FI With Kids: The Arts and Ice Cream (Free!)

We've said it before ... there are ways to cut the costs even with kids. Yes, you can achieve FI even with kids! For example ... FI With Kids: Family Memberships (Bonus: Travel Gear!) and FI With Kids: Easy Color Theory Science Experiment.

So how do you keep costs down with kids? What types of free activities do you enjoy with your family? Or even free activities for adults?

We live in the Houston area so there is really no shortage of free activities all the time. We recently participated in two.

Last week we attended the TC Energy's annual Theater District Open House, and this weekend we attended a local small town Labor Day Ice Cream Social in Friendswood.

Labor Day Ice Cream Social

Theater District Open House

The Theater District Open House happens annually in August each year. Unless you count driving / gas, we spent $0 (same with our Labor Day Ice Cream Social mentioned below!). I've been once before years ago, but we decided to go with the kids this year. And I am glad we did! It is a great opportunity to get a small taste of the performing arts scene (for free!). They also had unique opportunities (besides performances) such as arts & crafts for the kids, behind the scenes opportunities (checking out wigs), and hands-on participation like drum circles. We spent a few hours there, and we didn't even get around to everything.

Another bonus? We didn't have to pay for parking. Parking in Downtown Houston can be a pain for large events, but they offered complimentary parking in nearby parking garages / lots.

We also lucked out because the weather wasn't great driving in (rain storm) so I am guessing less people attended - therefore we didn't have to deal with ridiculous crowds.

For those that wanted to spend money ... there were some food trucks (we enjoyed the complimentary Saint Arnold's Root Beer). And for those that did better about planning ahead, you could find deals on performing arts tickets and season passes (I should have thought about this prior because there are a few things that I am interested in attending, but we also were looking to stay within our August extra spending budget).

I would definitely recommend this event to others!

Friendswood's Labor Day Ice Cream Social

Last year we attended the local Labor Day Ice Cream Social (it was a great little free event) so we decided to go again this year.

Free Blue Bell (best ice cream in Texas)? Yes, please. Say no more. (They had vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, and even root beer floats).

They also had other ice cream cookies and treats, water and lemonade, a live band, and outdoor family / kids activities / toys.

They hosted it at the small local historic Perry House Museum (early 1900s).