Daddy Daughter Date Night

My husband is out on a date with a young blonde while I’m home cleaning house! What’s wrong with that?  He takes our teenage daughter out on a date about once a month, unless we cannot afford it that month. He has been doing this ever since she was 8 years old. I call it “Daddy Daughter Date Night,” but they like to call it “Triple D Night.” I actually appreciate the quiet time alone to get things done around the house.

We are on a very tight budget. The significance of family entertainment on a budget is the way that it draws our family closer together, and teaches our daughter a valuable life lesson about money.

She is given a price point and told that she can order anything she wants as long as she doesn’t go over that certain amount. She has always been very frugal with her choices, trying to get the best value for her money. She’ll even order a free cup of water so that she can get dessert.

Big Fat Chicken Taco vs. Protein Style Burger

They try to get the most bang for their buck, so there are only a handful of places to choose from:

They usually try to make sure that “Triple D Night” is on a Thursday so that they can go to Del Taco for their special deal on chicken soft tacos.  My husband lets her get a “big fat chicken taco” which is wrapped in flatbread instead of a regular tortilla.  She also loves to savor the sinfully delicious caramel cheesecake bites for dessert.  He always orders the supreme burrito with steak. They even try to remember to bring some chicken soft tacos home for me too!

If they have coupons, they like to eat at either Weinerschnitzel or McDonald’s.

For a special occasion, they like to splurge at TGIFriday’s if they have a coupon, or Chili’s with their 2 for $20 deal.

Sometimes they go to In & OutBurger, because my husband likes his burger “protein style” and my daughter thinks that they have the best fries.

Quality Time

Daddy says this is the time for her to ask him questions, and no subject is off the table. He says that he will answer any question she has, no matter what.

When I asked my daughter what they talk about, she said “it’s like talking to my best friend, because we talk about everything and nothing.” Usually they just chat about things like chess, food, school, and books. Sometimes they have really deep conversations about God and different career choices. 

Why?

The purpose of “Triple D Night” is to have quality one-on-one conversation and to show her how a lady should be treated on a date before she starts dating, so he always opens the door for her like a gentleman, just like he does for me every day. They both look forward to this because it is a very special time just for the two of them.  My daughter always gets so giddy whenever it’s right around the corner! 

As a mom, I think “Triple D Night” is very important because a father and his little girl need quality time to bond. That special relationship has cultivated my daughter’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and maturity, helping her to grow into the beautiful young lady that she is today. The greatest lesson this has taught her is how to live on a budget and that you don’t need to spend a lot to have a good time.

Family Tradition

If you would like to start this tradition in your family, may I suggest an excellent resource: Family Life Today.

Suggestions?

If you would like to add to the pool of budget-friendly ideas for Triple D Night, please let us know!

Fun Birthday Party for Kids in Las Vegas

We were invited to my nephew’s birthday party at the “Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix” (LVMGP) on Saturday 2/13/16 at 2pm. This sounded like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with the family.

LVMGP has a full menu with specialty pizzas, sandwiches, chicken, ribs, breadsticks, and fries. LVMGP is a very family-friendly place because it does not serve alcohol. There is some security but the kids are not locked in, so you do need to keep an eye on your own children. I also like that it is free admission and you just pay specifically for what you want to do while you are there.

Typically, a ride wristband costs $23/hr. and a 16” cheese pizza is $9.95. This is worth it but a little rich for our budget at the moment, so it was really nice to be invited guests so that everything was free for us!

Arcade

As each guest arrived, they were given a cup of tokens to play in the arcade room. I thought it was a nice idea to keep the kids busy playing arcade games while they were waiting for the pizza to arrive, so they’re not all just sitting at the table with nothing to do.

It was understandably loud, but the way the tables were laid out away from the arcade game room, it was only a dull roar where we were sitting, not like some of the other arcade pizza places we have gone to where you need two Aleve just to make it through the party. The kids came back happy that they had won some tickets in the arcade to turn in for prizes.

Pizza

The waitress delivered a cheese pizza and a pepperoni pizza, then ten minutes later another pepperoni and a sausage pizza arrived. I believe my brother and his wife ordered extra pizza, on top of what came in their party package price in order to feed the parents, which was a very nice thing for them to do.

Surprisingly, the pizza was really delicious! I thought it would be like one of those frozen pizzas, but they have handmade crust, yummy tomato sauce, and gooey cheese!

The pizza is definitely worth the extra cost. But if you can’t afford it because you are on a budget, then just make sure you eat at home before you go, and bring your own water bottle. Especially in Las Vegas, everyone carries their own water bottle everywhere so this is socially acceptable because of the desert heat.

Cake and Ice-cream

Immediately after we were done eating, the waitress put the leftovers in a pizza to-go box, and asked if we were ready for cake. Immediately she brought out the cake and lit the candles for us. We sang “Happy Birthday” and the birthday boy blew out his candles. Then the waitress cut the cake, passed it out to everyone, and handed out ice-cream cups for the invited kids. The waitress immediately boxed up the rest of the cake to go.  As an extra nice touch, each child was given a LVMGP balloon to take home as a party favor. 

A birthday cake is conveniently provided by LVMGP in their party package, but I suggest that you bring your own birthday cake, which is what a lot of other people did.

Rides

The waitress helped the kids put on their wristbands to go outside on the rides. It was really nice that the waitress was so on top of things, which made it so much easier on the parents. We really appreciated how helpful she was.

The wrist bands gave the kids an hour and a half of time to go on the rides of their choice.  Because it was off-season, the lines were not as long as they traditionally are in the summer. I would advise you to plan your time accordingly as to which rides you want to go on in your allotted time, and account for the time waiting in line for the more popular rides. 

There was a sweet little six year old girl invited to the party that asked my daughter if she would take her around to the rides. My daughter loved spending time with this cutie pie.  They had to wait extra-long for a special two-seater go-cart (shown in picture above), but they said it was worth the wait. 

Fun for the whole family

I think this must be a very popular place to have a birthday party because there were about 20 other birthday parties going on at the same time. There is something available at this amusement park for all ages! There is even an adult Gran Prix that you have to have a driver’s license in order to ride.

I really enjoyed watching the kids having fun, and having time to just chat with the other parents. As an added benefit to the off-peak season, the weather is absolutely beautiful this time of year, so it was very enjoyable to spend the day outside in the middle of the desert. We didn’t have to spend any money and we all had a great time! What a great place to have a family birthday party!

I would definitely recommend the “Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix” as a great place to spend the day with the family!

Free Family Art Event in Las Vegas

My husband and I have a beautiful teenage daughter that we absolutely love to pieces! We love to take her places, but unfortunately, we are on a very tight budget. So the places we go tend to be free or inexpensive.

My daughter is a very talented artist, so I planned this trip as a surprise for her. As my husband was working at the time, I asked my mom to join us.

My mother and I took her to the First Friday Las Vegas Art Festival on 2/5/16 for some inspiration, and she loved it! 

The event is held on the first Friday of every month in the Arts District from 5 – 11pm. The event is free, so we were free to just walk around and soak in the art.

Parking

The only thing we were concerned about was parking, but we found the perfect spot really close in a small lot on Charleston and Casino Center Blvd. The sign said $10, but the lot attendant gave us an early bird discount and only charged us $5, which my mom paid for. This was definitely worth the convenience. Otherwise, we would have had to park somewhere along the street, in the Fremont parking garage, or the Clark County Government Center, which would have been a hike after all of the walking around we did at the event.

Only $5 to spend

We told her that she would be the leader on this little adventure, so she bolted for the art. We had to call out for her to slow down because she was so excited.

She had $5 of her own money to spend, and she found something she wanted to buy at the very first booth we stopped at. I told her to wait and look around first, and we could come back to what she really wanted.

Layout of the event

At first, it didn’t seem like there were very many booths, but the further we walked, we realized that they were spread out in several sections. Plus, there was a great deal more to gaze at inside the buildings.

Live entertainment

We stood to listen to a gifted young girl singing on stage. We noticed several people were painting on these enormous canvases on wooden pallets, so we stopped to watch for a bit.

Food

We quickly moved past all of the deliciously smelling food vendors because we didn’t want to spend any money, though the funnel cake was very tempting.

What did you see?

There were several tents featuring jewelry, homemade soaps, hand painted t-shirts, and other entrepreneurs showing off their wares. We admired the glass art at one of the craft booths, which was very reasonably priced for such beautiful craftsmanship.

We went inside a gift shop that had way too many wonderful things to look at, including a mesmerizing painted guitar hanging on the wall. Then we entered a hallway leading to a few small galleries where several clever artists had their paintings hanging.

Kids Zone

There was a small cage full of small animals to pet, including a hen, a rooster, some goats, and a rabbit. My daughter hung out at this station for quite a while. There were also several observers who brought their dogs, and one spectator was walking his ferret on a leash.

Next to the petting zoo was a Lego station, where they had huge boxes of Legos so you could put something together and then display your creation on the table for all to see. This station was quite a hit, because it was a very crowded table.

There was also a children’s craft table, mountain climbing, and an art gallery bus that you could board to see the art displayed inside.

What was your favorite part?

The best part of the Kid Zone was the drum circle! We sat in chairs in a big semicircle, and were each given a percussion instrument to play! There were bongo drums, bells, tambourines, wooden blocks to hit, shakers, and several other fun toys. The leader had a microphone, and he coordinated everyone with different hand signals. He even let some participants have solos. His assistant was having fun handing out the instruments to everyone, and she paraded the little ones around in the middle. She led the group with hand signals every so often to make it more interesting. This was so much fun and we got to play for a long time! 

Did your daughter get any inspiration?

Inside another building which had several art galleries, she got stuck in one room that was full of beautifully painted roses on canvas. She said she was fascinated by the beauty this painter had created. She talked to the salesperson who happened to be the artist’s friend. When the artist arrived, he graciously took the time to teach her a few techniques about painting.

So what did you buy?

We went back to the booth where we started so that she could get the stuffed animal that she wanted to buy for $5. But unfortunately, right before we got there, someone had just bought the one she wanted. “Boo!” she whispered. So she picked another one, a red crocheted anime-style bunny with big floppy ears, a fluffy yellow yarn tail, and two yellow horns, which cost $10. She only had $5, so I gave her the rest to make up the difference. She named him Rhino because of his cute little horns.

How long were you there?

My daughter was having fun and didn’t want to leave, but Mom and I were getting tired, hungry, and ready to go home and eat dinner.

We got there about 5:00 and left about 7:00 pm, and there was someone waiting for our parking space when we left.

How much did you spend?

We spent $5 each, so for a total of only $15, we all had a great time! 

My daughter told us in the car that she couldn’t wait to go home and start drawing! Mission accomplished!