House Hunting

7:00 AM: PiYo Upper Body – COMPLETED

1:00 PM: 5.15-Mi Run – COMPLETED

What a difference in yesterday’s weather from today’s weather. It was definitely much cooler and breezier — still hot, but not as bad as yesterday. Yesterday was just awful. Hard to breathe, hard to run, hard to just cool down. There was a house that hand their sprinklers on, so you know I ran through it!!!

Lunch Run!!!

Yes, we’ve been officially looking for a new house.  There hasn’t been a house yet that has been “the one” to put an offer in, but I did find something that I really do like — it has four of the things I really want:  (1) a fireplace; (2) a swinging porch;(3) a nice size yard; and (4) easy commute to work.  Of course it wouldn’t break the deal — but it would obviously sweeten it for me!  I found a house a few weeks ago that I really might LOVE.

Dream House

It really is turn-key ready.  Hardwood floors throughout, three bedrooms, a finished basement, renovated kitchen, the front porch and the perfect size yard.  We would be 20-minutes away from pretty much all our family.  The train station to NYC is down the street, the elementary school is on our street, NYC drive is still 15-miles away, the center of town is walking (running) distance and there’s a huge park on our street. I mean, what more can we ask for.   Did I mention that I would be 15-minutes closer to my running partner, Cici? My commute to work would still be the same distance. I mean, how much more perfect can this house be?

Unfortunately, I don’t see it up anymore — Perhaps the Buyers won’t be able to perform and we can possibly put a big on it? We’ll just have to wait and see.  I saw at least 10 homes and we’re going to see another tomorrow night with my realtor (whom I absolutely love).  I was already imagining having breakfast and dinners in the backyard, swinging on the porch, hosting parties, etc.  It’ll happen.

Anyway, since we’ve been looking at houses, we’ve also been trying to save money.  Every single time I think about spending money,  I look at my “dream house” and say, “Okay, do I really need this right now?”  How is it possible to save money with two toddlers?  I’ll tell you a secret.  There are “free” things out there.

1.  YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY! Look it up folks.  There’s Mother Goose Hour, free activities, etc.  We found two great libraries that have awesome events.

Games

While I love this particular library above, it was about a 15-20 minute ride. I know, 15-20 minutes doesn’t seem long, but it really is when you’re trying to get two kids under 3 ready, out of the house and on time for the story.  Miss Debbie is also so sweet. Unfortunately, this summer they got rid of Mother Goose on Friday mornings, so we looked for another library. We found the library next town over (literally a 3-min drive) that had Lego day and crafts on Friday mornings and on Monday evenings we made it to Pajama Story Time and Crafts.  Remember, it’s ALL FREE!!!

Story Time

After Ms. Barbara read a book, she would have some type of craft to go with the book. One night it was Pirates and another it was a camping theme.

Camping Theme

Right before story time, she would play with other kids.

Playing with new Friends

The library is FUN! I’ll miss bringing Lili once school starts, BUT on the other hand, I’m excited to have one-on-one time with Sebastian at the library. 🙂

Last Monday, the library held an end of the summer picnic. We had such a great time. Pedro had to work late so it was just the kids and myself.

Picnic Time

Watching the Clown

I had packed our dinner with snacks and Lili took a cupcake that they were handing out for free.

Mmmm… SUGAR before BED!

We were home close to 8 and I gave the kids a bath and tucked them into bed!

2.  PLAY-DATES:  Set up some play-dates with kids the same age at someone’s house or your own home.  It’ll be fun to catch up, have kids play and all for free.

We love SAND

Swim, Lunch, Sand, Crafts

And we of course see cousins when we can!

Cousins!!!!

Cousins!!!!

Lili always has a blast with her cousins!!!

3.  PARKS:

And you know I am a big fan of PARKS, especially Lili. We go there often.

And I mentioned in a few posts ago how we just discovered the Spray Playground — COST? FREE…

Weeeeeeee

So yes, those are my three reviews on FREE things to do with kids. When I first had just Lili, we spent about $40/month on Gymboree. Things get way too pricey. I do want to start her up with dance lessons (because she’s been asking to go) so we’re shopping around for that right now. 🙂

4. Finding HOOK-UPS. Okay, this one isn’t exactly FREE, but we saved a whole lot of money! Remember we went to Sesame Place mid-August? So, Sesame Place (in Langhorn, PA) is really expensive. It cost $53/person. Sebastian was free (anyone under 2 is basically free). I ended up taking Lili, Scarlett and Sabrina. So 4 tickets cost about $212 (without tax). With parking ($17.00) and food ($40.00) the grand total would be around $269.00 if not more. Thank goodness for my cousin because that would have been an expensive outing. Sure it would be totally worth it — but yeah, it’s nice that it was CHEAP!

Thanks, Cousin!

We stuck around for the parade and headed home by 4. It was a LONG day!

Sesame Parade

THERE’S ELMOOOOO!!!

Good news is my cousin had two extra tickets and because she was a season holder, the week I was going had a promotion to bring a friend for $10.00!!! So for tickets, instead of paying $212.00 we paid $20. The entire day we spent a whopping $77.00!!!! Not too shabby, right?

Any other suggestions on free events? I’m always looking for new things to do that don’t cost an arm and a leg! Do you buy GROUPONS?

Are you living in your dream house? What type of dream house would you want? What’s a deal breaker for you on your dream home?