Things to do with the kids this summer on a budget

The kids are out of school and if you are like me, you are looking for fun things to do that won’t cost you ton. Every year I browse the paper, internet and flyers sent home from school to find some of the best and cheapest things to do. Here are some of the activities I’ve done with my two girls, ages 12 and 13, over the years and a few new ones I’ve found.

My kids love going to the movies, but they can be so expensive. During the summer you can go to the movies for $1. This is part of the Regal Theatres Summer Movie Express. It runs for 9 weeks starting June 5^th in our area.  The movies are Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute. Go to their website at www.regmovies.com and look up promotions. The movie theatres locally are Park Place Stadium 16 and Regal Largo Mall 8. The movies are G or PG and start at 10 a.m. Some of the movies include: Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon2, The Lego Movie, the Peanuts Movie, The Secret Life of Pets, The Minions and more.

For older kids and adults Clearwater Beach offers free movies on Friday and Saturday nights at Sunset at Pier 60. You can see movies like Lion King, Black Panther, Apollo, Moana, Jaws, A Wrinkle in Time and more. Go to the their website to find the listings at www.sunsetsatpier60.com.

If older kids want to see the latest releases head to Studio Movie Grill in Seminole all movies all day are $5 on Tuesdays.

My girls love to bowl. Kids can go bowling for free all summer long. It is part of the Kids Bowl Free program. Bowling alleys all around the United States participate. Locally kids can go in Largo to Liberty Lanes, in St. Petersburg to Ten Pin Lanes or Sunrise Lanes, in Dunedin to Dunedin Lanes and in Clearwater to Maple LanesCountryside, in Seminole to Seminole Lanes and in Port Richey to Lane-Glo Lanes North. Kids get to bowl 2 games free a day. You must register at www.kidsbowlfree.com. Remember to bring bowling shoes or you can rent them.

We are so fortunate to have baseball all around us. Not only do we have the TampaBay Rays, but we also have 4 minor-league baseball teams in the area. If your kids like baseball, the minor league team tickets very affordable. The Clearwater Threshers have dollar Tuesdays, where the tickets and food sell for $1. We went recently, and it was a blast. The Tampa Bay Tarpons formerly the Tampa Bay Yankees have a great kids club where you pay $20 and get a bunch of fun items including a hat and all Sunday games are free with a food voucher for hotdog, soda and chips. The Dunedin Blue Jays and the Lakeland Flying Tigers also have kid’s clubs and great promotions on ticket deals and food. Go to the team’s web sites for more information.

One place my two girls love going to is the beach and it’s free. Did you know that on Friday nights there’s a place on North Redington Beach that offers hula dance lessons to kids and adults? It is at Mango’s Restaurant and Tiki Bar which is located right behind DoubleTree Beach Resort. You can listen to tropical music on the beach and right before sunset on Friday nights the Sunset Island Dancers come out and put on a wonderful hula show. The kids have a lot of fun!!

If your children like to read and like baseball, they can read their way around the bases with the Reading with the Rays program. Just for reading a certain number of hours during the summer, they can get a free ticket to a Ray’s game. You can find out more at your local library.

Kids can also earn a free book at Barnes and Noble with the Barnes and Noble Summer reading program. It is for kids grades first through sixth. If your child reads 8 of their own books and journals the books, they can get a free book at the store. You can find out more at www.barnesandnoble.com.

If your children like to build things or make crafts, take them to Home Depot this summer. They offer a free workshop for kids the first Saturday of the month from 9 am to noon.  On Saturday, July 7 they will host a workshop on building a fishing game. Recommended ages are 5-12. The crafts the children make are incredible. The kids get to keep their craft and receive a free certificate of achievement, a workshop apron and commemorative pin. This may be something a grandparent wants to do with their grandchild. I know my kids love it!

The Glazer Museum in Tampa offers free museum admission on the first Tuesday of the month to everyone from 12-7 p.m. You can find out more here. 

The summer is a great time to explore where you live. There are so many fun things to do right in your own backyard. You just have to know where to look and make the most of it!  Hopefully this gives you a few ideas of things to do with your kids and you won’t have to spend too much money.

A little bit of "Heavens" brightened our day

It had been a rough week. My daughter wasn't feeling well and we had seen two doctors that day. The doctors wanted my 11-year-old daughter to have some blood work done, so we picked up my younger daughter from school and went up to the local lab to have her blood drawn.

As we entered the facility, a nice young lady who opened the door for us and said, "Hello," greeted us.  I had been to this lab before and never greeted like this.

At this particular facility, especially lately, the wait can be long, usually an hour if you don't have an appointment. On this particular day, even those with appointments had waited more than an hour. We weren't too thrilled to have to sit and wait, but we had to because the doctors needed the blood work done.

The waiting area of a lab isn't the place you usually meet people, but this day was different. Our greeter came up and started talking to me and my two girls. We knew she wasn't hired to greet people, she just wanted to do it out of the kindness of her heart. As people came in, she would rush over and open the door for them. After opening the door, she would come back and talk to us. She told us her name and we told her our names. She had a beautiful name, but what really stood out to me and my daughters was her middle name. It was "Heavens." You don't hear that every day.

She told us she was 27 years old.  She had quite a few brothers and sisters she named off to us. She also told us her parents were sitting right across from us waiting to do labs. She mentioned she was the manager at the local restaurant Harold Seltzer's. She was the "silverware manager." She wrapped the silverware once a week. She also told us she worked for the Tampa Bay Rays. Her job was to clean the countertops and fill  the ketchup and mustard at the concession stands.

As she spoke, you could hear in her voice  she took such pride in what she did. She mentioned had gotten married a few years ago. She loved her parents and told us they were her best friends. Toward the end of our conversation she told us "I have down Syndrome."

We knew she had Down Syndrome, but that didn't make a difference in who she was. She was such a delight and made our hour plus long wait seem  not so bad. Actually, we felt like we had been given a glimpse of heaven and were blessed that afternoon because she was such a lovely person.

After I thought about our day at the lab, I couldn't get out of my mind how wonderful this woman with down syndrome was and how she shined even with obstacles in her life. She was able to work, get married and was so content with what she had. I also thought about her parents and family and how they had given her such confidence and support. I was also impressed with the two companies, Harold Seltzer's and the Tampa Bay Rays, who employed her.

"Heavens" was just what we needed to brighten our day. If only we could all see life through her eyes.

Free tickets for military to the remainder of the 2015 regular season Rays Games!

The Tampa Bay Rays honor and thank our active duty military, retired and honorably discharged veterans for your service to our nation with the Rays Honor Pass. After qualifying for an Honor Pass, pass holders can obtain two complimentary tickets to as many games as they would like to attend for the remainder of the 2015 regular season.
Click here to get your tickets.

Benefits of kids playing sports

Recently in one week, I went to four ball games. Two were baseball games, the USF Bulls and the Tampa Bay Rays and the other two were my girl’s softball games. As I was thinking about the games, I was reminded about how good it is for kids to be involved in sports.

Graci, center, helped announce the lineup during
the fourth inning of the USF Bulls Baseball game
 on March 16. She is pictured with USF baseball
announcer Alfredo Muente and Marketing
Coordinator Allison Minisce. 

My two daughters’ have been playing sports since they were 4 and 5 years old. The first sport they wanted to play was tennis. I think they started out with tennis because their cousins played tennis. The next sport was soccer, than T-ball, baseball and this year they’re playing softball.

Being in sports has helped my girls in so many ways. They learn how to win and to lose. They learn how to play as a team and as an individual. They learn how work for a goal. They also learn camaraderie and sportsmanship. Another benefit is they are exercising.

Since my kids are young only 8 and 9 years old, they are still learning how to play. This is the first year they have played softball. Most of the kids on the team are learning the positions, how to throw, pitch and catch. In just a few weeks, I have already seen an improvement.

My husband and I always try to encourage out kids.  Sometimes they get upset if they strike out, don’t get a hit or make a bad play. While we were at the Rays spring training game, we were able to show the girls that even the professionals strike out and don’t get hits every time.  They even make errors, but they don’t let it get them down and get right back in the game.

Kristi Bulluck sings National Anthem
at USF Bulls Baseball Game March 16.

My daughter Graci and I attended the USF baseball game to watch one of my sister, Kristi, sing the National Anthem. While we were there we not only saw the baseball game, but had the chance to see the girl’s softball team play for a few minutes. It was a great chance to tell my daughter that if she gets good enough, she could get a scholarship and play softball for college if she wants.

By the way, if you haven’t been to USF for a game it’s pretty neat how the baseball and softball fields are right next to each other. The stadiums are beautiful and kids get in free to the games. It’s a wonderful experience. Graci even got to be the kid announcer during the 4^th inning and go into the press box to announce the Bulls players who were batting that inning. That made her day!

I know from my own experience that when I was playing sports and going to school, I didn’t have time to do much else. I played soccer, basketball and softball. I wasn’t good enough to go to college on a scholarship, but I still enjoyed playing.

If I can encourage parents to help your kids find a sport they like to do, whether it’s a team sport or an individual sport. It can make a big difference in your child’s life.

Here's a clip of Graci announcing the game:

Reading with Rays Pays Off

My family recently had a fantastic opportunity to see our favorite baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays, play the Blue Jays in a game at Tropicana Field Sept. 23, all thanks to my two daughters who read books over the summer.

My girls, ages 5 and 7, took part in the Read Your Way to the Ballpark game. They had to read for at least 24 hours over the summer and then were given a ticket to a selected Tampa Bay Ray’s game.

The Read Your Way to the Ballpark game included reading around the bases. For every few hours they read, they would get on a base, and we would go to the library and have the librarian sign off on the card and give them a Rays prize. First base was a Rays temporary tattoo. Second base was a Rays poster. Third base was a Rays slap bracelet and then home plate, the ticket to the Rays game.

By the end of the summer, both girls completed the reading. We sent in the game card to get their free tickets. As part of the program, you could buy two additional tickets for $2 off each. So my husband and I ordered two tickets. With taxes, they ended up being $10 each. When we got to the stadium, we discovered there was free parking that night (usually it’s $20 to park). So, we got in the stadium with four people for $20. Pretty cheap for a major league baseball game!

Going to the game was a wonderful family night. We decided to go out to dinner at one of our girl’s favorite places to eat, the Angry Pepper on Madeira Beach and head down to the game early. When we got there, we were all handed collectible T-shirts featuring DJ Kitty, the Rays’ turntable-scratching mascot. We were also all given a music card for free songs (though I still haven’t figured out that yet).

My girls wanted to head to the stingray tank to pet the live stingrays. If you haven’t done this, you should. It is really neat and it’s a favorite thing for kids to do at the stadium besides running the bases after a game. In general, the stadium is really family-friendly. There is a kid’s corner on the first level with so much for children to do. They can learn how to swing a bat, pitch a baseball and make a poster for the team.

Our seats were up in Section 318, down the first baseline. Not too bad for the price. The girls had ice cream and were content to watch their team play.

My kids have loved the Rays since they could talk. Their favorite player is Evan Longoria. They even named our puppy after him! In fact, Longoria is the Ray’s player that endorses the Read Your Way to the Ballpark program. When we got the tickets in the mail, a letter addressed to my girls was signed by Longoria. They were thrilled! My oldest daughter ran around the house, saying, “Evan Longoria sent us a letter!” She even told her little friends she got a letter from Longoria.

What a wonderful way for the Rays to be a part of the education community by helping make reading fun for kids. This program also gives parents an opportunity to take their kids to a major league game at a price most can afford.

The Rays have done the Reading with the Rays program for the past few years and will continue next year, according to a ballclub spokesman. You can pick up entry forms next summer at your local library. I would suggest you get your kids involved in this wonderful program. It doesn’t cost anything, and it’s a fantastic way to get your kids motivated to read.

Go Rays!