So I totally blew my 'what can we do for free' this past weekend. We went to Disney... enough said :D However, my mom and sister flew down from NY so we had to go. For the most part I don't regret leaving NY to move to FL; but I do miss my mom. Here are some pics from our trip.

So this weekend we deviated from the 'free' philosophy; however the activities were 'relatively inexpensive'. Saturday we went to the Jacksonville zoo. We are zoo members so we didn't have to pay to get in but we do have to pay once a year for this priveledge. It was a members only preview weekend so we got to see the new kimodo dragon exhibit. The jax zoo is really nice. Saturday night we went to the monster truck show. We sat in the $15 seats and I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. The show was great, especially the halftime show where the junker cars pulled trailers and raced. So funny!!

This past weekend we went to the mounted cowboy shooting competition at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center and it was pretty cool. Definitely recommend it.

Sunday we went to the Palencia park that has the wooden ship playground. I vote this the best park in Jacksonville.... although do not recommend spinning your kids on the tire swing until they both throw up.

This past weekend we headed to Washington Oak Garden State Park, which has a neat coquina shell beach instead of sand. However, the drive is a bit far and I'm not sure if we would go back.

The pictures of the pier were taken at sunrise in Jacksonville Beach.

I've finally decided what I'm going to do with this blog. It is going to be a place where I jot down fun, inexpensive things to do in Jacksonville. With the economy in a recession the kids and I have embraced the idea of getting out and doing things that are cheap and largely outdoors. Last week we went to Treaty Oak Park and Friendship Fountain in downtown Jax. This week we went to the Ravines in Palatka. This park has great walking trails for kids with cool bridges and rock walls.

So we are continuing with our 'this is a bad economy what can we do for free' kick and we decided to go explore downtown Jacksonville. We visited Treaty Oak Park, Friendship Fountain, had ice cream at the landing (so that part wasn't free..) and we were going to ride the skyway but ran out of time. Here are some pics. of our adventures.

I wish there were a way to freeze time. I think that's why I love photography so much, because you capture that perfect moment and have it forever. The kids and I went to Kingsley Plantation to 'explore' and it was such a nice day. Thank you God for sending me these two awesome people to watch until they can take care of themselves.