Survive The Heat On The Cheap

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Anaheim Moms BlogWe all know that surviving the heat during the summer can be hard. Maybe you have an Air Conditioner in your home and you’re planning to have it on full blast this summer as you all binge-watch Netflix.  No judgment here, that sounds like my kind of summer! 
 
But why not go out and save yourself a bit of $$ on that AC bill?  With the money you save you can go out and splurge on yourself! 

Sounds even better! 

Planning family events doesn’t have to break the bank.  There are activities you can do this summer that won’t require a huge budget.  Make designated family outing days and place them on your calendar.  This will give your kids some excitement as they look forward to doing things outside the house.  
 
  1. Beach Trips – are a given!  Mother’s Beach in Newport Beach is a great spot for those who don’t want huge waves crashing in but still want a beach experience.  Free Street parking is available, and they also have a paid lot, but who doesn’t want free parking?  For more information on this beach visit http://www.balboaisland.com/moms-love-mothers-beach/.  If you opt for the beaches with waves, I always love Huntington Beach and their fire pits.  Bring a dura flame or two and some firewood, some hot dogs and a handheld grill with a long handle to cook your hot dogs.  I found mine at a 99 cents store.  Make sure you bring a lot of quarters for the parking meters.  They have both metered street parking, or day parking although with the meters you end up paying less.  For more information on the fire pits visit http://www.huntingtonbeachevents.com/firepit.html
  2. Visit a Tide Pool – Laguna Beach, Corona del Mar, and Dana Point have these hidden gems.  With free tours and (some) free parking, this should definitely be on your calendar.  For more information visit http://ocexplore.org/tidepools.
  3. Indoor Pools – Check with your local city to see if their Parks & Recreation program has a pool.  Some cities, have pool movie nights so be sure to check your local city.  
  4. Visit a Library –  Libraries generally have Air Conditioning.  Some cities run their own libraries and some are part of the Orange County Public Libraries network.  As long as you live in the county you can obtain an Orange County Public Library card. For more information on Orange County Public Libraries visit http://www.ocpl.org.  City Libraries have different rules on obtaining library cards but for the most part, you are able to participate in their events even if you don’t live in the city, you just can’t check out materials so be sure to check your local library.  Many have storytimes, kids art activities, movie days, or you can just read a good book, or a bad one, it’s your choice! Just kidding there are no bad books. Just bad authors – okay I’ll stop now.  
  5. Visit a Museum – Target gives grants to certain museums so that they are free during certain days of the month.  The Children’s Museum in La Habra participates!   The Queen Mary in Long Beach offers free admission after 6 pm.  For more information visit http://www.queenmary.com
  6. Visit Groupon.com – and check out some of their local deals. I was able to take advantage of a 2-hour Whale Watching tour.  Tickets were about $9 and although I got mildly seasick, and we didn’t see any whales (bummer), we did have a nice experience, see a beautiful sunset and saw a family of sea lions up close.  The tour company even gave us a discounted voucher to come back because the whales were shy.  Not too shabby!  Next on our list is an Electric Boat Rental!  

Whatever you plan this summer to stay cool make sure to take tons of pictures.  It’s always nice to look back and reminisce.  As you’ve probably experienced for yourselves, the little ones grow up faster than we’d like.  What other activities do you do to stay cool?  Have you done any activities mentioned?  I’d love to hear about your family outings.

Survive The Heat On The Cheap

I’m Sin (short for Cindy), a Mama Bear, wife, Momtrepreneur, tech enthusiast, DIY project aficionado, collector, amateur futurist, genealogist, historian, photographer, yoga fanatic………the list goes on and on.
I’m always working on a project (but who isn’t these days?) from amateur to professional, household to business there is always something to do….and yet some things are left undone 🙁  With a mini-me who attends online school I needed to be able to work from home.  I chose to freelance my skills as a graphic and web developer because it offered the flexibility for me to work virtually from anywhere.   So here I am, years later ant it has blossomed into a creative startup (https://www.dasvale.com).  When I’m not working on a professional project, I’m working on a hobby (I have so many!)  Finding time is a luxury these days so I try to balance things out by using technology.  My personal assistant is my phone with its various time saving and organizational apps.  I’m here to share research and tips that I hope will help other moms in their quest to find time for everything.  I’ll do the research…..so you don’t have to.