Day 39 - Birthday Partying at Chuck E Cheese's

Happy Birthday, Kid Four! My little blue-eyed thumb sucking boy is three-years-old today. For his party he wanted to play with his cousin who lives three hours away. We'll do that this weekend. Today he had to settle for his second choice, going to the new Chuck E Cheese.

This Chuck E Cheese recently opened in Chandler, AZ. You can read my review of it here.

To have a reserved party at Chuck E Cheese cost $10.99 per child. Each kid gets 40 tokens, 2 slices of pizza, a drink and the birthday kid gets extra goodies and 60 tokens. My kids don't need all that. Did you know you can have a walk-in party at Chuck E Cheese?

How to have a cheap party at Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese allows you to bring in your own cake for parties. They will even put your cake in the fridge or freezer if you need it. We forgot a lighter for our birthday candles and they had no problem bringing out a lighter for us. Then you just need to get cheap tokens using my tips here. Bring your own balloons and find a good table that isn't reserved and you're all set. Come at a time between lunch and dinner so you don't have to buy food. It is also a little slower at these times. Three-year-olds don't know about the Ticket Blaster or the other random party extras you pay for with a reserved party. Kid Four had a great time playing with his cousins, blowing out his candles, and opening presents.

Day 33 - Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Center & Lake Tahoe

We loved Lake Tahoe last time we were here, but we didn't have a full day to enjoy it today. While Daddy was at work we played at The Discovery.

This was our second time at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. We love using our Arizona Science Center pass to get into all these fun places. This location only covers a family of 4 and charges for everyone over one-year, so we had to pay $10 for one kid. Much better than $50, though.

After Daddy got off work we headed over to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. The water was a lot lower than when we came last year. It was still lots of fun. The kids caught crawdads with some new friends almost he whole time we were there.

I always try to find the cheapest way to do everything on vacation. To see my money saving tips go here.

Day 28 - Tracy Aviary & The Leonardo

Today was supposed to be the hottest day of our week here in Salt Lake City, with temps reaching around 100 degrees. We had an outdoor activity planned for the morning and decided to keep things air conditioned for the afternoon.

Tracy Aviary is part of Liberty Park, which is Utah's much smaller equivalent of Central Park. The aviary is fairly small but pretty cool you can see a lot of rare birds close up. And the High Flyer show is a lot of fun, despite the fact that you are sitting in direct sunlight. To read my full review go here.

Today was our first time experiencing The Leonardo. I had been skeptical about going here in the past because they don't charge for ages 5 & younger. It sounded like maybe it would be more educational and less fun. Boy was I wrong. This plan was lots of fun. It's part science, part art, part combo. My kids are artists and scientists (as I think all kids are) so they thought a The Leonardo was fabulous. To read my full review go here.

The Leonardo is also part of the ASTC passport program. In case you haven't been keeping track, that's all the museums at Thanksgiving Point, Clark Planetseium Dome show, Discovery Gateway, and The Leonardo that I have received free admission at, thanks to my Arizona Science Center pass. 

Now I know you're wondering if I paid for the Tracy Aviary. Of course not. Unfortunately, you have to take up travel writing to get my discount. Since I write for Trekaroo, Visit Salt Lake hooked my family up with 3-day Connect Passes. These passes allow you to visit 13 venues, one-time-each, within a certain time period that you purchase. You can have the pass be active for 1,2, or 3 days, OR one year. The days of use have to be consecutive, which is why I didn't start using the Connect Pass until today. The Connect Pass also includes admission to all of the above mentioned ASTC passport participants, except you can only visit the Museum of Ancient Life and The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point AND you als get free admission to an IMAX 3D educational film at Clark Planetarium.

Day 27 - Clark Planetarium & Discovery Gateway in SLC, Utah

It's very convenient when two great attractions for families are located across the street from each other. It also makes for a full day.

Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway Children's Museum are both part of the wonderful ASTC passport program I've mentioned before. Because we are members of the Arizona Science Center we got free admission to Discovery Gateway and free tickets to a show at Clark Planetarium. Love it.

We started our day at Discovery Gateway, took a break at the mall food court (McDonalds) for lunch, headed over to Clark Planetarium for the 12:30 show we wanted to see, explored the free exhibits there, then walked across the street back to Discovery Gateway for a few more hours of fun.

You can read my reviews of Discovery Gateway Children's Museum and Clark Planetarium by following the links or heading to my passport on Trekaroo.com.

Life Flight Exhibit at Discovery Gateway

Day 26 - Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT

If you've never been to Thanksgiving Point in Utah, you are missing some great museums. Today we experienced dinosaurs, farm-life, gardens, and adventure.

The Museum of Ancient Life has always been one of our favorite dinosaur museums. We all love the huge dinosaur skeleton displays and the kids especially enjoy the water table and Dino dig areas. This summer they are doing a cool exhibit of balloon artistry. There was a huge replica of a Greek temple made entirely out of balloons. The creator was on exhibit as well getting the next masterpiece ready of Zeus of a thone. He said it takes him a whole week to make these sculptures. It was amazing.

Farm Country is a little time filler. It is fun, but also small. We like to visit the animals here and the kids like the pony rides. Today, Kid One got to learn a little about male horse anatomy when she saw the horse's nether regions before being petted and then again after. We love to add education to our outings.

The Museum of Natural Curiosity was amazing! I didn't know it existed. I had planned to spend a little time at the end of our day enjoying the splash pad at the Children's Gardens only to find it replaced by the best children's museum ever. It was a little hard to keep track of all the kids, but they were really enjoying themselves. I wish we had known how great this place was so I could have planned more time to spend here.

And how much did I spend to go to all of these museums? NOTHING! 

Thanksgiving Point is a participant in the ASTC passport program. We are members of the Arizona Science Center and so the Thanksgiving Point museums offer us free reciprocal admission. And how much did I pay for the Arizona Science Center family membership? Again, NOTHING. There was a LivingSocial deal for a family membership and I got three people to buy off of my link, making my purchase free. Breakfast was free at the hotel, lunch was PB&J's made from the free hotel breakfast, and our hotel also has free dinner 4 nights a week (although some nights it's more of a snack) so tonight we had free carnitas nachos. I spent $2 total on popcorn and a squished penny souvenir from Farm Country. I love making my own free days.

Day 25 - Rodizio Grill in SLC, Utah

It must be fate when your you happen to be in the city of your husband's favorite restaurant on his birthday. And double lucky when you get a birthday BOGO coupon.

Rodizio Grill is a Brazilian restaurant. They have all you can eat meats brought around by servers who slice off a hunk right onto your plate. To read my full review of Rodizio Grill go here.

When we are on the road, we eat out quite a bit. Usually when we travel, it's with Daddy for work, so he does have a food budget. The problem is, with 5 kids you can blow through that budget pretty quickly. And if I don't spend it all on food, I can use some of the money for cool activities.

Saving Money on Vacation Meals

Stay at hotels with free breakfast. Besides the money you save going out, it's much easier to just walk down to the lobby than get the family ready and drive to a restaurant.
Make free breakfast into free lunch. Many times, I grab bread, peanut butter, and jelly from the hotel breakfast to make a picnic lunch.
Find a local Free Summer Food location. The free summer food program is federal. There may be a location right near your vacation destination.
Cook in your hotel room. We usually stay in rooms with a full kitchen, but if we at least have a microwave, we can get a frozen lasagna and bag of salad mix for an easy dinner. If your room has a fridge, you can also save restaurant leftovers for another meal.
Use coupons. I use my Entertainment Book app to find digital coupons. If your travel coincides with a birthday, make sure you are on the email lists of places you want to eat out at. If your hotel room has a phone book, check out the coupons in there.
Find restaurants where kids eat free. Many of the big chains offer a kids night where kids meals are cheap or free. Check websites, call around, or find an online list someone has made for that city.