Scoring Big with Thrifty Family Fun: Drive-In Movie!

The Drive-in...not like it was in high school!

My Dad happened to mention to me a few days ago that our local drive-in theater was going to be free on Thursday night. My biggest concern was that it was a school night and also Chip would be working so I'd be attempting to pull off yet another solo flight with my two wild banshees. Plus, since it was a work day for me I wasn't sure what my mood/commute traffic was going to be like or if the kids might be moody, tired or whatever. Plus plus, I live in a suburb and had to drive to the "city" and was still chapped from the $4.07/gallon gas fill-up I had made the day before. So I honestly didn't make any big plans to go, but when I got home fairly quickly with no traffic to happy children who seems fairly energetic, I thought...."Why not?"

I looked up the show times online, and then called to verify it was actually free. Turns out it was customer appreciation night! There would be live music, face painting, and games. Ok, I was not planning on getting out of the car as we were all going in our pajamas but I still thought it was pretty cool that they offered all that if we had wanted to partake. Even better, the feature was "Tangled." My boys hadn't seen it yet, and it actually is a movie I wanted to see as well.

I popped popcorn at home, and finally tried something I'd been wanting to do for a while. We were in a rush so I just threw in 1/2 cup of pop corn kernels into a paper bag, folded it over and taped it shut. I put the folded side up, and set the timer for 2-1/2 minutes. It turned out perfectly, with not very many un-popped kernels. I got a Tupperware bowl, poured in the popcorn, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and parmesan cheese then shook it all up. YUM, right? I sort of panicked because in my rush I didn't stop to think if my boys would like it, but oh well. I grabbed a sippy of milk, a Honest Kids juice pouch, a couple snack packs of baked cheddar Goldfish, some Teddy Grahams and blankets and we were out the door.

We made it there pretty quickly, and it turned out to really be free. Call me a skeptic but I half anticipated we would show up and there would be a "catch". We picked out a great spot with a nice upward slant so even my 2yo would be able to see the screen from the front seat. See, even though I drive a small SUV it still wasn't really warm enough in my opinion to back in and leave the back door up so we could watch from our cargo space. Plus, Daddy wasn't with us and the whole safety factor, etc. It's great now that you don't have to worry about parking near a pole and the speakers reaching your car...we turned my car stereo to the right station and had great multi-speaker sound.

They LOVED the popcorn (thank goodness) although they turned the interior windows of my car into an olive oil finger-printed mess. They really enjoyed the movie and I thought it was really cute. There were a couple parts that scared my 4yo but that is typical for him. When they got a little antsy I opened up the sunroof and let my 4yo stand up and watch the movie "outside". He got a big kick out of that and checking out the moon, stars and planes flying overhead.

They were definitely out past their bed time, and Monkey had preschool this morning. I had to get up at dawn to run and honestly could have used another hour of sleep but for my kids to have an impromptu, fun night at the movies with their Mom, it was totally worth it. Plus, you really couldn't beat the price. :)

If you haven't seen Tangled, check out the trailer. TGIF y'all!

Thrifty Bay Area Fun at Hiller Aviation

This past weekend my 4yo Monkey had a play date with one of his friends. The other Mom is a teacher and is always "in the know" about cool, fun, educational places to take our kids. So while we have done play dates at our homes many times, we often get out and do different stuff also.

We went to check out Hiller Aviation Museum located in San Carlos, CA. Children 4 and under were free, so we didn't have to pay for the kids. Adults are normally $11, but there is a printable $1 off coupon on their website. However, the other Mom had purchased a Groupon so she paid for me and I drove. I am not sure what the deal was that she got since she paid for me to get in I didn't want to ask too many questions. But if I know Groupons the way I do (and believe me, I know them well) I am sure we got a great deal!

The museum was pretty cool. And it was great for our youngsters who have short attention spans. The museum covers the first 100 years of aviation. There were many models of old and new planes...all types from commercial to pleasure craft, from jet to helicopter. Everything from a simple glider from the 1800's to a Boeing spy plane from the 1980's. They had several exhibits that you could actually enter - so the boys got to sit in real pilot seats in the cockpit! There were a few things that were a little beyond them, such as the whole upstairs section with computers with flight simulation software and another video game-type thing downstairs, but there was a lot for the younger set. A whole seating area (747 seats of course) with some toys and ride-on planes for toddlers, and tables for them to enjoy their snacks.

There was an outside area that was fenced off that overlooked the San Carlos Airport. The boys ran around out there and blew off steam after eating their lunches. The museum is not that large, so the boys were inside and outside a few times, and also in the gift shop where there were a lot of tempting toys. We got a lot of cute pictures of them. I would definitely recommend it, especially if your child loves aircraft!  I can see us going back when the boys are a little older and can understand the meaning of it all a little more. We spent about 1.5 hours inside and another 30 minutes watching the boys play with the new toy planes we got them outside. It's a great place to go if you are looking for something that is not going to take up your whole day, especially if you have a child that might still nap for part of the day. It wasn't very crowded even on the weekend which was a plus as well.

Cheap Fun for Kids: My Museum

I am always on the look out for inexpensive family fun. My kids have a lot of energy, they run all over the place, and may not be the quietest. At the end of the work week, I really want to enjoy the company of my kids. I hate it when Saturday finally comes and we end up in a place where I am having to chase my children all over the place trying to get them to be quiet, keep still  or occupy them  because whatever we are doing is boring to them. Or worse, yelling at them. Sometimes, these circumstances are inevitable. And I'm not being a lazy parent who doesn't want to keep an eye on my kids or discipline them, I just know its perfectly normal that they want to let loose and have fun, and don't want to spend my first free day with my kids harassing them. Plus, it's ideal for a mother of two boys to find some place that kids can be their naturally noisy selves and run around (read: burn off wild boy energy until they pass out for a very, long, time).

San Francisco Bay Area Kid Fun
I don't know why I had never heard of My Museum in Monterey, CA. I have a cousin who lives nearby who is invited to a birthday party there, and one of her daughters has been there on a field trip. We took our kids, ages 2, 4, 3, 6, and 10 there one morning when it opened at 10 a.m. I was in awe of how perfectly awesome it is for my kids age group!

There are all these different stations: a toddler area that was an ocean theme, complete with a boat, "sand castle" building with large foam blocks, and a slide. There was also a golfing area with a golf cart, mini clubs, and balls. After going into the cup, the balls go down to an underground crawl space and end up in a bin. There was also a tractor, a "Farmer's Market" and "vegetable garden"where the kids could pick fake vegetables, stomp grapes, play "store" at the market and sell fake food. There was so much more - an ambulance with an injured person on a stretcher, a hospital with a life size game of Operation, a stage complete with themes and sound effects where children can choose from hundreds of costumes they can put on over their clothes in a dressing room. There was also a construction area with tools and building materials, a Dr. Seuss house with a loft and a kitchen...a tree house with a bridge leading to the golf course, a giant bubble maker that basically engulfs your body in a giant bubble with the pull of a rope...and a large craft area full of supplies for your child to make whatever they want. FOR $7. I couldn't believe it. Under 2 is free.

Your $7 admission is for all day, so you can leave and come back, which you may want to do as they do not sell food. I brought snacks for my kids which they nibbled on here and there, but there wasn't anywhere to really sit down and eat. This place is really for the 10 and under set, there is plenty to do and space for your kids to run around and enjoy the place, but not so big or crowded that you get stressed out. Most people seemed to be out of there after a couple hours (probably for lunch and naps). If we lived closer a membership would probably be the way to go. Memberships are only $90 for a family of 4, and you get one complimentary pass each time you vist, say if Grandma wants to tag along. Plus, membership includes invitations to special events and other discounts. Since we are an hour away that won't work for us, however, we will be back and looking forward to it!

Family Entertainment Light on the Pocketbook AND the Waistline

Our typical family activities (birthday parties, amusement parks, etc.) usually mean I am going to be exposed to some type of "kid friendly" food that I shouldn't eat. Cheeseburgers, hot dogs, birthday cake, ice cream. Of course I know that no one is forcing me eat these things, but its there and sometimes there are no healthy options. Sure, the wise thing to do would be to eat something healthy at home, or bring my own snacks. I do really try to do that in all honesty but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Not only that but when you go to family-oriented places the food tends to be so over-priced, it makes the cost of Family Night a little too high sometimes.  I wanted to share something that worked out for us so effortlessly, and it was so fun!

This past weekend we took the kids to the drive-in. This was actually the second time in the last month that we have been, and it is just great! First of all it is so cheap compared to going to the theater. They didn't charge us for either of our kids, who are nearly 4 and 2. It only cost $13.50 for me and my husband! We were in the comfort of our own vehicle with the back of my mini SUV open with pillows, blankets as well as a couple beach chairs out on the ground.  We had already eaten dinner since the show didn't start until after 9pm. We popped popcorn at home - so we saved ourselves from the over-salted, over-buttered movie popcorn. Of course I know it tastes good...you don't have to tell me! In our cooler we had a juice box for my oldest, and a sippy with milk for my youngest. A nice bottle of red wine and cups for us. The kids were both in their pajamas so we had nothing to worry about if they fell asleep. The best part for us is we didn't have to worry about them being confined to their seats and wanting to leave early if they got antsy. No worries about being noisy or disturbing others. The only item we purchased there was a $1 glow stick which kept the kids occupied while waiting for the show to start.

The weather was perfect and it was a great night. Do you have a drive-in theater near you? Check out Driveinmovie.com. If you do it's a must on a summer night!