Weekend Plans for the Holidays

It is finally Friday, you made it through the week, now what? The weekend is a time to get some much needed rest and relaxation right? WRONG! When you are a parent, rest and relaxation is few and far in between. As parents we typically spend our weekend cleaning, catching up on chores and catering to the needs of the children who are now home the entire day. How can we fix this? How can we get more from our weekend?

Well, we need to plan time for fun. Get online and start looking for things to do in your area with the family. Typically you can find something within an hours drive of you that would be great for the whole family. With the holiday season upon us there are tons of seasonal markets popping up, Christmas light displays and little local towns transforming into holiday getaways. With a little research you can easily find some fantastic things to do, and if you look hard enough chances are you can find some free, yes free, activities to enjoy as well.

If you are in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area there are a few fun events you can look forward to. Our family is looking forward to Kennywood light up night, it is the time of year where the amusement park changes into a winter wonderland and the little ones can enjoy rides, crafts, treats and even a visit from the big man in red. If you are able to enjoy this event in its early weekend stages the cost is only 20$ per person, and then when December hits the price goes up a little bit, so the earlier the better if you are looking for a more budget friendly experience.

This will be one of the few paid events we actually attend. As you know our children are still young, so we look to attend the majority of free events so that if they cannot keep up with the pace of the event, or they are not enjoying it we do not have to force them to stay or take a loss when we leave early. Here are some free events we are looking to take advantage of this year.

First in Steubenville, Ohio there is a small town that turns into a nutcracker village. Our son is super into nutcrackers this year, he even got his first one from grandma this year to start his collection. The village is only 40 minutes from where we live, and is completely free. Depending on the night you go there are other events linked to the village. Some you do have to pay for and some you do not. If you plan accordingly you can spend the evening in a nutcracker village free of charge. We are super excited about this one.

The city of Pittsburgh sets up a lot of artisan style markets that are themed for the festive season. The markets are completely free to attend. You can spend hours walking around the city enjoying decorations and booths themed for the Christmas season. Depending on the market you choose they do offer different mini events within them. Some markets offer Sanat meetings and activities for children as well. Our children love going into the city, so we typically try to go to at least one market in the city.

There are two guaranteed events we always attend every Christmas season. These are the two events that not only our children look forward to, but as adults we cannot wait for either. These two events are Christmas putt putt at Fun for All and Oglebay Festival of Lights. These two events will have their own blog posts with more details and stories surrounding them because they have a history with our family and deserve some front row attention. No matter your plans, enjoy them and make the most of the time you have with your family. Happy holidays to all.