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.

Mini Vacation in Orlando at Gaylord Palms

Family time at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando.

The glass atrium view from the room
balcony.

What a great time our family had enjoying SummerFest at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida this summer. We had the pleasure of staying two nights at this beautiful hotel during Father's Day weekend.

The resort has a phenomenal 4.5 acre glass atrium with some of the best gardens and landscaping I have seen. If you can get a room with an atrium view it really is worth it. Having coffee in the morning on the balcony overlooking the atrium was so peaceful and relaxing. A great way to start a morning!

Enjoying dinner at the Moor Restaurant,

On our first night we explored the resort deciding to have dinner at the Moor, which is a restaurant inside the hotel with an indoor saltwater lagoon. 

Rock n' Roll Never Dies
Ghost Tour.

After dinner we went on the Rock n' Roll Never Dies Ghost Tour. It is offered on Friday and Saturday nights at 7p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. during the SummerFest. It's easy to find and right at the front where you check in and it's $9.99 per person. This is a guided tour through the Gaylord Palms atrium. You carry a flashlight and hear ghost stories for about a half hour.  It's scarier if you go on the last tour of the night!

Girls waiting to go down
the Florida Free Fall Drop.

On Saturday, we explored the hotel more and enjoyed the amenities including the Cypress Springs Family Fun Water Park with a beautiful pool and water slides. The girls were brave enough to go on the Florida Free Fall drop slide and the Tamiami Twister racing slides. Even though it was a long wait, the girls said it was worth it to try it out.  They had a blast!

I think the highlight for our family was all of us trying the FlowRider, which is surfable wave simulator. You have to request a time to ride the flow rider at the towel hut. Tip: Set this up right away, so you have a time. Each time slot is for 30 minutes and it cost $20. They fill up fast. 

Randi on the FlowRider.

Graci on the FlowRider.

We were rained out the first night, so check the weather too! I was a little hesitant to try it because I thought I could get hurt if I flipped over, but after watching others and my two daughters convincing me to try it, I did! I am so glad I did it because it was awesome! By the end of the half  hour,  our daughters were able to stand up and surf. 

Ben enjoying the FlowRider!

Even my husband was doing tricks on the surf board. We met friends who said they stayed at the hotel just to go on the FlowRider and surf! They even had their own surfboards and were great at surfing!  

We had a great time enjoying the pool. It was a weekend, so it was crowded. Tip: Go early to grab a chair. Parents, there's also a really nice adult pool called the South Beach pool, which is beautiful and very relaxing.

Graci and Randi made "Kidz Sushi" aka candy sushi.

There are great activities and crafts for the kids during SummerFest. My girls loved the junior chef classes. This is only offered on Saturdays and is $14.99 per child.  I highly recommend doing this with the kids, my girls loved it! Each week it is something different. My girls had fun making "Kidz Sushi," which was actually candy sushi. The kids designed their own chef hats and had classes with a culinary expert. We also enjoyed devouring their creations!

The girls also had fun going to the Relache Spa and creating their own "Rockstar Fizz" this was a bath ball with essential oils.

The girls picking out their
essential oil for their bath ball.

There are three different items kids can create. They can make one or create all three to bring home. They include the a fragrant lotion, scrub or fizz. This is available Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. You can stop by or set up a time. If the kids want to create one item it's $6.99, two items is $12.99 and three items is $18.99.

  

There are plenty of other things to do around the resort that are included in your stay. We ventured out to the dive-in movies and saw Sing!  It was a beautiful night and different watching a movie poolside. The movies are daily at 8:15 p.m. There are also fish feeds and alligator feedings. Sing-a-long shows and morning cartoons and a scavenger hunt.

Ben and Graci taking a photo
with the SummerFest lanyard.

Right now the they have a great deal for families with SummerFest featuring the Surf In & Rock Out Package with rates starting at $179 per night, plus taxes and fees. You get a welcome bags, two drink tumblers that include unlimited soda refills, $25 resort credit per night and a SummerFest lanyard for each guest on the reservation. Tip: The drink tumblers are awesome! Each drink is a savings of at least $4, so well worth it. There are several stations you can get the refills throughout the resort.

We were there for two days and we didn't want to leave because we were having so much fun. It was a fabulous mini-vacation!

**Click here for a link to special rates for SummerFest.

**To see more photos and video check out Instagram at Mom2MomwithKadi

Highland Family Aquatic Center Opens for Mother's Day Weekend

The Highland Family Aquatic Center in Largo will open on Mother's Day weekend, May 7-8 form 12 pm to 4 pm. they will offer a special friends and family rate of $12/$23 for a group of 5 people. 

The address is 13120 Vonn Road, Largo, FL 33774.

Click here for more information. 

Summer Fun 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 8 and 9, 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 Theaters Summer Movie Express. It runs for 9 weeks starting June 10^th in our area.  The movies are Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute. Click here for the movies. The movie theaters 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: Smurfs 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Arthur Christmas and more.

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, in Dunedin to Dunedin Lanes and in Port Richey to Lane-Glo Lanes North. Kids get to bowl 2 games free a day. You must register at here 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 Tampa Bay 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. The Tampa Bay Yankees have a great kids club where you pay $10 and all Wednesday and Sunday games are free. The Dunedin Blue Jays have a Junior Jays Kids Club and have some free admission days for kids with a paying adult. TheLakeland Flying Tigers offer Sunday games free for kids and on Monday’s tickets are one dollar along with 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 Dances come out and put on a fabulous hula show. They even do the limbo. It is a lot of fun.

If your kids like to read, they can read their way around the bases with the Reading with the Rays program. If kids read 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 earn a free book at Barnes and Noble with the Barnes and Nobel Summer reading program. 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 Barnes and Noble. Click on words for information.

I know the summer can be long, if you don’t have things to do with your kids.  Hopefully this gives you a few ideas for the summer and you won’t have to spend too much money.

Where did the summer go?

The summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It seems like every summer goes faster and faster. I thought maybe it was just me, so I asked a few friends if they thought this summer just flew by and they agreed. I am trying to figure out where the time goes.

As I started thinking about the summer just flying by, I realized my kids are growing up so fast. They are moving up another grade level this year. It’s hard to believe that my oldest daughter is going into fourth grade. In my mind it seems like just the other day she was born. My youngest or my baby isn’t really a baby anymore; she is going into second grade.

I remember the first time I took my oldest daughter to school. It was preschool. I thought it was going to be hard for her, but I think it was harder for me to let go. She was almost four.  She went to the preschool at our church and was in the VPK program, short for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. It’s a state funded preschool program. I remember thinking three hours a day, five days a week is just such a long time to be away from my daughter. By the end of the year, those hours and days went by quickly. Before I knew it, she was graduating from VPK.

After VPK I had another first with my daughter, kindergarten. It was the first time going to school all day. I had a hard time leaving my daughter, but my daughter had a harder time letting me go. It was awful the first few weeks of school. My daughter cried every day for me not to leave her. She had a wonderful teacher, so it wasn’t that. She just wanted me to be with her. After a few weeks it got better. It’s just a transition kids have to go through, some more than others.

First, second and third grades weren’t so hard leaving my daughter. Each year it has gotten easier. I think I am more relaxed because I know the school more and I know the teachers better. As a parent, it’s hard letting your kids go to school when you watch the news and see school shootings and kids being bullied. You want to protect your kids, but most of us can’t be at school with our kids and we just have to just trust that they will be safe.

I would say it gets easier with the second child and it does, but I still have had my moments. I remember leaving my second daughter for the first time at preschool and just bawling my eyes out. I was sad because I knew she was the last one I would have go to preschool. Just like with my oldest daughter everything is a first, with my second daughter everything is the last.

I still keep asking myself, “Do I really have a fourth grader and a second grader?” Moms my best advice is if you have young kids, make sure you take the time to enjoy them. You can’t get years back and you can’t make time go any slower. I’ve tried by telling my girls they can’t grow up, but it hasn’t worked yet.

Free Bowling For Kids

This summer your kids can bowl for free 2 games a day! My kids have done it the past couple of years and it is great fun! Click here to register and all summer long you will receive your free passes for bowling by email.  Bowling Lanes across the United States participate in this so log on to find out which ones are offering this in your area.

How to do it.:

1- Go to the website above to register each child
2- Receive the free bowling passes every week by email
3- Go bowling all summer long

Sounds easy and it is!!!

If you live in Pinellas County the lanes you can bowl for free at are:
Twedt's Bowling Center in Largo 727-581-4102
Ten Pin Lanes in St. Pete 727-381-1010