The best things in life

Are FREE! Well, most anyway. If you have an affinity for fine Italian footwear, then you're on your own. I just thought I'd do a blog today about the many fun things that are free and have the added bonus of being terrific memories.

Anyway, Wednesday my mother had to go to Amarillo on a business meeting. Being her first business trip ever, she was understandably nervous. It also happened to coincide with hubby's off day so we all (kids too) decided to go with her. We dropped her off at her meeting and went to the zoo.

The zoo is free! While the Amarillo Zoo is pretty laughable at 15 acres, the kids had a blast. My husband and I thought it was pretty lame (pretty much everything does after the Ft. Worth Zoo), but seeing the look on the kids faces was priceless. Their favorite exhibit was the monkeys, which we watched pee in the water. Gross! The kids thought it was hilarious. We on the other hand, were thinking that the last thing in the world we'd want to do was be the zookeeper in charge of cleaning the monkey exhibit!

There were also real wild mustangs (with saddle marks... wearing halters.. and begging to be fed some grass). There was a rare miniature pony, and some not so miniature *cough*standard*cough* donkeys. Of course, there were goats and sheep! Another rare and exotic animal. Then we saw the coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and.. wait for it.. skunk. Yep. We could have just walked out to the barn, which now reeks of skunk and mothballs. But, the kids had a BLAST and that was all that mattered. For our lame trip to the zoo, we gave 3 bucks as a donation (cause that's all we had) and took away 2 very excited children blathering about bears and monkeys. Trip well worth it.

On this same day, we decided to go to the AQHA museum as well. We'd been there once while my daughter was in school because we had to register the boys. We decided, what the heck! It's free for all AQHA members and their families and it has a hands on learning center, mechanical pony rides, several mini movies, and a hall of fame. Not to mention some very huge (anatomically correct!!) statues of former champions and racers. The kids thought it was awesome (their words, not mine). It's always worth a trip if you want to experience an air conditioned outing.

There are other completely free and fun things to do here as well. The library has story times, musical performances, science experiments, entertainers and even free shot clinics and computer classes. Of course, you can always just pick up a book, go to the children's center, and let them play quietly while you catch up on your reading. I encourage you all to check out your local libraries. They have wonderful programs during the summer.

Of course, never under estimate the power of running around outside. While we do have the horses that provide hours of entertainment, they kids have just as much fun running around the yard and under trees pretending they are in the jungle. Grab a few toys and head outside!!!

When in doubt (or it's seriously crummy weather outside), go to the mall. Our mall has an indoor playground, a food court, wishing fountains, Santa and the Easter bunny, and a pet store. When the weather sucks, we walk around, window shop, throw money in the fountain, play with the puppies, and let them run free in the playground.

So, I hope no one has anymore doubts about fun and FREE things to do! I'm off to take a walk!