10 Things To Do in the Central Valley for under 10 Bucks

1. Visit a California State Park.

It's only a fistful of dollar bills to get in (around $8) and you can spend the whole day exploring, wading in a river, making mud pies, feeling the cool forest breeze, having a picnic, playing Pooh Sticks, and enjoying family time. There are some quaint ones, like Caswell in Ripon, or more adventurous ones like the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, where we once were within a few feet of majestic deer and does.

2. Attend a library program. Today there will be a clown in Lathrop, a magician in Stockton and Ripon and even Cake Pop Decorating class in Tracy! Plus, it's all free, free, free.

3. Splash around in a fountain.
Stockton has a nice interactive water feature with picnic tables nearby. Manteca also has a lovely one near the library (also with picnic tables) that we splashed around in yesterday.

4. Visit the Haggin Museum in Stockton. It's cheap, educational, and there's a huge park to play in afterwards.

5. Escape to Pixie Woods in Stockton and ride a vintage merry-go-round or locomotive.

6. Go to FairyTale Town in Sacramento and step inside the world of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, visit Pooh Corner or King Arthur's Castle, or

meet Clifford! I hear there's a puppet show today for only $2.

7. Take the kids to the movies FOR A DOLLAR. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, certain theatres will show kid-friendly films for a one-dollar-ticket-price! That's pretty killer.

8. Have a picnic at your local park. Bring a basket of goodies, find some shade, and watch your kids play. Better yet, get out there, play with them and run with them when the ice cream truck comes calling.

9. Host a water balloon fight.

Supplies are cheap. You can get 200 water balloons from Rite Aid for a couple bucks. Fill a bucket or two full of water balloons, and let the kids go crazy. It's a simple joy of summer.

10. Boldly go to Baskin-Robbins and have ice cream for dinner. Enjoy a banana split or a hot fudge sundae, or some random assortment of ice cream flavors scooped into a waffle cone.