Cheap Thrills

Winter can be rough if you look at it through dirty windows with gray, cloud-covered skies for the view.  We prefer to look on the bright side and try and find lots of fun things to do wherever we are; it really breaks up the dreary days.  If you keep your eyes pealed and your ears open you’ll be surprised at the amount of fun there is to be had that is inexpensive or free and is right in your own backyard.  Yes, I did just say FREE, and that makes it all the better.

This winter we have been able to take advantage of a few of these great activities, like our free cross-country ski day up at Harriman State Park not to long ago.  Our most recent find took us on a trip to Driggs, Idaho to their snow festival, just an hour away from where we live.  They had amazing snow sculptures to look at, free hot cocoa and smores.  There was even a place where kids could color the snow by spraying it with colored water.  I thought the snow coloring was an absolutely brilliant idea and filed it away in the back of my brain for when we have some extra snow lying around.

Kylan spent half of the day in the Deuter Kid Comfort III where he could get the best view of the snow sculptures and watch a man that was making an ice sculpture while the festival was going on.  He had a great time eating marshmallows and pointing at the sculptures as we walked by them. The best part of the whole day was the fact that we were outside as a family and not stuck in our dingy little apartment wishing we were somewhere else.

I’m sure that there are lots of fun things to do in your area.  Ask around, do a search in the internet and you’ll be surprised at what you find.  Hopefully our next adventure will be a resort ski trip where the lift tickets are only $10 for the beginner hill.  It’s not the amazing powder day with black diamonds as far as the eye can see but we’re out there and we didn’t break the bank to do it.  Happy hunting.

-Jentri King