My dream job (in addition to being a Mom, wife and homeschooling teacher) is to take our family on expense paid trips to places like theme parks, restaurants, movies, etc. and write reviews or do a show on it. I've actually wanted this job for about 15 years now but I'm not sure how to go about it!! However, I'm always googling for tips so I thought I'd post this to help others!
So on to the top activities for this summer that we've enjoyed so far:
1. Going to the Palace for Twilight Tuesday. The Palace is regularly $3 each which is a lot cheaper than other theaters since the movies are older, but on Tuesdays it's only $1 each! Our family of 4 saw a double feature this past Tuesday for only $8 which is less than 3 people would've been for one movie on Monday...less than 1 person at the other theaters! Of course this didn't include the popcorn and soda but we got a single's combo which is $9 plus 50 cents for butter and had refills for the 2nd movie. For 4 people you just can't beat it! Go to palacemovies.com for showtimes. The Palace is off of James River and Kansas Expressway in Springfield.
2. Visit Silver Dollar City in Branson. Right now they're having Kids Fest and every weekend they're featuring a different guest. This weekend it is Scobby and Shaggy. In the future it will be the Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, The Backyardigans and Spongebob. This only lasts until August 8th and then the festival changes.
3. Participate in reading programs. Right now we're involved in 3. The Christian County library has a great one with different activities you sign up for. So far the meterologist from KY3 has talked to the kids and then we're going for a pirate party and a big finale party which includes discounts to area places (last year Rib Crib and Sonic plus others) and a free book or two. The Greene County library has a cool flip card that gives you discounts for 30 places in Springfield! Bowling here we come! Plus a coloring sheet and a book. Then Barnes and Noble has a reading program...read 8 books, put it on your "passport" and get a free book. Fun!
Arthur visited Barnes and Noble to support Early Chilhood Special Education in the Spring:
4. Visit the Ozark Medieval Fortress. This is about 30 minutes south of Branson and is super cool! They do not use any modern tools to build this castle...everything is centuries of years old. We went and the kids helped cut stones to put in the castle wall, build bricks from clay for the potter, made rope, studied the herbs, carved stone and so much more. We're studying kings and queens in the fall so we intend to go again! We did pay $1 extra each to get the tour which I highly recommend. It was a little lengthy at times for the boys since they're not big on staying still and listening for that long but it was awesome for learning and they pick up more than I think. The website is: http://www.ozarkmedievalfortress.com/
Here is a picture of the device they will use to raise rocks to the top of the castle walls!
5. Take a trip to the Precious Moments museum. Absolutely free but dontations are accepted. This is gorgeous! There are chapel tours which are highly recommended and still free. They go into details about the portraits painted in the chapel so you can understand them better. Then it's all self-exploratory. Precious Moments in located in Carthage and their site is: http://www.preciousmomentschapel.com/
Inside the chapel
6. Make free photo books on Hot Prints. You can get 4 free photo books per month. I haven't tried them yet but I'm going to. I'm sure they're not going to be professional quality (like a professional photographer could get you) and they have advertsiments built into the books. However, I could do one for the 4 biggest attractions listed above and have a fun time with it! If only I can find time to do it ;-) The website is: http://www.hotprints.com/
I know I only listed 6 activities but this should keep you busy going! I'll try to list more as we do them! Have fun and write if you do any of these things so that I know I'm not wasting my time writing!
So on to the top activities for this summer that we've enjoyed so far:
1. Going to the Palace for Twilight Tuesday. The Palace is regularly $3 each which is a lot cheaper than other theaters since the movies are older, but on Tuesdays it's only $1 each! Our family of 4 saw a double feature this past Tuesday for only $8 which is less than 3 people would've been for one movie on Monday...less than 1 person at the other theaters! Of course this didn't include the popcorn and soda but we got a single's combo which is $9 plus 50 cents for butter and had refills for the 2nd movie. For 4 people you just can't beat it! Go to palacemovies.com for showtimes. The Palace is off of James River and Kansas Expressway in Springfield.
2. Visit Silver Dollar City in Branson. Right now they're having Kids Fest and every weekend they're featuring a different guest. This weekend it is Scobby and Shaggy. In the future it will be the Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, The Backyardigans and Spongebob. This only lasts until August 8th and then the festival changes.
3. Participate in reading programs. Right now we're involved in 3. The Christian County library has a great one with different activities you sign up for. So far the meterologist from KY3 has talked to the kids and then we're going for a pirate party and a big finale party which includes discounts to area places (last year Rib Crib and Sonic plus others) and a free book or two. The Greene County library has a cool flip card that gives you discounts for 30 places in Springfield! Bowling here we come! Plus a coloring sheet and a book. Then Barnes and Noble has a reading program...read 8 books, put it on your "passport" and get a free book. Fun!
Arthur visited Barnes and Noble to support Early Chilhood Special Education in the Spring:
4. Visit the Ozark Medieval Fortress. This is about 30 minutes south of Branson and is super cool! They do not use any modern tools to build this castle...everything is centuries of years old. We went and the kids helped cut stones to put in the castle wall, build bricks from clay for the potter, made rope, studied the herbs, carved stone and so much more. We're studying kings and queens in the fall so we intend to go again! We did pay $1 extra each to get the tour which I highly recommend. It was a little lengthy at times for the boys since they're not big on staying still and listening for that long but it was awesome for learning and they pick up more than I think. The website is: http://www.ozarkmedievalfortress.com/
Here is a picture of the device they will use to raise rocks to the top of the castle walls!
5. Take a trip to the Precious Moments museum. Absolutely free but dontations are accepted. This is gorgeous! There are chapel tours which are highly recommended and still free. They go into details about the portraits painted in the chapel so you can understand them better. Then it's all self-exploratory. Precious Moments in located in Carthage and their site is: http://www.preciousmomentschapel.com/
Inside the chapel
6. Make free photo books on Hot Prints. You can get 4 free photo books per month. I haven't tried them yet but I'm going to. I'm sure they're not going to be professional quality (like a professional photographer could get you) and they have advertsiments built into the books. However, I could do one for the 4 biggest attractions listed above and have a fun time with it! If only I can find time to do it ;-) The website is: http://www.hotprints.com/
I know I only listed 6 activities but this should keep you busy going! I'll try to list more as we do them! Have fun and write if you do any of these things so that I know I'm not wasting my time writing!
