Leaves are appearing on the trees. Green grass is finally replacing the brown lawns and birds are chirping.

Children are unruly and less manageable than ever.

My teacher friends will be quick to tell you that Oh, happy day, spring break is right around the corner!

Many of you have fabulous plans for a beach or ski vacation, trips to visit family or touristy destinations. However, many of us will remain at home.(Cue small children and their sad faces.) For those of us staying put due to work, budget or simply to avoid travel, there are great options for a mini-break. The following are a few ideas for making the most of your Spring Break Staycation. I’ve included ideas for everyone (with added links to specific sites for my southern Indiana friends) that will allow you to enjoy time with family without going spring broke! Rain or shine.

(**To top it off, several area hot spots have generously offered passes for my lucky readers! Details at the bottom of the post!**)

• The Zoo. What’s not to love about an afternoon spent leisurely walking with the animals? By animals, I mean my children. But the zoo is also a great place to check out other species, as well. We are members at our local zoo and love the chance to explore the many different areas. Support your local zoo with a visit!

• Children’s Museum. You’ve got to love any museum willing to invite children. You can let your kids run wild and not worry excessively about things getting broken. It’s geared for children, after all!

• Aquarium. There is something tranquil about watching marine life. It even calms MY kids. Winning.

• Trampoline Park. If there is excessive energy, this is your place. Locate your local trampoline facility and let your kids bounce off the walls. Literally.

• Bounce House. These business cater to kids with large, blown up castles, slides and bounce houses. However, mom and dad can typically jump, as well. It’s a good opportunity for everyone to blow off some steam!

• Skating Rink. I loved skating as a child and am sad I never mastered the skating backwards thing. Maybe this spring break is my chance to conquer that skill!

• Bowling. There aren’t too many activities where the volume of your children will go unnoticed. The crashing of pins at a bowling alley is just the place!

• Camping. This has not become my ‘thing’ but my husband is a fan. For those of you heartier in stock than I am, enjoying the great outdoors could be a great mini-break.

• Indoor Water Park. Most cities have an indoor water park dedicated to families. If you live in a smaller city, rent a hotel room for the night and enjoy the hotel pool.

• Miniature Golf. Great activity for sunny days! Not a great activity for small children who use golf balls as projectiles. Be warned.

• Laser Tag. Perfect for cooler weather and rainy days.

• Ice Skating. When is the last time you worked on your Triple Salchow? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it has clearly been too long since you’ve worked on yours. Grab some skates and jump on the ice!

• March Madness.To clarify, I’m talking about NCAA basketball, not the typical spring nuttiness at my home.  Round 2 begins March 19th. Sweet Sixteen begins March 24th. Elite 8 begins March 26th. Make some appetizers, invite some friends and watch some b-ball.

 

(Special thanks for Philip R. Hooper for the awesome Evansville photograph and to my sis for helping compile all the info! )

Here are the links I promised for my southern Indiana/Tri-state area friends. Check out these spring break specials and deals! 
Evansville is home to Walther’s Golf and Fun. Check out their current Groupon deal here. Laser tag, unlimited mini golf and drinks for four people- $30.

**Pump It Up, our local bounce house, will be having a special camp and open jump over spring break. Check out their calendar here!

**Skate World has an extended schedule over spring break. March 21-25 skate hours from 1-3 PM and 6:30-8:30 PM. $1 skate rental and $4 pizza buffet on March 23rd from 6:30-8:30 PM. Check out their schedule here.

**Sky Zone has open jump from 10 AM-9 PM next week. Schedule is available here. They offer military discount of $3 per jump. They also offer $2 off for those who show the cashier a review on facebook, Google, Trip Advisor or Yelp. Check here for details.

**Mesker Park Zoo is Indiana’s first zoo. You can visit over 186 species from around the world. We love, love, love the zoo. (See proof here!) Amazonia is our family favorite! They have regular hours over spring break. In April they will be hosting Party for the Planet. Check out details here.

**Xtreme Party World is a brand new facility located off Vogel Road in Evansville. They offer multiple activities, including Zorb balls (think human beings rolling around in a gigantic rubber ball), ninja climbing walls, zorb surfing and downhill zorbing. Spring break hours will be 12-8 PM. They have four available rooms and pricing is available here. Next week they will offer a free ninja mask or one free Zorb Surfer ride to anyone who purchases all four rooms.

Arc Lanes in Evansville is a family favorite for my crew. It’s clean, staff is friendly and it’s just loud enough to mask our chaos. Check out their current deal on Groupon here.

**Bricks and Minifigs is new to Evansville and a hit according to several friends. They call themselves the ‘one stop Lego shop.’ “Bricks & Minifigs is built on the principle of the 3 R’s. REBUILD with thousands of pieces to choose from ensuring you’ll have those childhood sets rebuilt in no time. REUSE is our way or saying that we buy, sell and trade anything Lego brand and pay top dollar for it. REIMAGINE those sets you get from us by creating your own masterpiece straight from your imagination.”

Swonder Ice Rink has a list of available skate times here. They also have a great Groupon deal going on!

Two Bit Bandit has basketball, batting cages, billiards, arcade games and more! Groupon is killing it with the local deals this week. Check it out here!

Livewell featuring Flex 151 is a wonderful Newburgh business complete with yoga classes, massage, sauna, sunbed, chi machine and yummy smoothies. They even have yoga for children! My daughter attended a class last weekend and loved it. Get more information on Livewell here.

Marengo Cave has been on our to-do list for several years. I think we’re finally at a point where our kids won’t do too much damage to the zillion year old cavern.

I’m undoubtedly missing dozens of cool things to do in Evansville and the surrounding area. But I’m sleep deprived (see post) and dealing with germ ridden kids (see post). That’s where you come in! Please comment with your most beloved activity in Evansville so we can all have the hap, hap, happiest spring break ever.

As promised above, thanks to several local retailers I will be giving away passes for some great family activities. Head over and check out my facebook page ‘Ticking Time Mom Deals’ now! Watch for continued posts on area hot spots over the next few days. ‘Like’ the facebook page and tag a friend in the comment section of your desired prize(s) to win! If you’re not local, you should definitely still check out the Ticking Time Mom Deals facebook page as the next giveaway is bigger and open to everyone in the U.S.!

This giveaway includes passes from Mesker Park Zoo, Skate World, Pump It Up, Sky Zone, Xtreme Party World and Bricks and Minifigs. Over 35 passes to give away!

(Winners will be chosen at random and notified of their prize.)

Wishing everyone a safe, fun and sane spring break!

E

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