Centsible Summer Fun

With lots of days between now and the start of school, my kids have a lot of time on their hands. If I don't find a way to entertain them they will eat all of our food, fight all day and generally do a number on my blood pressure.

By nature (thanks to my math teacher dad), I'm pretty good at being cheap frugal. This is with the exception of most food items and vacation. I think it's important to eat healthy and I'm willing to pay more for particular items. Vacation is money we've set aside already and you only live once, so if I want to do something or eat somewhere, I do it. Jason has finally convinced me to buy myself souvenirs, too, and this year I went a little overboard. But that's okay. It makes up for other years when I didn't really get much.

But I digress. Taking the kids to do something every day would be really expensive, so I'm trying to do it economically. The planning is actually kind of fun.

Last week we studied pancakes. I found some children's books at the library with stories about pancakes, Xander asked me to read him pancake recipes (seriously) and we took a trip to the Westerville Senior Center for their monthly pancake breakfast. Xander embarrassed me flattered some of the ladies by asking, "Where are all the old people?" And apparently Mrs. Butterworth incited the silliness that involved squinting up our eyes for picture-taking. This is why I pay more for REAL maple syrup. The first ingredient in that fake syrup is high fructose corn syrup and HFCS = crazy kids. Proven fact, folks. Stay away from it when you can, it's not good for adults, either.

The kids also tried to shake hands with the statues outside.

We also had a play date with our MOPS friends and did some playing outside. The pancake breakfast was $7 and I think that's all I spent for the entertainment that week. Stay tuned for this week's activities related to animals.