Little is much. . .

Little is much. . .

We had a great fun-filled day.  Without grand expenses we packed a variety of activities into one trip.  It took a little research, a little planning and forethought. 

In this tough economy, there are still tons of ways to have QUALITY time with your children.  We do.  If you as your self “How much time you need to invest to have these times?”  You should also as your self, “how much time are my children worth?’

Here was our ALMOST free day.

We started at the mall.  There was a free kids cooking event at 11.  We decorated cookies, colored pot holders and chef hats, made cereal necklaces, learned to twist pretzels and much more.  This was geared mainly towards the little ones but we had plans for the older ones too.  The free kids event was also a coupon bonanza-each booth offering coupons for free or great deals to entice you to their store as well as great samples. 

By being members of the kids club and completing the reading list we were treated to 4 free Chic-fil-a meals, 2 free fries and a free drink (all with gifted coupons we stashed away for today).  That is a lunch at the mall for 5 people! FREE  We made a point to grab the manager after our meal and thank her for supporting the kids programs and that we enjoyed our meal.

With free coupons to Bare Essentuals, the older girls got free makeovers, and loved it!

We headed out to enjoy our free lunch and spent $3.50 using a buy on get one free coupon to Aunti-Anns pretzels to add to our lunch.

With Club Tabby bucks given at the kids’ event the girls got their nails done at the trendy boutique geared towards them.  It was so cute and explosion of trends and glitter.

We then took our book club forms to Barnes and Noble to sit and relax for a few hours enjoying the cool air and reading many new books.  With our completed forms we received 4 new books for free.  

 

We headed off to the zoo to take in a few sights before the closed at 5.  We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the cooling weather of the park.  Noticing a few homeless the girls decided to share our leftovers rather than throw them away.  This prompted a discussion on how much we actually have.

We took off our shoes and rested in the cool grass, we played impromptu games with the cones set up for the zoo event, and we explored nature using the free magnifying glass that was the prize in the Chi-fil-a meal. 

We reentered the zoo for the member’s only zoo party.

The zoo, now much cooler, was now full of musicians, free drinks and popcorn and many animals that were brought out to visit with us.

We ended or day by using Papa’s garden.  Papa received his garden for Father’s day.  We all worked for days clearing a spot, covering the ground with plastic and free mulch, moving concrete benches and large rocks to sit on to make Papa’s garden.  The garden is now a center for family fun.  Papa loves campfires, which is the focus of his new garden.

Do we have much?  That all depends on your definition I guess.  If your idea of much rests on checkbook numbers and the like, then your focus is not where ours is.  We have much; we take great care in spending time with our children and being good stewards of what we do have.  We instill values and true joy in them in real and fun ways, learning as we go. 

Do we have much?, oh, we certainly do.  Anyone who ever needs, knows that we have much ad we share what we have with others too.