Emily asked me if we could go to the beach today, which resulted in a lesson in geography. See this map? We live in Pennsylvania. See the ocean? It’s ALL THE WAY OVER THERE. I asked her what she wanted to do at the beach. “Play in the water….. and the sand!”, she said. So we visited a place with lots of sun and plenty of sand….
There was even water! The beach, you say? Well……. not exactly.
We went to a local park with a sand volleyball court and a man-made pond. Like so many other aspects of the frugal lifestyle, this trip to “the beach” was all about making do. We had lots of fun, and we didn’t even have to leave town! Added benefit — no jellyfish!
May 19th, 2009 on 10:06 pm
YOu are so smart when it comes to making your little ones happy. I am sure they think you are an awesome mommy! If you lived near me I wouldn’t be a snotty park mommy, I would come hang out!
May 20th, 2009 on 10:27 am
Make your own beach? I love it.
You’re brilliant.
Val
May 20th, 2009 on 10:40 am
These are the kinds of “trips” that we take! We always have lots of fun! Keep up with all the great ideas. I love them
May 20th, 2009 on 11:06 am
Creative thinking outside the beach – kudos!
May 20th, 2009 on 11:30 am
You are so creative. Way to think of what might look/feel like a beach to them. Growing up on one of the Great Lakes, I tend to be a beach snob. But you captured the feel of it. Way to go.
May 20th, 2009 on 11:35 am
When we lived in an apartment, we used to play in the volleyball court all the time. He loved it, and it was only a short walk away!
May 20th, 2009 on 12:34 pm
linked my way here. you and i have some young kid/frugal interests in common.
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com
May 20th, 2009 on 1:03 pm
This was genius. Way to go! The girls look like they were enjoying their Make-Do trip to the Beach!!
Thanks for sharing!
May 20th, 2009 on 1:08 pm
Okay valerie – since I am local, I HAVE to know what park this is! We need a trip to the “beach” too!
May 20th, 2009 on 1:18 pm
@ aprilfoolwed — Hi April! It’s Cedar Beach Park in Allentown. They are getting ready for MayFair (I think it starts tomorrow night.) Have fun!!
May 20th, 2009 on 2:07 pm
This is wonderful! Sunnyboy has been asking to go to the beach this week. Although it’s only an hour away I don’t drive so this is not an easy request to fulfil, but I have been trying to think out of the box and I think if I could find a park like this he would be delighted. We are going on a work outing day-trip to the beach in a couple of months but that time-scale is hard to explain to him at the moment
May 22nd, 2009 on 9:58 pm
Love that idea! We are blessed to have many lakes in our town and we live only 15 min. from Lake Michigan.
~Liz