We always love to find creative ways to get out of the house and have fun on a budget! This weekend we took advantage of tons of fun things to do around the area, at very little cost. Sharing our personal weekend fun time, along with how we found out about the activities!
Saturday: Orchard Day! This is a great time of year to go visit orchards. Many are free, but the activities and take homes cost a little money...but are well worth it.
Kimmel Orchard: Free fun on the playgrounds. Picked up a dozen apple donuts ($8) which are one of the best things ever. Enjoyed walking around the orchard. We specifically picked a weekend before the big Applejack festival, as we find things to be a little crazy and picked over. If you love the festival activities (parades, fairs etc.) then go that weekend instead!
Union Orchard: We popped over to another orchard because the rain didn't allow the hayride to be running at Kimmel that weekend. We thought the kids would LOVE the hayride, and turns out Union was a better cost-effective choice for the number of kiddos we had compared to apples we needed. (Kimmel is $5/person for hayrides and you buy apples after) We bought a big bag for apples, and split them at the car ($13 for about 20 apples or so, so split in half was about $6.50 for 10 apples). It included the hayride and fun of picking and running around the orchard!
We've known about the orchards for a while, but found out that Applejack was coming via facebook events.
Ditmars Orchard: We actually didn't go here because of the Orchard, but rather for the hot air balloon festival! This festival itself was free, but it was $10/car for parking. Not bad in my book! We bought food there for $5 from food vendors, and spent the evening watching hot air balloons takeoff and light up! Just bring the lawn chairs and have a little fun!
We found out about the balloon festival via facebook events!
Axe Throwing Date Night: We make it a point to be a part of a lot of groups around Omaha. One of which is being a Yelp Elite member. That means I make sure to leave reviews on Yelp for places we visit, and applied to be part of the Elite group. The Elites have a couple events every month, some of which are free/discounted events to new places. This weekend we went to an Axe throwing event. This would normally have cost us $30/p but we were able to attend this great activity for free! We bought drinks (non alcoholic) and tipped ($3) and due to my shoe choice for the day, I did have to rent shoes ($4). Cheap and super fun date night!
We found out about the event through the Elite Yelp group.
Sunday evening we took advantage of the beautiful weather and visited a new area of the lake by our house. A perfect end to the day!
Weekend Total:
Apple Donuts: $8
Apples/Hayride: $6.50
Balloon Parking: $10
Snacks at Balloon Festival: $5
Axe throwing shoe rental: $4
Axe throwing drink/group tip: $3
Family walk at the park: $0
Total weekend for a family of 3: $36.50...so just over $12 a person for 2 days of fun!
So what are other ways we find weekend fun on a budget?
Facebook events- this is SUCH a great way to find out about events.
Library events- We belong to 2 different libraries and find that they are often hosting events, or this time of year giving away passes to places around Omaha for free. For example Omaha just did a pass giveaway for zoo tickets and children's museum tickets!
Local Bloggers- This is a GREAT way to find out about events. Here are two of our favorites. Oh My! Omaha and Family Fun in Omaha
Yelp Events- Whether you are interested in becoming Elite or not, Yelp also posts some great events online, similar to facebook!
Saturday: Orchard Day! This is a great time of year to go visit orchards. Many are free, but the activities and take homes cost a little money...but are well worth it.
Kimmel Orchard: Free fun on the playgrounds. Picked up a dozen apple donuts ($8) which are one of the best things ever. Enjoyed walking around the orchard. We specifically picked a weekend before the big Applejack festival, as we find things to be a little crazy and picked over. If you love the festival activities (parades, fairs etc.) then go that weekend instead!
Union Orchard: We popped over to another orchard because the rain didn't allow the hayride to be running at Kimmel that weekend. We thought the kids would LOVE the hayride, and turns out Union was a better cost-effective choice for the number of kiddos we had compared to apples we needed. (Kimmel is $5/person for hayrides and you buy apples after) We bought a big bag for apples, and split them at the car ($13 for about 20 apples or so, so split in half was about $6.50 for 10 apples). It included the hayride and fun of picking and running around the orchard!
We've known about the orchards for a while, but found out that Applejack was coming via facebook events.
Ditmars Orchard: We actually didn't go here because of the Orchard, but rather for the hot air balloon festival! This festival itself was free, but it was $10/car for parking. Not bad in my book! We bought food there for $5 from food vendors, and spent the evening watching hot air balloons takeoff and light up! Just bring the lawn chairs and have a little fun!
We found out about the balloon festival via facebook events!
Axe Throwing Date Night: We make it a point to be a part of a lot of groups around Omaha. One of which is being a Yelp Elite member. That means I make sure to leave reviews on Yelp for places we visit, and applied to be part of the Elite group. The Elites have a couple events every month, some of which are free/discounted events to new places. This weekend we went to an Axe throwing event. This would normally have cost us $30/p but we were able to attend this great activity for free! We bought drinks (non alcoholic) and tipped ($3) and due to my shoe choice for the day, I did have to rent shoes ($4). Cheap and super fun date night!
We found out about the event through the Elite Yelp group.
Sunday evening we took advantage of the beautiful weather and visited a new area of the lake by our house. A perfect end to the day!
Weekend Total:
Apple Donuts: $8
Apples/Hayride: $6.50
Balloon Parking: $10
Snacks at Balloon Festival: $5
Axe throwing shoe rental: $4
Axe throwing drink/group tip: $3
Family walk at the park: $0
Total weekend for a family of 3: $36.50...so just over $12 a person for 2 days of fun!
So what are other ways we find weekend fun on a budget?
Facebook events- this is SUCH a great way to find out about events.
Library events- We belong to 2 different libraries and find that they are often hosting events, or this time of year giving away passes to places around Omaha for free. For example Omaha just did a pass giveaway for zoo tickets and children's museum tickets!
Local Bloggers- This is a GREAT way to find out about events. Here are two of our favorites. Oh My! Omaha and Family Fun in Omaha
Yelp Events- Whether you are interested in becoming Elite or not, Yelp also posts some great events online, similar to facebook!
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