Summer Vacation on the Cheap

Summer is fast approaching (there have been a few recent afternoons with temps in the high eighties when it feels as if summer might already be here) and in less than three weeks, my children will be out of school and home with me. All day. Every day. Please excuse me while I breathe into a paper bag...

Traditionally, in that last week of school, teachers start asking the kids, "What will you be doing this summer? Are you going anywhere?" My dad has old home movies of his family driving across the country during the summer, visiting the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. Of course, that was before gas was two dollars a gallon or more. I don't have the money to whisk my kids to Disney for the summer, nor do I have the cash to visit Italy (although I can laze away an afternoon re-reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Tuscan-set Breathing Room and then make a nice lasagna for dinner).

I want my children to have nice summer memories, but I also want to have enough cash to be able to pay for groceries this fall. So hear are a few tips for having a fun (and affordable) summer:

1. Local pools. A lot of people we know spend money to go to the White Water amusement park fifteen miles away and if you can afford the $36 per person admission, enjoy! Those park employees need job security, too. On the other hand, we can use our subdivision pool for absolutely free and a lot of local community pools for nominal charges of 1-5 dollars. Granted, White Water has thrilling ginornmous slides, but my kids are too short for some of those and hate standing in the long lines (and heat) anyway. If you do think you want to spend time at big local attractions this summer--whether it's an amusement park, zoo or museum--consider getting a season's pass early on. That way, you can go back throughout the summer for free and the pass may pay for itself before June is even over.

2. Don't overlook your local libraries! Okay, I'm an author who desperately needs people to buy her books in order to pay for electricity and water, so I heartily endorse buying new books. But let's be honest. None of us have a limitless wallet. I regularly buy my children new books for their collections, but we also make big use of the library. It allows us to check out new authors and strange stories we probably wouldn't have spent money on yet and it allows us to read in bulk. Also, the library regularly sets up free events like children's story time and crafts. Plus, books aren't the only thing you can check out! Last summer, the kids and I checked out (at no cost) the movies Neverending Story, E.T., several animated Disney classics, the entire "Henry" the gecko series on learning about animals (educational and vastly entertaining), the original Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie and lots of more modern releases too.

3. Scavenger hunts. If you have a dollar store in your area, you can find some silly, kid-friendly novelty items. What I do is get a few of those and then we have a pirate day (bandanas on our heads, fishsticks for lunch). My kids get a kick out of strange little things anyway but it was even more fun (and killed more time) when I made them hunt for the "treasure". You could dig up your backyard, bury it and make a map if you want, but my husband would throttle me if I dug up our yard. Plus, it's too dang hot. So I wrote up word clues that were hidden all over the house, one leading to the other until they found the booty. The extra bonus? This gave them lots of reading practice without it feeling like homework.

4. Free movies! Although they aren't advertised through the regular channels (such as the internet or theater phone line) most of the movie theaters around here open early on weekdays in June and July and show free G and PG movies at 9 or 10 in the morning that end before the regular noon showings. You just have to find out what theaters near you partipate and then go to the ticket box to request a schedule. These aren't new movies, but we've discovered a few that my kids were too young to appreciate when the film first came out. In a few cases, they've seen the movie before, but it's still fun to sit in the dark (and blessedly cool air conditioning) and catch it on the big screen.

5. Church camps. Several of the churches around here offer two to three hour morning "camps" where the kids sing, paint and play with water balloons. All of them include some praise and worship, but most of them aren't denominationally specific and welcome kids whether they're members of that church or not. The ones we went to last year, in lieu of a registration fee, asked for a donation for their food pantry. My son and I went to the grocery store where I sent him up and down the aisles in search of cans and boxes advertised "buy one, get ohe free". Which helped again with the reading skills, spending time together, and teaching him about giving back to the community.

So what about you? And cost-cutting tips for enjoying the summer?