As Summer Ends

As summer break is ending for us on Monday here in Arizona – yes, the girls start school on July 22 – this post is to look back on our summer.

Since moving to Arizona, we have made it a tradition to come back to O’Fallon for the summer. This summer was our 5th one! James began a new job at CMC Steel in January, this time working in IT rather than labor, and thus was only able to get away for a week with us. After he flew back, Amanda and the girls stayed in Illinois for a fun-filled time with our extended family!

I try to make outings a regular affair for my kids, especially things that are free or cheap! Below is a list of a few things we did this summer:

  • Six Flags (of course): We don’t have a regular roller coaster amusement park in Phoenix, so we make this a recurring plan. Season passes to Six Flags & Hurricane Harbor were only $59 per person on their Memorial Day sale (normally $99). And since we went at least 6 times, it came out to $10 a visit. Sweet!
  • Magic House: Located in Kirkwood, this children’s museum has $3 admission after 3 pm. This year they changed the policy to only include residents of surrounding counties, so I was only able to get the discount with my in-laws attending too.
  • Edwardsville Children’s Museum: This museum participates in the Museums for All program, so if you have SNAP/EBT benefits, just show your card for free admission. Their outdoor play garden was absolutely wonderful, and between the water table and the kiddie race track, my kids played for hours.
  • Swimming: Haleigh took lessons with a neighbor, allowing all the girls to swim for a couple hours twice a week. If you’re military, the Scott AFB pool is also a great place to cool off with their giant water slides and rock wall. Be advised to call and double-check their hours, which seem to change every summer and are not necessarily accurate on Maps.
  • I Scream U Scream: Shout-out to this ice cream walk-up in O’Fallon for having affordable prices to buy ice cream cones for the whole family. A tot ice cream cone, which I found to be a generous and standard size scoop, was only $1.50 per kid.
  • Casey IL: About 2 hours away from O’Fallon is a town boasting the world’s biggest rocking chair. And the world’s biggest see-saw. And the world’s biggest mailbox. Along with a bunch of other “world’s biggest” attractions. It was a nice place to stop on Main Street and walk around, while on the way home from visiting Amanda’s parents in Ohio.
  • Splash pads: The ones in O’Fallon and Edwardsville are great! And of course, free!
  • St. Louis Zoo: FREE!
  • Grant’s Farm: FREE!
  • St. Louis Science Center: FREE!
  • Catching fireflies: Something we don’t get in Arizona!

On a business-related note, O’Antler attended the Vine Street Market in O’Fallon for the first time this year, including 5 Saturdays from May to July. As I had introduced in an earlier blog post, my brother-in-law Jeremy will continue our Illinois sales/events during the rest of the year when I am in Arizona, so he will continue to attend the Vine Street Market monthly through November.