I am not someone who has to have something to do daily.
Actually, I really like being home, like, really, really.
But when Nick is home with me its game over, our days get unorganized and I can't focus.
It seems weird to say that, like its easier to do everything myself than to have my husband help...
But you guys know, spouses mess with your schedule.
So Nick randomly had this whole week off and instead of pushing our schedules on him I decided to throw caution to the wind and DO STUFF OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. (dun, dun, duhhhhnnnnnnnn)
However, we are now a family of 4 and stuffs expensive man.
Just eating out is expensive, let alone an activity (plus it has to match our age brackets, 9 months, 3.5 years, 31x2) so I really had to push the boundaries and think of some stuff that we hadn't done in a while, stuff that was cheapish and things that would be "exercise" -ish is bonus points.
Because FYI we dropped Elliott off at a playgroup this week and 2 kids brought iPads....... IPADS.
Which then prompted all the kids to gather around and watch the iPad kids play on the screen.
Honestly, I am just going to say it, WTF.
Yeah, I watch way too much tv and my hobby/side gig is being available on the internet WAY too much and maybe I will eat these words in a few years when my kids are older and more annoying about screen time.
BUT WTF?!
IPads during play time??
That's just not ok with me and I really dislike that other parents are cool with it because it's making my job of screen police so much harder. I dropped my kid off to avoid the video game fight (Elliott got a video game for Easter and he LOVES it, I have to tell him an hour a day or he would literally play morning till night) but here we are gathered around watching other kids play, not even gaining our own hand-eye coordination. (lolol just watching)
Anywoo, I just wanted to get that off my chest...
Without further ado, here are some fun things that we did that you could do too!
1. BOWLING
I LOVE bowling, I love it, I love it.
When we lived in Newfoundland I was always so sad because we didn't live anywhere near movie theatres or bowling alleys (or wave pools but that's a lesser sadness) and I live for those things.
This was Elliott's second time bowling and he was actually into it and good! He pretty much beat me every time (he did have a ramp lol).
It was a good fun couple of hours.
We got a little exercise, we got a little competitive, we got a little hungry!
So we went to.....
2. MCDONALDS
Ok, hear me out.
We don't go to Mcdonalds often and if we do it will 9/10 times be the drive-thru so we thought this time we would go inside, make an event of it AND we went to the Sackville Drive location which has a play place!
3. IKEA HAS A FREE PLAY PLACE FOR KIDS WHILE PARENTS BROWSE
We had to get Noelle a new light fixture and IKEA has a free play place where you sign your kids in for an hour and Elliott loves it there!
The only negative I can say about this is that 1 hour to get through all of IKEA is a stretch.. so then you're lost in that massive building, trying to loop backwards and follow the floor arrows but it would all be so much easier had you had 2 hours. I don't know, would 2 hours break the bank IKEA?!
We ended up with this one! ^^^^^^
You guys saw it on instagram and so far everyones loved it!
Some other options^
IKEA also has a great quickie snack bar!
We haven't eaten at the big restaurant yet but we have hit up the snack area because you can get hot dogs + drink or pizza + ice cream for just a few bucks. It's an awesome way to fill the kid's bellies and have them asleep by the time we start the car for the ride home.
4. GO FOR A WALK
The weather is getting nicer (not today, if you are reading the day this is published and live in NS) and we took the kids to the playground which was a bit too cold to stay very long but then we went for a little walk and it was perfect.
Noelle is obsessed with making a cheese face now*^
My kids love walks and we will sing or make up fun games like counting, pointing out colours, trees, animals.
5. CLASSES AT MICHAELS CRAFT STORE
I feel like everyone should know that Michaels offers classes!
Kids, adults, free, cheap, fun!
I knew about them years ago and that's where I learned to make jewellery.
I went to a Christmas earring class (pay the cost of materials) and made the cutest earrings ever! I still wear those earrings and made them with my Girl Guides to give as Christmas gifts.
This week they were offering a free slime making class so we went to that and it was super fun! Although, we didn't actually make the slime (I was a little disappointed), the slime was premade and we just added our bling, sparkles, sequins, foam balls to it.
If you click here, it should bring you to the Michaels website where you can find out what dates/classes are offered near you
Then we walked around the store and touched things but Elliott knew we weren't getting anything and it was an easy exit because he did get to leave with his slime so he was pretty happy.
(these balls in a net give me the creeps!)
6. KIDS EAT FREE
Ok this is a bit of a cheat because I really dont know all the days and locations where kids eat free.
You're going to have to send me what you know and maybe I can compile a master list of all the places where kids eat free on a certain day.
I do know that on Mondays kids eat free at the True North Diner (Bedford), which is where we are below!
I'll be real with you, we have been to the True North Diner a few times and the food is not my favourite... but the atmosphere IS!
I love the throwback diner colours, booths, poodle skirts, jukeboxes, and so did the kids!
Elliott loved the Jukebox, he would put the quater in (monies go to the IWK) and pick the song.
It was just a fun place to go to enjoy something different and it sounds even better if you're getting a free kids meal to boot!
And that's all the stuff we did this week!
I'm already on the hunt for cheap things to do during Nicks next vacation.
I am thinking we will focus on Bayers Lake and maybe do a day at Chapters, mini putting and end up somewhere kids eat free in that area.
Let me know if you have any tips!
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