When kids say there's nothing to do...check out these ideas!

It seems like this summer is going by so quickly. My kids have less than four weeks left of their summer vacation before they go back to school. There's still plenty of time to have fun while doing it on a budget.

Here are a few ideas of fun activities to do when your kids say there's nothing to do.

Something new this summer my kids can't do enough of is gymnastics. They don't take classes, but they still like bouncing on a trampoline and flipping around. We found  several local gyms offering open gym for kids.  Open gym is where kids get to use the equipment and work on their skills without a teacher. One place my girls love to go to is Gold Medal Gymnastics in Pinellas Park. They offer open gym on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for only $5 a child. You can find out more on their website at www.goldmedalgym.net.

If your kids like to bowl, you can register them for two free games of bowling a day all summer long. This is part of the Kids Bowl Free Program. Bowling centers around the country participate in this.   We have several local bowling alleys participating including: Locally Liberty Lanes, Ten Pin Lanes, Countryside Lanes, Dunedin Lanes, Seminole Lanes and Sunrise Lanes participate.  You register online and print out tickets each week. I have registered my girls the past several years for this and they love it. The only thing you have to pay for are the bowling shoes, but if you have them than it is totally free. The website to register is www.kidsbowlfree.com.

There's also a program for kids 12 years and younger to skate for free at local roller skating rinks. You can sign up at www.kidsskatefree.com. You can bring your own skates or rent skates for a nominal fee. Astro Skate in Pinellas Park offers free skating on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Each rink has their own hours for free skating.

I know my kids love going to the movies especially the theatres with the recliner seats. They are pretty awesome! Cobb Theatres offer movies for free on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. Local movie theatres like Cobb Tyrone Luxury 10 and Countryside 12 in Clearwater are participating this summer.  Regal Theatres offers movies for kids for $1. The movies are G and PG rated and are offered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am. Park Place Stadium 16 in Pinellas Park is one of the local theatres participating this year. There are some really good movies this summer. To find out the movie dates and times go to the movie theatres website.

Maybe watching a movie outdoors is more your style. Every Friday and Saturday nights Pier 60 in Clearwater offers fun family movies for free all year long. The movies begin at dusk. For a list of the movies go to www.sunsetsatpier60.com and click on Sunset Cinema.

Your kids can also go to a Tampa Bay Rays game for free over the summer if they read. The Rays Sponsor a reading program called Reading with the Rays.You need to go to your local library to get a score card to write down all the books your child reads during the summer. If they complete 24 hours of reading, they can get a free ticket to a Rays game. Both of my girls enjoy reading and love going to the Rays games, so this is extra incentive to read over the summer.  The Rays also have $2 kidsTuesdays for all their home games. Kids 14 and under are only $2 with a full-price adult ticket.

Minor league baseball teams also offer great discounts. Most of the of the teams have fireworks after the game. We are so fortunate to have the Clearwater Threshers, the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees all playing in the Bay area. Check out their websites for ticket promotions. Tuesdays is dollar day at Clearwater Threshers. You can purchase a ticket for $1 and most food is also $1.

Make sure you and your kids visit Largo Central Park when they have their train rides. It's something for the whole family. The first full weekend of every month, the Largo Central Railroad offers rides on their miniature train to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Largo Central Park.  Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. For more information visit their website at www.lcrailroad.com.

If you want to beat the heat check out the Kiwanis Sprayground in Dunedin at 1937 Ed Eckert Drive. It's an interactive water park open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to sunset. It's free and kids love playing and spraying each other with water. Dell Homes Park in St. Petersburg at 2741 22nd St. S. also has a Splash Pad Water Playground open from 9 a.m. to sunset daily.

Of course there's always aquariums and theme parks to go to that aren't too far away including: Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens and Lowry Park Zoo to name a few.  We also have fantastic museums including: Morean Art Center, SalvadorDali Museum, Great Explorations Children's Museum, Glazer Children's Museum and more. Some of the attractions have deals on certain days like the GlazerChildren's Museum where kids get in free between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.

There are so many great ways to spend your summer having fun with your kids without leaving your wallet empty. Hopefully some of these ideas will help you keep your kids entertained during the rest of the summer before heading back to school.

Family fun at minor league baseball games

Looking for something to do with the family that is fun and won't cost you a lot of
money? Recently my family went to a Clearwater Threshers Baseball game on Friday
night and paid $32 for tickets which included four fantastic field box ticket, four shirts,
four sodas, four bags of chips and four hot dogs. There was also a post-game country
concert included the night we went. You really can't beat that for a night out.

This deal is every Friday night home game during the season. It's called the Tampa Bay
Times Family Pack. You do need a coupon and can find it in the Tampa Bay Times
Newspaper.

We went with a group of 18 people and had a great time cheering on the Threshers team.
The Threshers are the minor league team for the Philadelphia Phillies. We are so fortunate to have not only the Clearwater Threshers, but several minor league teams right
here in the Bay area including: the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees. We've
been to each team it's stadium and have a blast.

What my kids love with the minor league teams is being able to get autographs from the players after the game! They also like the contests during the innings throughout the
game. There are races on the field, shirts thrown into the stands and lots of other crowd
interaction.

Minor league teams are great because the teams do all sorts of promotions throughout the
week to get you to their games and the tickets are very reasonable. Most ticket prices around $8 for adults and $6 for kids and seniors. A lot of the minor league teams even have a day when kids get in free to the game and some have fireworks after the game. The Threshers have fireworks every Saturday night home game.

Check online to see what kind of promotions each team is running. If your kids are on
little league teams and you want them to have the opportunity to take the field with the
pros, call the team. It's a great experience and one your kids will remember. My girls
have done this the past two years with their teams and it is a great memory.

What's nice is there are a lot of games and the games will run all summer long. Most
teams play until first week of September. No matter what age your kids are, it's a great
time for the whole family!

Family fun at minor league baseball games

It's summer and what would summer be if you didn't go to a baseball game? My family loves baseball. Of course our favorite team is the Tampa Bay Rays! But we also like to support the minor league teams in our area: the Dunedin Blue Jays, Clearwater Threshers, Tampa Yankees and Bradenton Marauders. 

These teams are a lot of fun for the family. Recently we went with our girls softball team the Riptides from Gulf Beaches Little League to the Clearwater Threshers game and bought tickets for $14. The price included admission plus all you could eat and drink from select concession items including hot dogs and hamburgers. We had a blast that night because the softball team was honored at the game. 

Our girls team was announced prior to the game, given a baseball, had a chance to meet all the ball players and get a picture with Phinley the team's mascot. The kids had great seats and even caught a few foul balls. Some of the girls from the softball team were in the races the Thresher's play during innings like spaghetti dodge ball and riding small bikes around cones. One of our coaches, Darren McClellan even won $300 by throwing a baseball through a very small hole! The Thresher's made it a memorable night for both the kids and their families.

Minor league teams are great because the teams do all sorts of promotions throughout the week to get you to their games and the tickets are very reasonable. Most ticket prices around $8 for adults and $6 for kids and seniors. A lot of the minor league teams even have a day when kids get in free to the game and some have fireworks after the game.

My family had the opportunity to attend mascot day at the Dunedin Blue Jays game a few weeks ago. We went to the game because my youngest daughter received free tickets from her golf camp because Largo Recreation's mascot Captain play was going to be at the game. It turned out to be a pretty inexpensive night. We even got parking for free because at this stadium parking is free. The only money we ending up spending was on concessions and the prices weren't too bad. Drinks were $3-$5, pizza was $3.50 and hotdogs were $3. The kids were so excited because they even got a free bobble head of the Blue Jay's mascot D.J. There were tables once you got inside of all sorts of fun things to do with the kids.

The girls got their faces painted, a person made balloon animals and there were games. My oldest daughter even won a free Blue Jay's shirt with a $10 gift card to Rally. We had great seats too right down the first base line. The only sad thing that night was the Blue Jay's lost. We will have to go back again to see them win.

If you get a chance head out this summer with your kids to a game. Check online to see what kind of promotions each team is running. If your kids are on little league teams and you want them to have the opportunity to take the field with the pros, call the team. It's a great experience and one your kids will remember. 

America's Favorite Pastime Brings Fun Times

Baseball games are a great summer pastime for the family. We are big Ray’s fans, so we usually go to a few Ray’s games during the summer with our two little girls.

Recently, our friends invited us to watch the Phillie’s Minor League team, the Clearwater Threshers play at Bright House Field in Clearwater.

We had a blast!  If you want affordable family fun, this is a great place to go. You can get in for as little as $5 a ticket. Parking is $2.  And the food is very reasonable. You can check their website for promotions and specials. It looks like from the website they have a lot of specials during the season.

They also have a wonderful Sunday Brunch, which includes a club level ticket and an all you can eat buffet for $12. This is offered during Sunday home games (August 12th and August 19th) from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

We happened to be there on a night when they did a fireworks display. It was incredible. It lasted for more than fifteen minutes. I timed it! We were really impressed. There are three more nights of fireworks this season. The next one is August 11^th.

They also have lots of activities for the kids to do. Our girls had fun bouncing in the bounce house, playing on the playground, hitting a baseball. All of this for free in the Kids’ zone area. The only part of the kids’ zone that we paid a $1, was to see how fast you could pitch the ball. I think my husband had more fun at pitching than the girls. 

We are fortunate to have quite a few minor league teams throughout Florida. Even though my kids didn’t know any of the minor league players like they know the Ray’s players, they still had a lot of fun cheering for them.

Every time, I go to a baseball game I see why it is called America’s pastime. If you want to experience it, take your kids to a game.