summer Archives - A Little Tipsy

30 + Fun and Free Things to do in Salt Lake this Summer

June 2, 2015 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

Who doesn’t need a list of free things to keep the family busy this summer? And best of all they won’t deplete the budget! There are tons of fun things to do in this great valley of ours and this includes some of my very favorites. We’re talking letting some secrets out of the bag. That’s why many of the activities are in the South end of the valley. There are things that start tomorrow and other activities that go all the way to October!

All activities free unless otherwise noted!

Upcoming 2015 Local Events:

Mulligans (South Jordan Location) free games June 3rd 4-6 pm (1/2 price 6-9 pm)

South Jordan Country Fest June 4-6, 2015

Wynona Concert June 6 8:30 pm
Free Day at South Jordan fitness and aquatic center June 6th
Kids Korner Bounce houses etc June 5th 6pm to dark on June 6th (face painting $1)
Mutton bustin’, bingo, community stage, skate competition, car show, fireworks, and more

Library Summer Reading Kickoff Event June 6th 10 am – 2 pm Viridian Event Center (live music, crafts, bounce houses)

Library Summer Events

Western Stampede July 2-4, 2015

10:30am Parade (Redwood Road from City Hall to 7000 S.)
9pm Movie at Veterans Memorial Park
10pm Fireworks at Veterans Memorial Park

Fun at the Farmstead – Holt Farmstead July 10th

Hired Guns entertainment 7 pm
Maleficent Movie 9:30 pm

Natural History Museum of Utah Free Day July 13th

Outdoor Activities:

Wheeler Farm Free (Cow Milking Experience Mon-Sat at 5 pm $1)

Utah Splash Pads

picture from newscastic.com

Veterans Memorial Park/Wild West Jordan Playground 1985 West 7800 South

Skye Park 4800 West Skye Drive South Jordan

Liberty Park (duck pond, seven canyons fountain, playgrounds, rides and concessions for a fee)

Go fishing, feed ducks, or enjoy a picnic at the park at the Sandy Urban Fishery 1000 West 9800 South Sandy (Facts & Rules)

Ride Bikes or Rollerblade Jordan River Parkway

Donut falls picture from visitsaltlake.com

Hike Donut Falls

Hike Silver Lake

Hike Ensign Peak

Play in the sand and swim at Blackridge Reservoir aka Herriman Beach

Movies in the Park South Jordan, other Utah locations

Gardener Village Farmers Market Saturdays 9 am -1 pm June -October

South Jordan Towne Center Farmers Market 1600 West Towne Center Drive (10600 South) Saturdays 8 am – 2 pm August – October

Jordan Landing

Summer Concerts Fridays through September 6-10 pm
Cruise Night Car Show first Wednesday of the month April-Oct

Museums/Indoor Activities:

Gale Center activities 10300 South Beckstead Lane South Jordan Terrific Tuesday last Tuesday of each month 10-11 am

Visit Temple Square and see “Meet the Mormons” at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Clark Planetarium

BYU Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

UMOCA – Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

V Chocolates Factory Tour

Sweet’s Candy Co. Factory Tour

Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks Free Events Listing by date (Concerts, free days at museums and zoo, library activities, etc.)

kidsbowlfree.com 15 and under 2 games per day free through August 31 10 am – 1 pm

Thanksgiving Point $2 Tuesdays in August – good for gardens, Museum of Ancient Life, Farm Country, etc.

Jungle Jim’s Playland $2 Tuesdays from 11-4

Now there are no excuses! You’ve got a huge list of free things to do in Salt Lake (or thereabouts). Get out there and have some fun this summer!

Strawberry Sorbet Bars

July 23, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 4 Comments

Summer brings heat and being one month out from baby boy’s arrival I am baking in more ways than one. With temperatures reaching the 100’s last week I got my first set of cankles. I took off my shoes and you could see lines in my feet where they used to be! Not pretty. My Dr. told me with temps like these you’ve got to stay inside and drink A LOT of water. Sounds like a lot of fun for me and the kiddos to enjoy the rest of the summer huh. Long days by the lake may be out for this soon to pop mama, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring the fun to us!

My kiddos are obsessed with frozen treats, but Mom desires something a little more than just colored sugar and water in a tube. I got to try out the new STARBURST™ Brand Sorbet Bars which round out Mars’ ice cream portfolio, with delights including DOVEBAR®, TWIX® and SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars. STARBURST™ Sorbet Bars give you the taste of a STARBURST™ strawberry fruit chew in a cold and refreshingly tasty bar with, get this, only 70 calories. Seriously! Now that is a number I can celebrate! I am the one who always hoards the strawberry Starbursts so I was thrilled to try the new arctic version of this candy favorite.

I am happy to report they taste and pretty much look just like the candies on a stick. If you like the strawberry Starbursts, you’ll love these. They have a great light texture too. So being the experimenter that I am and while staging the bars for a photo with the berries I got to thinking about berries and my cravings for chocolate and chocolate covered berries. The joys of a pregnant woman’s mind. Then, I got to remembering this recipe for two ingredient freezing chocolate shell and well you can imagine where it went from there.

Mind you I did not even get to finish this one because my three year old stole it out of my hand. No biggie, there were three more in the box in the freezer. I now have the perfect frozen treat to satisfy fruity or chocolate cravings and it’s as simple as opening the freezer door. It’s making life in this oven world that much more bearable. Bring on the scorchers. I have my handheld fan and strawberry sorbet bars!

For more info on Starburst products be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Celebrate Summer Party for only $20

June 25, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 1 Comment

Summer = hot = water fun. It’s a must really. When temperatures go up the swimsuits go on and water equals fun. My kiddos have birthdays in the colder months so they miss out on fun outdoor party options. We decided who needs a birthday to celebrate? It’s summer. Isn’t that reason enough?! So we gathered a few of our friends and threw a fun afternoon Celebrate Summer party. Did I mention it only cost $20? Oh ya, I guess it’s right there in the title.

Looks fun right?! The key is your friendly Dollar Tree store. No I am not being paid for this. I just think they have awesome summer options for a buck! I gathered a few of each of the following:

Water Guns 3 pack for $1
Slingshot with ball $1
KoolPops 20 pops for $1
Sponges 2 for $1
Cable Tie pack $1
Sidewalk Chalk 20 pieces for $1

Check out the nitty gritty details on my receipt. See, truly $20.

The water guns and slingshots are all ready for water play, but put together the sponges and cable ties and your kiddos are in for a splashy surprise. Sponge bombs are super easy for little ones to wrangle, but also soaking enough for the big kids.

To put the sponge bombs together:

Cut each sponge in three long strips. Hold together nine of the sponge strips and secure the middle together with a cable tie. Tighten the cable tie as far as it will go and snip off the end being sure not to leave a sharp end.

I purchased six sponge packs which made four sponge bombs. Put them by a big bucket of water and you are ready to rock.

We just let the kids play and soak each other for the most part, but after about an hour gave them suggestions like a slingshot contest to see who could fling the furthest. We also have a trampoline so they had fun throwing the sponge bombs at each other on that.

Kids love popsicles and at 20 for a $1 we let them have their fill. We held our party right before dinner time so we did not need to worry about additional snacks. We didn’t want to spoil their dinner.

Once the party was over we sent them each home with a five pack of sidewalk chalk to play with at home this summer.

Overall, it was great fun and cost less than a trip to the pool!

Rocket Straws Summer Kids Activity

June 18, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 2 Comments

With our last day of school past, we need to be armed with some fun activities to battle the boredom that is bound to surface. What I’m not fond of are activities that take longer to set up than to play. Simple and easy is just the ticket! These rocket ship straws take just a couple of minutes to get ready and are simple enough for the kids to put together on their own!

What you’ll need to make Rocket Straws:

Narrow Bendy Straw
Wide Bendy Straw
Scissors
Rocket Printable
Double sided sticky tape
Crayons (optional)

Start off with a free rocket printable like this these. Symmetrical ships are best because then they can be two sided. We chose the black and white rocket so we could color and personalize ourselves.

Cut out your rocket images. Each straw will use two rockets so it will be decorated on either side.

Place a strip of double sided sticky tape down the center of each rocket. Trim off the bendy part of the narrow straw so you are just left with the straight long part. Place the straw in the center of the tape on one rocket.

Place the other rocket on top of the straw to make it double-sided. Press the top of the rocket together with the tape to seal. Seal the little “legs” with two small triangles of tape. Trim the long section of the wider straw to 3 1/2 inches. Place the narrow straw in the wider straw and you are ready to go!

Count 3, 2, 1, blast off, blow quickly through the straw and watch your rocket fly!

What kiddo doesn’t love playing astronaut?!

Have a blast this summer!