At the writing of this book, our country is facing the worst economic crisis in 50 years. People  are putting vacation plans on hold. Gas prices have fluctuated from the extremely high to the lowest in many years. Who knows what will be happening in the economy when you actually sit down to read this book? However, whether gas prices are high or low, and whether the economy is flourishing or withering, this book will give you many ideas for finding family fun right in your own home and neighborhood and many other places as well.

   I have put together a ton of ideas to help you find quality time with your  family. There are  more ideas in this book than you could use in a lifetime, but if you can use even a few of them, it is worth the price you paid for the book.

      My mother used to tell me, "If you want to have fun, you have to put forth a little effort." So many things our mothers tell us turn out to be true, and this saying did too. It is only by getting out the bikes, strapping on the backpacks, packing a picnic lunch, or buying tickets to an event, that we start the wheels turning for a great family time. In most cases, we have to show initiative to look for family fun. Fun ideas rarely come looking for us.

   Our biggest challenge is overcoming the inertia that makes us want to be couch potatoes. If we are going to use play as a way to bond our family together and to give our kids a childhood to remember, we will need to be intentional about looking for ideas and doing the planning to make the good times happen.

      The good news is that if you keep this book on a nearby shelf while your children are growing up and refer to it from time to time, you will have more ideas for fun than you'll have time to do while they still live at home. (The book is a great tool for ideas for grandparents as well.) For many adventures, this book is only a starting place. You'll need to do research to see if your family's wish list for fun fits your finances and interests. If you live in Iowa, you are not going to be able to build sandcastles beside the sea unless you go on a trip to the sea, and that involves expense. You won’t be able to visit a dairy farm if you live in midtown Manhattan. But no matter where you live, there is something special to discover about your city or state.

      I have provided many websites where you can do research. Of course, all of these websites also have links to other websites.  You can go on and on researching. Just remember that wherever you live, whether it is a little valley or a mountaintop, whether you live in a bustling city or in a tiny town, there are wonderful things to explore and unique places to go. As you explore these places together, every family member will experience his or her own memorable moment, and these experiences will help tie your family unit together more tightly. So let's get started.

   Now, before the protests begin that you “don't have time” and you “don't have money” for a family vacation, I have also included many ideas for saving time and money every day so that you can give your kids those memorable times in family life.

The timesavers are identified by an hourglass  6,

and the money-saving tips are identified by a dollar sign $.

They are at the end of every chapter. When the lists had too much valuable information for the end of a chapter, I put them in an appendix at the back of the book.

      So are you ready to learn how to save both time and money, and how to build family memories?