory.

When we get them in their jammies, we grab the flashlights and have bed time storytime in the dark. (under the covers). They LOVE that!!!!

The next day we talk about the day before. Look at our collection of sticks and rocks, and start the day all over again. Maybe this time, heading to an indoor play center (in a mall) and having fun there. Again, bringing our own snacks and lunches and eating them whenever the time sees fit!

Have not spent a cent for the entire weekend, yet we spent quality time together and had a lot of fun!

__________________
Come Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS

Ask me about Moderator Possibilities with Mommysavers

We can IF we don't leave our small town! Right now we enjoy working in our yard and spend a lot of our weekends with that. We also (when I'm not recovering from having a baby) like to bike and talk walks in the neighborhood. We have a wildlife refuge that we enjoy visiting and during the months of late July and August we spend a lot of our town out in the woods picking huckleberries. Before gas prices jumped we use to take drives around the area but that has pretty much ended now days.

I do see one thing, about not spending money on the weekends, you need a well thought out plan and be well organized otherwise it is too temping to go out and eat breakfast, or lunch, or dinner, or all three!

Yep. We do it all the time. We never go anywhere on the weekends as a family.So we don't even use up the gas in the car.

We do almost every Saturday. The kids "campout" in our room on Friday night then we sleep in on Saturday. Sometimes we do yard work together then just play outside all day, sometimes we watch movies on tv together or play games. We also like to go to my grandparents who have a pool and spend the day there. But we never buy anything.

__________________
Jenifer
Proud wife to one amazing man
Proud mom to four awesome kids

Have a safe and blessed New Year!

I should also mention that since having lived through THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT of rain we've become very creative in our indoor play!

We made forts out of our couch cushions.
We pitched our tent in the garage and let the kids play in it. W
e played NUMEROUS HOURS of hide and seek and Eye Spy.
We made home made bubbles and turned on the fans to have them blow them through the room!
Playdoh of course.....and
pudding finger painting.
Dh offered up some "nasty smelling" shaving cream so we used that to make pictures on the cookie sheets with our hands. It also served to be a great way to help my four year old practise writing his name.
We played the game "elefun"......that is so fun (even for the adults!!!).
Go fish is another popular game we like to play.
Treasure hunt with a map. They had to "trek" through the house to find their mid morning snack, while I took a shower!!!!

We can if I do some planning. We usually are at home over the weekends unless we are traveling to my inlaws. Tomorrow dd & I are having a special girls day & we are going to the movies. So I will spend some money tomorrow but it is well deserved. On Saturday depending on if it's raining or not we will probably go to the park in the morning before it gets hot & take our lunches. Then come home & play games, play outside, read books. Watch movies.

__________________
Mommy to Ariana 8/11/01 & Davis 4/11/05
I love my kiddos!

[/url]

I could if it were just me and the kids but I swear that dh feels like he is not himself if he doesn't spend money on someting. It is driving me nuts but he is slowly getting better at it so I will just keep trying and see how things go.

Exactly where do you find a state park that is free? It costs money just to drive in any around here.

Oh, wow! You all are my heroes!

I'm hoping to try this tactic this weekend. Wish me luck!

We go to the parks/lakes all the time and walk the trails.. We think it is soo fun and gets the kids up and active.