Summer activities

I find myself on the hunt for more toddler-friendly activities. Hanging out at home does not always do it for us. Summer "vacation" is coming up soon and I will have more free time on my hands. There's no subbing opportunities for me this summer so I will be keeping us busy with whatever I can find on a frugal budget. Here I talk about some activities we have found or plan to do.


Swimming
Swim classes. I took RaeRae to her first swim class last Friday. The class was in a large, heated indoor pool about 10 minutes from us. It was only for half an hour. The class is called Aqua Babies because they are just learning to get a feel for the water and learn some basic survival skills if they happened to fall in the water. At least that's what I think. RaeRae did good overall for her first time. She didn't want to do everything but she didn't scream to get out or cry the whole time. 

Starting this Monday, RaeRae will have swim classes at 6pm for the next 4 weeks (the last of the Spring session). Her daddy will be the main person in the water with her for this class. It'll be good for them to have good daddy-daughter time, especially after being with Mama all day long. 
If we like it, I will consider adding on for summer classes in the morning once a week when the summer session begins in mid-June. Classes are 11 dollars a class, and you must pay up front for least one class a week. So that means 4 classes for spring and at least 12 classes for summer. I love that they are open 9am to 9pm and are flexible with the timing for classes if you need to change or prefer a morning class.

Super Franks
We've also found an indoor play-place called Super Franks. It's almost like Chuck E. Cheese with the arcade and pizza, except there are more options for younger-age children. There are four rooms suited for children 5 and younger. One of the rooms is more suited for crawling and just-walking tots. Soft toys, walking toys, scooters, mini-play houses, mini-slides, and the sort. The walls are painted with animals for a certain theme. One room is a barnyard theme, another is a safari or wildlife theme, and upstairs has an under-the-sea theme and also a "city" theme where kids can dress up as fire-fighters, play in pretend-kitchens. It's 7 dollars per kid, but you can leave and come back on the same day if you need to. 

The parks.
We live right across street a cute little park with all the basic essentials. It's nice that we can just walk there anytime, and it's FREE! I think in the past month we have gone to this park or other nearby parks about 3-4 times a week, at least. I never thought I'd value going to the park so much before. The parks in my neighborhood have huge sand-boxes and toddler play areas. One of the parks has a water play area as well. Fun fun! And perfect for playdates. 

The zoo.
We used to go to the San Diego zoo religiously since we had a one year membership pass. I miss that zoo. The zoos near us are about 30-45 minutes of a drive. We went to the Oakland Zoo but it was alright. Maybe it was just that day where RaeRae wasn't in the right mood. But I felt bored with that zoo, compared to the San Diego one. Maybe we will try going again. I've yet to get the membership pass since it's a bit of a drive from us, meaning infringing on nap time. 

Museums!
We have learned of a few museums with toddler-friendly play areas that we still have to visit! The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Children's Museum in San Francisco. Just to name a few. I heard the one in San Jose has a room for 0-5 year olds. Must check it out soon! I wonder what other museums are in the Bay Area for us to see. 

Art projects...
One of my personal goals is do more art projects at home with RaeRae. Sensory activities such as painting with food or playdoh. I'm still working on this personal project. 

Library?
I took RaeRae to our local library but was dismayed with the selection of toddler-friendly books. It seemed pretty picked out. We have several books at home like I mentioned in one of my recent blogs. But going to the library would be a good weekly experience for RaeRae to have exposure to a public place of books. Learning the social behaviors and just overall being out. 

Ardenwood Farm
We took RaeRae to the Ardenwood Farm in Fremont this morning. It has a small train you can ride around the farm to get to the other side and learn a bit of basic history about the animals and farm itself. We saw goats, sheep, cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, squirrels, and dogs. There were also baby goats and sheep. One of the chicken came up to RaeRae in her stroller and stole the cracker out from her hand! The look on her face was utter SHOCK! They had no fear of the humans, but turns out there were two foxes that came onto the farm recently and ate some of the chickens. The chicken coop was neat and open for the chickens to walk in and out during the day time. I saw two mama goats and kids nursing from it.
It was nice that this farm wasn't too busy and we could finish in about an hour. It costs normally 3 dollars per person (over age of 3) on a weekday and 6 dollars on Sundays. Not sure for Saturdays. And it's also about 10 minutes from us.


Still I want to know, what else? What else can be done on a frugal budget that is fun and appropriate for toddlers? I know I can do a variety at home but RaeRae loves going on.